Running the IMPACT Rentals Store

Employees create their own account through the signup form on the store. Shopify creates the customer record automatically with all their details. HR's job is to review it, attach it to the right branch, and approve them to shop.

1. Log in to Shopify admin at admin.shopify.com/store/impact-rentals.

2. Go to Customers → Segments and click Pending Approval. That's a saved segment showing everyone who has signed up but hasn't been processed yet.

3. Click into a pending customer. On the right side of their profile, you'll see the Metafields panel with everything they entered on the form:

   • Location — their home branch (e.g., Athens, GA)
   • Job Title — what they do at IMPACT
   • Impact Start Date — when they started
4. Verify the basics:

   • Name and email match a real IMPACT employee
   • Email domain is @rentimpact.com (flag anyone outside that for review)
   • Location matches a real branch (Buford, Mableton, Athens, Greenville)

   Red flags Personal email domains, missing job title, location that doesn't match a real branch, or a name you don't recognize. Confirm with the employee's manager before approving.
5. Move on to Section 2 to attach them to the matching B2B company location. That's what gives them the ability to check out and submit orders.

6. Once those are done, come back to the customer profile, edit the Tags, and:

   • Remove PENDING APPROVAL
   • Add approved

   Save. The employee can now shop.

7. Email the employee to confirm they're approved and ready to shop. The store handles pricing automatically through the B2B company setup, so no codes or extra steps on their end.

Linking the employee to the IMPACT Rentals B2B company applies tax exemption automatically and ensures orders ship to the correct branch by default. This is the most important step in the approval flow — without it, the employee can't shop the store properly.

1. On the employee's customer profile, note the Location in the Metafields panel (from Section 1) — that's the branch they selected on the signup form.

2. Go to Customers → Companies and click IMPACT Rentals.

3. Under Locations, click the branch matching the employee's Location metafield:

   • Buford, GA HQ
   • Mableton, GA
   • Athens, GA
   • Greenville, SC
4. In the location's Customers section, click Add customer.

5. Search by the employee's name or email and select them from the dropdown.

6. Set their permissions:

   • Ordering only — for most employees (can place orders, can't manage the company)
   • Location admin — for branch managers who need to manage the location's employee list
7. Click Save. The employee is now linked to the branch, tax-exempt, and configured for "checkout to draft order" approval flow.

   Why this matters The company setup is what makes IMPACT employee orders automatically convert to draft orders (pending approval) instead of being placed directly. Don't skip this step.

Every employee order arrives as a draft order for review. A store manager looks it over, then approves as-is, edits, or rejects. The B2B company setup makes the order total $0 automatically, so there's no discount code or payment step.

Approving an employee's order

1. Go to Orders → Drafts. New employee orders show up here.

2. Click the draft to open it. Review:

   • Employee name and email
   • Items, sizes, personalization (engraving, names)
   • Total is $0 (B2B catalog pricing handles this automatically)
   • "Reason for Request" or notes (visible in order notes)
   • Shipping branch
3. If everything looks good, click Mark as paid (the order total is already $0 from B2B pricing) and then Create order. This converts the draft into a real order and triggers fulfillment.

4. The employee receives an automated "Order approved" email.

Editing an order before approval

1. In the draft order, click Edit.

2. Adjust quantities, swap items, fix engraving typos, or change the shipping address. Save your changes, then approve.

Rejecting an order

1. In the draft order, click the ... menu (top-right) → Delete draft.

2. Email the employee directly with the reason — Shopify's reject flow doesn't auto-notify them.

   Common reasons to reject Wrong code used, quantity exceeds typical (e.g., 20 hats for 1 person), wrong category for the purpose, or duplicate submission.

Creating a manual order on behalf of someone

1. Go to Orders → Create order.

2. Add the customer (search by name), then add products from the catalog.

3. Confirm the total is $0 (B2B pricing applies automatically when the customer is linked to the IMPACT Rentals company). If the line items don't show $0, use Add custom item and set price to $0.00 manually.

4. Click Mark as paid → Create order.

Store credit is for recognition awards, service anniversaries, retirement gifts, or any time you want to give an employee a specific dollar amount to spend. The credit appears automatically at checkout. It's separate from the regular B2B pricing (which already makes orders free), so use it to layer in extra value for the occasion.

1. Go to Customers, search for the employee, and open their profile.

2. Scroll to the Store credit section on the customer page. (If you don't see it, scroll the right-side panel — it appears under contact info and order history.)

3. Click Add store credit.

4. Fill in:

   • Amount — e.g., 75.00
   • Currency — USD
   • Expiration — optional; set 6 or 12 months if you want it to expire
   • Reason (internal note) — e.g., "10-year service anniversary" or "Q3 safety recognition"
5. Click Add credit. The employee is automatically emailed a confirmation that credit has been added.

6. At checkout, the employee will see the credit balance and can apply it to their order.

Adjusting or removing store credit

1. On the customer's profile, find the Store credit section and click View credit history.

2. Click Adjust credit, enter a negative or positive amount with a reason, and save. The transaction stays in the history log.

When you need to add a new product (a new piece of apparel, a new award, a new promo item), update an existing one, or change how products are grouped on the store, here's the playbook. All products are listed at $0 since IMPACT covers the cost, and most collections fill themselves automatically based on the tags you put on products.

