The summer is barely over, and the Halloween decorations have already hit store shelves. If you are a business owner or executive, it's time to think seriously about the holidays. There is no time to spare if you plan to order branded gift items for your clients or employees.
Holiday gifting time is always crazy busy. It will take a little longer than usual to produce almost any branded item from now until the end of the year. Supply chain challenges are already extending critical production times for many promotional suppliers, even before the season begins. Also, shipping delays will be almost unavoidable and can compound delays. Keep in mind that UPS and FedEx are not guaranteeing delivery times any longer. All this adds up to a season that is promising to be hectic.
If there is one thing you take away from this post, please let it be this. Order your holiday gifts NOW. Save yourself the time, money, and headaches of the inevitable production and shipping delays.
Holiday Gifting Trends
At the promotional industry’s summer trade show, the most popular promotional gifting items for the 2022 holiday season were predicted to be these products:
- Sustainably sourced and produced items like t-shirts made from recycled or organic materials
- High-value items like Bluetooth speakers and other tech gifts
- Drinkware as a lifestyle accessory such as a Yeti
- Casual apparel that is not so “businessy” like flannels for instance
- Food gifts from handcrafted sources with more options and flavors
Joe Schlosser, our director of branded merchandise, offered these insights into this year's holiday trends. "Apparel is always a popular gift, but it can be difficult to coordinate because of limited inventory and sizing issues. This year, several suppliers, including Gemline, Goldbond Inc., PCNA, and Hirsch Premium, are offering apparel gift sets that combine several items in a beautiful gift box." This simplifies the ordering and shipping process.
Custom Gifting
Another popular trend will be custom gifting sites, where your business invites your clients and employees to select their perfect gift from an online gifting portal, similar to an eCommerce site. A custom gifting platform is especially helpful if your employees are still working in a remote environment, or your clients are located worldwide. Here's how it works. First, you choose a number of gifts to offer on the site. Then, you send a link to the gift website to your recipients, inviting them to choose a gift. Each gift can be customized to size and color and shipped directly to the recipient.
This trend supports your company's mission of inclusion and sustainability because recipients can choose a meaningful gift they will actually use. Also, your corporate gifting process becomes more streamlined because it includes sourcing, packaging, and delivery, which saves you money. It's a win-win for everyone.
Media:Link, Phase 3's proprietary and customizable web-to-print procurement system, provides a strategic, cost-effective platform that simplifies your holiday gift ordering and fulfillment process. It eliminates the bottleneck of ordering through one office and shipping gifts from there. Instead, the gifts are ordered by your employees or clients and shipped directly to them, no matter where they are. Our print system allows you to offer custom gifts but still maintain control of your brand standards. You'll reduce warehousing expenses and wasted items because we'll print and ship only the gifts your recipients order.
Batch Gifting
Of course, if you need to place a large order of branded gifts, Phase 3’s promotional product division has the resources to simplify the process. We will work as your creative partner to develop custom, curated gifts that deliver your unique brand message in a memorable item that will please the most exclusive tastes. Our catalogs include gifts for every budget and every number of items needed.
We promise to make holiday gifting easy, and your business look good. We have the years of experience and an extensive list of qualified suppliers with preferred pricing to help you stretch your holiday gifting budget. If you'd like to create a unique gift package from multiple suppliers, we can also provide packaging and kitting, where we can combine several products in a custom-branded gift box.
The holidays will be here in just a few short months. Don't be caught empty-handed. Make your holiday gifting plans now. Phase 3 can help. From sourcing, ordering, customizing, printing, kitting, and shipping, we'll take care of the details so you can enjoy the holidays. Call us today to start strategizing that perfect employee or customer gift.