This is the one distinction worth reading carefully, because both send alerts and they're configured in different places.
| Store contact | Member | |
|---|---|---|
| Configured on | The store | People & roles |
| Covers | That one store | A territory — stores, regions or markets |
| Can sign in | No | Yes, when their email is invited |
| Has a role | No | Yes — the role decides capability and alerts |
| Best for | The person physically at that site, who just needs the text | Anyone with responsibility across more than one store |
A store contact is the simplest possible thing: a name, a phone or email, and which levels they want. No account, no login, no role. For the shift manager who needs to know their own kitchen is dangerous, that is exactly right.
A member is a person in your organization. Their role says what they can do and what they hear about; their territory says which stores are theirs. Members are who escalation runs through and who can acknowledge from the dashboard.
Both count toward covering a store. Readiness treats a store as covered if either a contact or a member would be told immediately about Danger there.