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A quarter of a century ago if you wanted to purchase some Promotional Merchandise it was a relatively simple thing to do. The number of available catalogues could be counted on one had and the range was pretty limited. Manufacturers of the promotional items sold them through a network of distributors. The promotional merchandise industry had a very good name back then, they could be relied upon to deliver on time, at a reasonable cost and quickly as well. The total number of companies selling promotional items during that period would have been around 500.
Now as we are well into a new century the entire promotional merchandise arena look very different indeed. Ok there still exists in some form the manufacturer and distributor system but most other things have moved on. Trying to source new products was very difficult because the big manufacturers would not take the trouble to visit small distributors. Products such as promotional bottled water, leather conference folders and even printed T-shirts could be extremely difficult to find.
Without a doubt the number one factor in this change has been the Internet which has transformed the supply of information. Now all a person needs to become a supplier of Promotional Gifts is a computer and a mobile phone. The days of him having to carry samples of promotional items around in the boot of his car are long gone. These days everything can be done at the click of a button. Or can it?
Large organisations are usually not prepared to deal with the small distributor who may be more used to dealing with accounts that buy printed T-shirts or embroidered polo shirts once or twice per annum. 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.
Finance also plays a major part in determining the level of business a small promotional merchandise distributor can handle. An good example might be where a large company is looking for a big quantity of promotional clothing or corporate clothing. The potential layout on these items could run into tens of thousands of pounds and small distributors simply cannot support finance at that level. 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.
Many of the new promotional merchandise companies have no proper structure such as offices, warehouses or even standard ethical trading policies or levels of service agreements. Even so they can be flexible and offer a good enough service level for some clients.
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.
Tags: promotional clothing, promotional gifts, promotional items, promotional merchandise, promotional products
Posted in Business · February 24th, 2010 · Comments (0)
The safety testing of promotional merchandise has become a massive subject over the past couple of decades. In this article we look at the various sorts of testing and offer 5 tips on how to make sure your Promotional Clothing will pass all the necessary requirements for their intended market.
1.Get to know your local testing laboratory
Getting to know your local product safety testing laboratory is an important step in the whole process. Even if your local lab does not have a lot of experience in testing promotional merchandise there are manuals and procedures that are used globally to ensure consistency in testing. Once they have performed tests on a few promotional items for you they will get to know how you work, what requirements the industry needs and things become much easier.
2. Investigate which specific tests will be needed for each product.
Different tests for all types of Promotional Items are required and a lot depends upon where they will end up going. A good example might be promotional bottled water or even leather conference folders. It’s not just the water that would need testing for any impurities, the bottle would need to be checked to make sure it is safe from any dangerous substances. And you may be surprised to learn that the label would be checked as well.
3. Discover as much as you can about all the entire testing process
It is much better to try and iron out any potential design problems in a new product whilst it is on the drawing board. A knowledge of what tests may be required will save you lots of time and money later. If you were to consider making a new electrical device such as an MP3 Player or even a new sort of flash drive. These would have to have entirely different tests compared to the first two examples above. Another sector entirely like promotional clothing would have different tests again. Take promotional jackets, embroidered polo shirts or even printed T-shirts, in fact any sort of corporate clothing, all these items would be subjected to tests to make sure the colour dyes did not run.
4. Learn about product labelling
Product labelling is another area that is really important when it comes to safety testing. You must ensure that all the Business Gifts you give away has been correctly identified for the target audience. There are labels for every promotional product that you can think of and if they can’t go onto the actual item itself, say in the case of a small promotional keyring, then they go on to the plastic bag that it is supplied in.
5. Go on specific training courses
You cannot take any chances with product safety testing. