How to Gear Up in this Holiday Season for Promotional Industry

10 Nov

Find out the #1 challenges promo business players face and how to overcome them for seasonal success.

Q4 is a crucial period for Promotional Businesses for the winter holiday’s hustle and bustle. Additionally, situations like COVID-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which would have appeared unthinkable just a few years ago, affects industries and raises concerns.

However, the promotional products market has proven incredibly resilient, and demand for such items is rising. According to Advertising Specialty Institute, the industry has grown 21% collectively and will continue to do so.

So in this article, we share the #1 challenges that will be faced as a distributor, supplier, and decorator and the remedies you can take to make the best out of this year

Managing the stock is a challenging endeavor. Both the process and the results affect every facet of the promo business. However, problems with the supply chain, companies closing down overseas, shipping delays, the availability of raw materials, lack of labor, and other variables can significantly impact the inventory level.

If there is a demand increase, there will be a stock gap, which is a complex problem. This might result in a loss and give possibilities to competitors.

Suppliers Top Challenge

Maintaining Inventory

A supplier’s ability to deliver products to clients on time is essential to their success. In addition, keeping track of their inventory and managing it efficiently enables them to satisfy customer demand and boost sales. Managing the stock is a challenging endeavor. Both the process and the results affect every facet of the promo business.

However, problems with the supply chain, companies closing down overseas, shipping delays, the availability of raw materials, lack of labor, and other variables can significantly impact the inventory level. If there is a demand increase, there will be a stock gap, which is a complex problem. This might result in a loss and give possibilities to competitors.

How to overcome?

If the suppliers can maximize their inventory levels and simplify the process of gathering inventory information, they can fulfill their commitments to their customers. This is something that can be accomplished if

The customers have constant access to up-to-date inventory information
Know that the suppliers have the products before they are shipped somewhere else
Have the date of the next shipment is coming and the time of their arrival
Can easily transfer information

Good inventory management is the key to ensuring the suppliers don’t have a downfall when managing heavy demand and gaining superior customer loyalty. When customers are provided information about the stock and meet customer demands quickly and efficiently, suppliers can have a competitive advantage in the industry with returning customers.

Distributor Challenge

Order Fulfillment

Thanks to the growth of eCommerce, the entry of industry titans like Amazon, and current geopolitical events, the distribution industry is more competitive than ever. Consumers have more options, manufacturers engage in more direct selling, and profit margins are less.

In this new environment, distributors’ once-specialized function is being diminished. The challenges will cause distributors to adjust and become more efficient or witness a significant portion of their revenue leaking away.

Making end-client in-hands dates with proper orders is also a continued to hurdle. Due to uncontrollable delays with delivery providers, the promo order fulfillment times are lengthened. The pool of seasonal workers to choose from is getting less by the day, and with unemployment hovering around 50-year lows, businesses are in a tight spot as they try to fill temporary positions.

Predicting the beginning and end of peak season can also be extremely costly to companies that either pay for unnecessary labor and equipment before the rush or cannot handle incoming volumes.

How to overcome?

Through Automation! Why?
Because every process to make the products will be in sync, and all the parties will be involved.

Automation saves time, reduces human error and makes more money by allowing parties to conduct business fast and effectively. Speed and accuracy will help distributors to manage and fill in order fast
without any errors.

Customers can have a better overall experience if they are kept informed about the status of their order and if they are communicated with its handling. On top of that, everything will be aligned, and workflows will be improved and reallocate labor to higher-value tasks, ensuring better customer experience and orders fulfilled.

Decorator Challenge

Increase In Cost

In 2022, supply chain difficulties will continue to raise costs and force manufacturers to adjust swiftly. A volatile supply chain will increase raw material and freight costs, and sluggish deliveries are the new normal. Driver shortages and port congestion may continue in 2022. Higher expenses are more likely to be passed on to customers if demand exceeds supply.

Given the radically unpredictable supply changes, the conventional methods of managing supply chain risk by determining a minimum inventory buffer have proven useless. Traditional ERP systems aren’t suited for modeling links and dependencies; thus, managing extensive chains of relationships is difficult.

How to overcome?

Better use of technology to optimize processes would lead to increased production, delivery capacity, and improved responsiveness to customers’ needs. Automation has the potential to cut costs by lowering the reliance on physical labor, which is becoming more and more expensive, and increasing the speed at which orders can be processed. It does this by boosting productivity while cutting labor costs at the same time.

Final Thoughts

Adaptability will play a significant role in navigating the volatility and monetizing the opportunity that will happen during this holiday season. Timing and highly efficient infrastructure will ensure the flow of operation, and effective communication will be a crucial contributor to success.

To help you make interconnection and increase automation for your businesses, PromoLink can be the best tool.

PromoLink understands the value of timing and planning with many years of experience in the promotional sector. This means also providing customized integration for your specific processes that are only suited to your unique needs and satisfy the demands of your organization.

It also brings other benefits to the tables, such as