Marty Bear, president of PMSI Promotions, offers the following suggestions on how to order swag during COVID and talks about supply chain issues everyone should be aware of.
He suggests that purchasers e flexible with color choice. Popular promotional items are out of stock in several of the more prominent colors, such as black. He also says it’s important to lock inventory in place by ordering in higher quantities than lower. You can always decrease, but demand might make it difficult to increase your order.
Swag orders are impacted by issues on the other side of the world. Small and medium Chinese factories have not been able to accept new orders because cash flow has been frozen by their current orders sitting in containers. Their money is not available until those goods leave China. Chinese New Year, which takes place in early February, will add to the crisis. In China, most factories and transportation shut down for two to three weeks, which means inventory will get backed up again through the first 2 quarters of 2022.
Get those orders in early!
