Make a Plan for Christmas … in July

‘Tis the season to start your Christmas shopping.

Really.

All things summer may be front of mind right now, but given the on-going supply chain challenges our industry has been facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it really is more important than ever to start planning early for your year-end/holiday gifting and promotional needs.

A number of factors have been contributing to the supply chain challenges in our industry — including inventory shortfalls, longer production times, rising costs of labor and raw material, and shipping delays. These issues within the promotional products industry appear to be something we’ll be facing for the rest of the year, and potentially into 2022.

That means it’s more important than ever to PLAN AHEAD for your promotional products needs. Truly, July is NOT too soon to start selecting and even ordering your year-end and holiday promotions, to make sure you’ve got the best chance of securing the items you want, when you want them. The year-end rush of orders puts a strain on production times and inventory under normal circumstances; it will be even more challenging given the on-going issues described above.

This doesn’t just apply to year-end or holiday needs, though — especially as more of the world re-opens, and we start returning to in-person gatherings.

We’ve always emphasized the importance of ordering early for events and projects with firm in-hands date, but it’s more important than ever — and the recommended lead time is longer than ever, too. Where we once suggested a general 2-3 week turnaround time for most items, many items are now requiring up to two months lead time, and that’s just for domestic production. Overseas projects could take several months to complete.

Does that mean you can’t get anything turned around quickly?

Of course not — but it does mean your options will be more limited than you’re used to, and even our rush products may take a few days longer than usual.

So our advice for the foreseeable future?

Plan ahead. Order early. Be flexible.

We’re always here to help you think ahead and brainstorm, too!