When October is halfway over, you know the holidays will be here soon. It’s also at this time that suppliers begin reporting critical inventory levels for our hottest products, so you will want to order your customer and employee gifts as soon as you can. 

When you are shopping for corporate gifts, here are a few things you should keep in mind. 

What’s popular this season?

Keep an eye on what consumer goods are popular this season. Not only will your customers appreciate a gift in line with current technological and fashion trends, they will also recognize your company as forward-thinking. Our product experts expect to see historic sales in the following product categories this holiday season:

Promotional cases and other tablet accessories will be in high demand this holiday season.

• Custom Tablet Accessories: With the emergence of the iPad and other tablet computers as the hottest gift item this year, we expect to see a shortage of tablet accessories.
• Personalized Smart Phone Accessories: Smart phones like the new iPhone 4S and the new Samsung Nexus Prime make smart phone accessories a smart corporate gift choice for any company with a tech-savvy customer base.
• Custom Fleece Apparel: Given fleece’s current popularity and the winter weather just around the corner, we anticipate seeing limited availability on fleece garments come December.

Timing is everything.

Our sales administrators work very closely with our suppliers to prevent misprints, damaged goods, and other mishaps, but the fact remains that they still sometimes happen. The earlier you order, the more time there is to correct issues. 

Make sure to give yourself at least 2 weeks of lead time when ordering employee recognition awards and other engraved merchandise.

• Rush Orders: Rush production is still available during the holiday season; however, you may find that it’s not available on as many items, costs more, and could take longer than rush orders placed at other times of the year. In the case of rush orders, we will work tirelessly to ensure that your order arrives to your quickly and correctly.
• Engraving: During the holidays, many companies reward their top employees and customers with handsome engraved gifts and awards. Engraving takes longer than other imprint methods, so make sure to order such products at least a couple weeks before your event.

Buy early to ensure availability.

The later in the year you wait to order, the fewer corporate gift options will be available. Generally speaking, if a supply partner runs out of stock of an item after October one year, they will not restock that item again until February of the following year.

These items are those that traditionally sell out before the end of the year, so you will want to order them as soon as you can.

Bar and Wine Gift Sets are extremely popular corporate gifts for the holidays.

• Bar and Wine Gift Sets: With more parties occurring over the holidays than other times of the year, suppliers often run out of stock on their bar and wine gift sets in late November.
• Coffee Gift Sets: The everyday utility of coffee gift sets, coupled with the cooler weather, makes them a very popular product category every holiday season.
• Executive and Office Gifts: Leather goods and executive gifts often sell out just as holiday shopping heats up. Don’t miss out.
• Corporate Awards: In the past, we have seen our mid-priced employee recognition awards selling out before our luxury or bargain awards do.
• Custom Calendars: Certain suppliers have guaranteed stock on some 2012 calendars through the end of the year, but to ensure you have the widest selection, order your custom calendars now. Once 2012 arrives, suppliers stock up on calendars for 2013.

The Bottom Line

Shopping for corporate gifts can be difficult, especially as the holidays get closer. The best way to avoid headaches in December is to finish your corporate gift shopping before then. 

Looking for more corporate gift ideas? Be sure to check out our picks for the best corporate gifts for this holiday season!

If you need assistance shopping for corporate gifts, Please call 800-554-0127 to speak with a promotions expert.