I know it feels more like summer than fall and I haven't even wrapped my head around the fact that it's almost Thanksgiving but it really is time to start thinking about Christmas PROMO. Christmas is a very busy time of year for the PROMO industry and it has already started.  

You see, although Christmas falls on December 25th, which, at the time of writing this blog is about 12 weeks away. But your Christmas PROMO giving normally starts mid to late November. Christmas parties start happening in November and you're hosting final meetings of the year with staff and clients before people start going on holidays. Most company Christmas appreciation gifts are given out before the middle of December. So now you've lost 2-4 weeks of the time you thought you had.

So, now you're really about 8-10 weeks away from needing your holiday PROMO order. That's still pretty decent.

During "normal" conditions, it generally takes 3-5 weeks from ordering to having PROMO in your hands.

By "normal", I mean:

• Not Christmas when everything is busier,
• Not during this unprecedented cross-industry labour shortage, or
• Continued issues with the supply chain.

Now, we're getting pretty skilled at working around these challenges and finding solutions but in most cases, it does take us longer than it used to in order to secure stock, connect with suppliers to confirm orders and get product mock ups, and get your order placed. 

At Christmas, it's also a time where you might be spending a little more than your average order and you really want to pick great items to show your employees and customers how much you appreciate them, so it's nice to have a bit more time to really consider your options and get feedback from others.

So, if we add in an extra 2 weeks to cover the Christmas busy-ness and supply chain challenges and another week to give you more time to consider options and make a decision, it will likely take 6-8 weeks to complete your order.

So, now, the fact that you need your Christmas PROMO 8-10 weeks from now doesn't seem that far away does it?

Let's walk through an example: 

Let's say you want to make sure you have all of your gifts ready for your Christmas party on Saturday, November 26th.  Because no one wants to be wondering if everything will get there on time and things need to get organized, let's assume it's best if you have everything in your hands a week earlier so, ideally, everything is ready for pick up by Friday, November 18th.  

Well, let's remember that generally speaking, an order takes about 3-4 weeks from approval of the proof.  Because it's the busiest season in the PROMO world, let's be conservative and assume it will take 4 weeks to arrive after you've approved the final art proof. (And the closer we get to Christmas, the longer the timelines can be but because you started early, it's safe to assume about 4 weeks.)

So, now, in our perfect world, you are approving the final art proof by Friday, October 21st.

But, as suppliers are struggling with labour shortages, it could take a few days to get the final art proof after we've placed your order.  And, if it takes you a day or two to approve the final proof, to be safe, let's try to make sure we have your order placed by the start of the week on Monday, October 17th.

For us to place your order, we need to get your approval on the quote, so we'll want to make sure we get that out to you by Thursday, October 13th so you can review it and make any changes before you provide your approval. 

Starting to feel like it's time to come see us? We like the way you think!

Now, that isn't to say that we can't get items more quickly and if you come see us on November 1st, we're not going to turn you away and we will help you find great appreciation gifts for your customers and employees but it will significantly limit the items that you have available to select from, not only because we'll have to find items with shorter production and shipping timelines, but also because of inventory. We are already facing inventory shortages and the closer it gets to Christmas, the harder it's going to be to find the specific products you want.

The good news is that we've been working through these supply chain issues for a couple of years now so we've found a lot of solutions and work arounds for our customers but  it's just that there are so many interesting and unique products out there that we'd love to have the widest range of options available to you and the sooner we can start talking, the more memorable we can make this year's Christmas order, without either of us having to stress over whether everything will be ready in time!