A mall can also help you to resupply several items in one location.
Once you get bots, the game changes dramatically. After that point, I play more from map view than actually walking around.
And after all, you play the game, don't let the game play you ;)
I had a very short and consistent scheme for a while. No text, just icons.
{materiel icon}{chest icon}
For example, one station provides iron plates to the rail network (loads onto train), the other requests crude oil from the rail network (unloads from train):
Downsides: Some uncommon icons can be hard to read. Some liquids are similar in color and hard to identify when seen alone.
So later we changed to a better readable format. Examples:
[L]
Iron Plates
[U]
Crude Oil