Why retailers and online sellers use e-signatures
Retail moves to the calendar. Supplier terms have to be agreed before stock is ordered for the season. Temporary staff have to be contracted before the peak, not during it. A new store lease has to be signed before the fit-out can start. Online sellers have the same pressures with fewer people: a founder negotiating with a manufacturer overseas, a fulfilment partner in another city and a team that is mostly remote.
SignPe keeps those agreements moving. You upload the document — PDF, Word (DOC or DOCX) or a photo of a paper form — place the fields each person must complete, add the signers and send. Each person receives an email with a Review & Sign Document button and signs in their browser or on the SignPe app for iOS and Android; nobody needs an account to sign. When everyone has signed, all parties receive the signed PDF and you can download an audit trail.
It works the same whether you run one shop, a chain of stores or an online brand with no shopfront at all. Store managers can sign from a phone on the shop floor, buyers from a laptop at a trade show, and head office from the web app.
Supplier, distributor and manufacturer agreements
Supply agreements, distribution agreements, manufacturing contracts, consignment terms and non-disclosure agreements with new vendors usually need a signature from each business, sometimes from several people at each. The faster they are signed, the sooner stock is on order.
- Countersign in the right order. Use Set signer order so the supplier signs first and your authorised signatory countersigns — the next signer is emailed automatically.
- Company details and stamps. Add Company and Designation fields for each signatory, and apply your company stamp from your saved library where your agreements carry one.
- Initials on the terms. Place Initials on pages with pricing, payment terms or exclusivity clauses so it is clear each was seen.
- Buyers and finance in the loop. Copy the buyer or finance team as observers so they receive updates without being asked to sign.
Agreements drafted by your supplier can be shared into the SignPe app straight from an email, or imported from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or Box. Our guide to signing vendor agreements online covers the process step by step, and signing an NDA online covers the confidentiality agreement that often comes first.
Store leases and franchise paperwork
Commercial leases for shop units, concession agreements inside department stores, pop-up and market-stall licences and franchise agreements are long documents with several parties: the landlord or franchisor, the retailer, and often a guarantor. Each needs to sign every relevant page.
- Every party on one document. Add the landlord, tenant and guarantor as signers — there is no limit on signers per document — so there is one final version carrying every signature.
- Unlimited pages. Upload the whole lease, schedules and plans included, up to 20 MB per upload.
- Dates in the format you use. Date fields support DD/MM/YYYY, MM/DD/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, DD-MM-YYYY and “MMMM DD, YYYY”.
- When the signatory is away. A user can delegate their signing to a colleague in the same organisation, who can sign on their behalf; the delegate is notified.
If the heads of terms change after you have sent the lease, void the document — the old signing link stops working and every signer is told — and send the revised version. Our guide to filling and signing a lease agreement online shows the tenant’s side.
Seasonal and store staff onboarding
Retail hires in waves — before the holidays, before a sale season, before a new store opens. Each wave brings employment contracts, shift agreements, uniform and equipment acknowledgements and policy sign-offs, often for people who start within days of being offered the job.
- Sign on a phone. New starters sign in any modern browser or on the SignPe app, as guests after an electronic-records consent screen.
- Store manager first, or last. Use Set signer order so the store manager signs before or after the new hire, as your process requires.
- Countersign a stack quickly. Choose Apply to all fields of the same type to fill every signature box assigned to you from a saved signature.
- First-day paperwork in person. When a new starter is in the store, In person Signing lets them sign on a manager’s tablet there and then.
The Waiting for Others filter shows every contract still waiting on a new hire, and Remind emails everyone who has not signed with one click. Our guide to signing employment contracts online covers contracts in more detail.
Customer sign-offs: deliveries, installations and special orders
Some retail transactions need the customer’s signature: a furniture or appliance delivery and installation sign-off, a special-order or made-to-measure agreement, a layaway or deposit agreement, a repair or service authorisation, or a high-value item collected in store. These often happen face to face, on a doorstep or across a counter.
| Situation | How to collect the signature |
|---|---|
| Customer is at the counter | In person Signing on a store tablet or phone |
| Driver or installer is at the customer’s home | In-Person Signing in the SignPe app on the driver’s phone |
| Order was placed online | Email a Review & Sign Document link; the customer signs as a guest |
| A paper slip already exists | Scan it with the SignPe app — up to 20 pages, with automatic edge detection |
If a customer disagrees
A customer can choose Decline to sign? rather than sign something they dispute — a damaged delivery, for example. You are notified straight away and can follow up while the details are fresh.
A typical retail signing workflow
Prepare the document
Upload the agreement, contract or sign-off form, or scan a paper form with the SignPe app. Save it as a draft while terms are agreed — drafts do not use a document credit.
Place and assign fields
Drag Signature, Initials, Date, Full Name, Company and Checkmark fields onto the page and assign each to the right signer.
Choose how it is signed
Send it by email with Set signer order, or choose In person Signing when the signer is in front of you.
Track and remind
Follow each signer through Sent, Received, Opened and Signed, and use Remind for anyone who has stalled.
Keep the record
When everyone has signed, all parties receive the signed copy. Download it with the audit trail PDF for your supplier, store or customer file.
Compliance considerations for retail documents
Electronic signatures are recognised for most commercial documents under laws including the US ESIGN Act and UETA, the EU’s eIDAS regulation and India’s Information Technology Act 2000. Some documents — certain leases, deeds and consumer credit agreements, depending on where you trade — have specific signing or disclosure requirements, so confirm with your legal adviser which documents can be signed electronically. The legality guide covers India in detail.
- An audit trail per document. The downloadable audit trail shows the document ID, sent and completed dates, and when each signer was emailed, viewed and signed.
- Access limited to participants. Only the sender, signers and observers on a document can open it.
- Encryption in transit and at rest. Documents travel over HTTPS/TLS and are stored in encrypted cloud storage — see eSignature security.
- Aadhaar eSign in India. Aadhaar eSign adds OTP verification through eMudhra and a PKI-signed PDF for agreements where stronger signer identity matters.
Customer and employee documents contain personal data, so apply your own data-protection and retention policies to the signed copies you download.
How to send a supplier agreement for e-signature
Upload the agreement
Upload the agreement as a PDF or Word file, share it into the SignPe app from your email, or import it from cloud storage.
Add the signers
Choose Set signer order, add the supplier first and your authorised signatory second, and add the buyer as an observer.
Place the fields
Add Signature, Date, Company and Designation fields for each signer, and Initials on pages with key terms.
Send and track
The supplier is emailed a Review & Sign Document link; your signatory is emailed automatically once they sign.
Receive the signed copy
Once everyone has signed, all parties receive the signed PDF and the audit trail is ready to download.
