Thanks to innovative developments in technology, essential tasks such as searching for products, obtaining pricing, choosing decoration and placing orders takes a fraction of the time it once did – and it’s a whole lot easier. And, with tools that provide realistic embroidery renderings, design customization and presale proofs, the process is more accurate than ever.

For the past 68 years, the PPAI Pyramid Award has stood as the industry’s top prize for achievements in creative campaigns and promotions, exceptional decorating craftmanship and superiority in technology.

This year, the PPAI Pyramid Award in Technology recognizes four industry companies for their contributions to the technologies that are so crucial to promo professionals. Six gold and silver trophies, provided by Pacesetter, were recently awarded for excellence in e-commerce websites, mobile apps/websites and web content/functionality.

eCommerce Website

Gold
PCNA

PCNA’s website was designed to guide distributors through every stage of their order journey. It all starts with powerful search tools that allow users to filter products by price or net price range, quantity, brand and decoration options, along with enhancements like Trending Searches and Shop Now buttons for quick ideas.

Once a product selection is made, the Order Estimator instantly provides decorated and blank pricing, downloadable quotes and large order discount options. Next, distributors can access art libraries, virtuals and realistic embroidery renderings. A new Virtual Creator tool enables multiple versions of virtuals simultaneously, and the Virtual History tool automatically saves them for future reference.

For added efficiency, the Presale Proofs tool lets customers create and approve a proof before submitting an order. From there, checkout is streamlined to separate decorated, blank and sample items so they can be shipped together or to different locations.

Silver
commonsku

Shops, located on commonsku’s website, gives distributors a choice of three types of branded e-commerce storefronts – Pop-Up, Marketing and Company – each designed to address specific client engagement needs. The platform unifies every stage of the e-commerce experience, from product sourcing and storefront design to client communication and order fulfillment.

Through commonsku Shops, distributors can create branded, secure storefronts with minimal technical expertise, and they support group orders, internal merchandise distribution and large-scale marketing campaigns. Navigation is intuitive, allowing distributors to move effortlessly between creation, product selection, client interaction and integrated design customization, while easy address collection and payment systems create a frictionless check-out process. The program also integrates with SAGE, ESP and Distributor Central, offering a scalable solution that simplifies e-commerce and accelerates business growth.

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Mobile Apps/Mobile Websites

Gold
Thumbprint

In just two days, Thumbprint built a fully automated redemption platform that allowed GameStop employees to order a launch-specific shirt for Nintendo’s most anticipated console introduction of the year.

Employees simply clicked a link on a simple, branded micro-site, entered their store number (which automatically filled in the shipping info) and selected their size. Behind the scenes, thousands of orders were individually packed and bulk-shipped to more than 2,000 stores and tracked through a live dashboard that fed data back to GameStop for analytics and shipping insights.

Thanks to the quick work of Thumbprint, all GameStop employees were appropriately outfitted for the big launch with almost zero effort from their end. The platform turned what could have been chaos into a streamlined experience so GameStop could focus on the launch while Thumbprint handled everything else.

Silver
Gemline

Gemline introduced enhancements to its mobile website to reduce friction and ensure a smoother user experience. The updates included adding Product Compare to product pages (a feature previously available only on listing pages) so users could quickly compare multiple products without toggling back and forth. Also, new promotional banners were inserted within each of the four main navigation categories to spotlight new brands, promotions and product launches. The banners were optimized to fit seamlessly across screen sizes, providing an engaging visual alternative to text-heavy menus.

The result is a mobile experience that is intuitive, efficient and visually aligned with Gemline’s brand standards, ensuring that mobile users enjoy the same high-quality experience as desktop users. The upgrades increased usage of Product Compare across mobile and desktop applications, while the new navigation banners drove increased engagement and clicks.

Web Content/Functionality

Gold
commonsku

The redesigned commonsku website provides practical resources for users, including a versatile collection of original articles, on-demand webinars, customer stories and an extensive library of podcasts hosted by commonsku. Content also includes a series of free downloadable e-books to help users optimize their operations and an archive of the bi-monthly e-newsletter, The Backpack, filled with the latest in merch news, tips and insights.

Designed to meet the individual needs of owners, salespeople, production pros and those in finance, the site is also packed with features like sales presentations, Shops, product markups, client portals, navigation, dashboards, reports and analytics. For users new to commonsku, there’s also detailed information about the platform to help them get started, onboard, train users and obtain technical support.

Silver
PCNA

PCNA’s site, built as a pre-sales hub to help distributors quickly and easily move from product selection to order placement, was restructured to align with four core distributor needs: products, tools, services and knowledge. In quick order, distributors can navigate pricing, decoration visuals, brand stories, sustainability details and compliance resources, with enhancements like deep inventory flags and Sure Ship max quantities.

New tools were added, such as Order Estimator and Presale Proofs, to simplify quoting and speed up production. A new dropdown link previews Coming Soon items and showcases the Product of the Week, along with evergreen marketing content that’s ready for distributors to use. The site also includes knowledge centers, like Decoration 101, that serve as both a client resource and provide internal training. To support growth, the updated Getting Started with PCNA page gives users quick access to onboarding information.

Filipski is a freelance writer and former director of publications at PPAI.