Uniform Suppliers Implement Allowances With Uniform Ordering Software

As a uniform & workwear supplier, you’ll be extremely familiar with the complexities of helping clients manage their uniform budgets. Usually, businesses have some form of limitation on uniform ordering to help keep an eye on costs and forecasting future spend. With a uniform management portal you must offer your clients a quick way of ordering their uniform directly from you, accommodating every possible solution for your clients. 

Let’s look at the most common types of allowances and show you how easily Smart Red will help you implement them. 

Garment Allowances 

There are two main types of uniform allowances; the first is a garment-based allowance. This is where you have a set number of garments (e.g., 5 t-shirts, 2 pairs of trousers, one fleece etc) per person.

Smart Red is set up to easily let employees order within their allowances. With a secure login, they’ll only have access to the garments that they are authorised to order. They will be alerted if they exceed their set allowance, but can still request permission from a pre-determined authoriser. The whole system is easy to use, and allows your clients to control their budgets seamlessly. 

Value Allowances

The second most common allowances are value-based. This gives employees more choice and flexibility to spend a defined amount on their wardrobe. The Smart Red platform is configured to deal with any currency and can easily allocate a set allowance per employee. Users find this intuitive, meaning there’s no training time required for existing or new staff moving to the platform. See it for yourself by clicking here!

Points 

Some organisations need the flexibility of providing value-based allowances to staff, without revealing sensitive pricing information. Smart Red handles this by assigning points to garments, and a point-based allowance per employee. Our clients really value this versatility as it maintains the level of flexibility and discretion required.

Role-Based Allowances

Some of your clients will issue a flat-rate allowance to staff, irrespective of their role. However, some of your clients need more complexity and allow someone’s role, seniority and/or location dictate which items they use, or how much budget is allocated to them.

Smart Red can handle this all. The power behind the platform means once you have defined a location or role-based wardrobe, you can assign all staff their correct garments with ease. And of course, if they’re promoted, and need a partial or complete new wardrobe, it supports this too!

New Issue Items 

Are your clients going through a rebrand? Need to launch new items into wardrobes for their staff? Don’t let this cause you a headache. Smart Red has successfully launched new items for clients without any impact on employee allowances, no matter how much of their allowance has been used.  

Time Based Allowance 

One of the benefits of Smart Red is the versatility offered. For certain items, usually PPE and safety equipment, there may be a requirement to only use certain items for a certain time period. Conversely, you may be purchasing a higher-spec item (e.g., waterproof jacket or boots) with the hope they’ll last longer than a standard allowance of 12 months. Smart Red allows these options – and more.  

In-Built Flexibility 

Many clients will request an annual allowance, that commences from the start date of each employee. Others prefer a calendar year, or a financial year, as the refresh date for allowances. And some clients may need a variation in allowance because staff are part-time, or seasonal, and therefore a full allowance isn’t justified. Count on Smart Red to have this all covered.

Your Clients Need This Power – Your Clients Need Smart Red

Do any of the items outlined above regularly give you a headache?. With nearly 10 years in the market, Smart Red has dealt with almost all possible variations of allowance. And if we haven’t, our team of software developers will build the functionality you need! So, what are you waiting for? Get started today by emailing us here for a free demo. 

Ready To Find Out More?

To hear our Head of Sales discuss the allowance options on Smart Red, and many other features, click on the YouTube link below.