Learn Why You Should Choose Your Promotional Merchandise Supplier Very Carefully

Twenty five years ago buying promotional merchandise was a very straightforward process. There were only a few catalogues to choose from and the range was fairly limited. The distribution of promotional items was carried out in a well controlled way with manufacturers dealing through agents or distributors. The system worked very well with the promotional merchandise industry having a good reputation for fast service, reliable delivery dates and fair prices. The number of distributors of promotional gifts at that time would have been somewhere in the region of 500.

Move forward twenty five years and the entire promotional merchandise landscape has changed out of all recognition. Whilst most aspects have altered at least the distributor and manufacturer process has remained almost unchanged. In the early days product sourcing was extremely difficult with only the larger distributors being visited by the promotional gift manufacturers. It may seem surprising now but trying to find a new supplier of printed T-Shirts, promotional bottled water or even leather conference folders really did prove to be a big challenge.

It's hardly surprising to learn that the major change in the ability to purloin information has come about as a result of the Internet. A person looking for promotional products to sell just has to have a reasonable computer and a telephone. A supplier no longer needs to lug boxes of samples in and out of offices. His clients can see everything he has on-line. These days everything can be done at the click of a button. Or can it.

Whereas the small distributer of promotional gifts can service many small accounts with annual spends on say printed T-shirts or embroidered polo shirts of around £1,000 they cannot deal with the big organisations. This is because large businesses demand much higher levels of service that a one man band could not possibly hope to provide. Additionally a one man business could never run a promotional merchandise programme or for that matter have the required skills to run massive offshore purchases of promotional merchandise.

The money required to fund large purchases of promotional merchandise would also affect the ability of a small supplier of promotional products. Take the scenario where a large quantity of promotional clothing or even corporate clothing is required by an international company. Buying in the Far East is also another barrier to the small distributor of promotional items as the goods invariably have to be paid for up front. This is exactly the same for major purchases in China or other Far East countries where a job will not even be started until letters of credit are in place.

Most of the new companies setting up in promotional merchandise have nothing in the way of a warehouse or offices, back up staff, service level agreements or even ethical trading documents. That said they can still offer a reasonable service level albeit with a limited capacity. Unfortunately the promotional merchandise industry like every other has a certain number of unsavoury people in it so beware if you buy from an on-line only company. There have been many cases where large deposits have been taken by firms who appear from their websites to be large organisations whereas they simply did not exist at all.

About the Author

Francis Murphy is the Managing Director of BTC Group which was established in 1977 and currently runs more than 25 Promotional Merchandise Programmes for clients that include AA,BBC, Coca Cola Enterprises ,HMV,Tesco and Nomura Bank. His 30+ years of experience in the Promotional Merchandise arena has helped him develop an organisation that has grown to become the largest privately owned company of its type in the UK.

Article Source: eArticle Pro

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