Corporate Gift Suppliers Stock Up, but Ordering Early Is Still Your Best Bet.

Corporate Gift Suppliers Stock Up, but Ordering Early Is Still Your Best Bet.

After the last couple of years of dealing with bare shelves, factory shutdowns, and countless shipping delays, suppliers have made great strides to be more prepared for this year's holiday season.

For months, suppliers who cater to the corporate apparel and hardgoods market have been proactively building up their inventories to ensure they will be in a better position to deliver. They've invested heavily in staffing levels to improve production rates as well as customer service. And they've added new equipment to ensure efficient order fulfillment.

However, there are still gaps within the supply chain they're keeping an eye out for.

Despite everybody planning for a strong comeback, some obstacles are beyond a supplier's control. Overseas shutdowns, holdups and bottlenecks due to 'Zero-Covid' policies threaten to spoil the party. Diversifying the supply base has provided some with a safety net in case of delays and backups on some products. But since the vast majority of hardgoods still originate offshore, timely stock replenishment is always a concern.

Even if a product is available and in stock, it still needs to get delivered on time. These last two years also saw a veritable explosion of online retailing. Keeping up with the corresponding rise in demand is something freight forwarders and couriers struggle with daily. Add in the increased volumes associated with the holiday season and it's a big reason for much hand-wringing - for supplier, vendor, shipper and buyer alike.

Thanks to the forward-thinking efforts of our trusted network of corporate gift suppliers, this holiday season is shaping up to be far better for our clients than it has been in quite some time. Still, as we have been reminding everyone for a while now, the best way to ensure a happy and successful outcome for your holiday gifting program - i.e. the exact items and delivery window of your choosing - is to get that order in-hand soon!

If you would like Cotton Candy to help you pick the perfect holiday gift ideas for your team, simply email us at [email protected], and one of our product experts will reach out to you shortly.