Adding a new product

1. Go to Products → Add product in Shopify Admin.

2. Fill in the basics:

   • Title — brand first if it's branded. Format: Brand Name Product Name (e.g., "Carhartt Gilliam Jacket" or "FootJoy Solid Lisle Polo")
   • Description — short paragraph about the item. Mention key features, fit, what it's for. End with <p><strong>Lead time:</strong> 3 to 5 business days</p> (or "around 2 weeks" if custom)
   • Vendor — the brand name (Carhartt, FootJoy, OGIO, etc.). For in-house IMPACT items, use Impact Rentals
   • Product type — broad category (Polo, Jacket, Cap, Hard Hat, Safety Vest, Promo, etc.)
3. Set the price to $0.00. Every product on this store is $0 since IMPACT covers the cost.

   Why $0 The B2B company setup handles the actual cost behind the scenes. Employees see "Free" on every product page and at checkout. No discount codes needed.
4. Upload product images. Recommended:

   • Square images (1:1 ratio, around 1200×1200 px) for best display
   • First image is the featured image — pick the cleanest front view
   • Set alt text on each image (e.g., "Carhartt Gilliam Jacket front") for accessibility
   • Optional: back view, side view, detail shots
5. If the product has sizes or colors, set up variants:

   • Click Add variant
   • Add an Option (e.g., "Size") with values (M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL)
   • For apparel with color and size, add two options: Color and Size. Shopify creates a variant for each combination.
   • Set each variant's price to $0.00
   • Give each variant a SKU following the pattern IR-[CAT]-[ITEM]-[SIZE] (e.g., IR-AP-FJP-BLK-L for FootJoy Polo Black Large)
6. Add tags to put the product in the right collections automatically. The store uses smart collections that filter by tag.

   • Main category tag: cat-apparel, cat-safety, cat-promo, cat-awards, or cat-decals
   • Subcategory tag: sub-polos, sub-hardhats, sub-outerwear, etc. (see Quick Reference for the full list)
   • Brand tag: brand-carhartt, brand-footjoy, etc.
   • Routing tag: route-pickpack (for in-stock items) or route-custom (for items that need production)

   Tags are the magic The moment you tag a product with cat-apparel, it shows up in the Apparel collection. Tag it sub-polos and it also shows up in the Polos subcollection. No manual collection assignments needed.
7. Add product metafields (right sidebar of the product page). These show up on the product page for employees:

   • Manufacturer description — what the brand says about the item
   • Materials — fabric, construction details
   • Care instructions — wash, dry, iron, etc.
   • Sizing notes — fit guidance
   • Decoration method — embroidery, screen print, vinyl decal
   • Certifications — ANSI rating, OSHA compliance (for safety items)
8. Set the SEO title and description (scroll down to "Search engine listing"):

   • Title format: [Product Name] | IMPACT Rentals Store
   • Description: one sentence about the item
9. Set the product status to Active (top right) and click Save.

10. The product should now appear in its categories on the storefront. If it doesn't show up, check the tags and confirm you have cat-[category] set correctly.

Editing an existing product

1. Go to Products, search by name, click the product.

2. Update whatever needs updating: description, images, variants, tags, metafields. Click Save.

3. Changes go live on the storefront within seconds. No redeploy needed.

Adding new sizes or colors to a product

1. Open the product. Scroll to the Variants section.

2. Click Add variant, then pick the option value (e.g., a new size "4XL" or a new color "Royal Blue"). Shopify auto-creates a variant.

3. Set its price to $0.00 and add an SKU following the existing pattern.

4. Save. The new variant appears in the cart dropdown for employees.

Removing a product

1. If you're just retiring something temporarily, set the product status to Draft (top right). This hides it from the storefront but keeps the data.

2. If it's gone for good, click ... menu → Delete. Note that deleting is permanent and you'll lose all order history references.

   Prefer draft over delete Drafting a product hides it without losing the data or breaking historical orders. Only delete if you're really sure.

Creating a new collection

Most collections on the store are smart collections — they fill themselves based on product tags. You only create a new collection when you want a new category page that groups products differently.

1. Go to Products → Collections → Create collection.

2. Fill in:

   • Title — what employees will see (e.g., "Outerwear")
   • Description — one short paragraph explaining what's in this collection
   • Collection image — a representative product photo (1200×1200 px square works well)
3. Choose Smart collection type (recommended) so it fills automatically by tag.

4. Set the smart condition: Tag is equal to sub-[your-tag]. Pick a tag name that makes sense and doesn't already exist.

5. Set the SEO title and description:

   • Title: [Collection Name] | IMPACT Rentals Store
   • Description: one sentence describing what's in the collection
6. Save the collection.

7. Now tag any products you want in this collection with the matching sub-[your-tag]. They appear in the collection within seconds.

8. If you want this collection to show in the main navigation, head to Online Store → Navigation → Main menu and add a link to it.

Editing an existing collection

1. Go to Products → Collections, click the collection.

2. Update title, description, image, SEO, or smart-collection rules. Save.

3. If you change the smart rule (e.g., from sub-polos to sub-shirts), the products in the collection update automatically based on what matches the new tag.

Removing a collection

1. Open the collection. Click Delete collection at the bottom.

2. Deleting a collection does not delete the products in it. Products keep their tags and stay in any other collections they belong to.

3. If the collection was in the main menu or footer menu, remove the link separately at Online Store → Navigation.

Tag reference (where to put what)

Quick tips

Common situations

Branch addresses

Who handles what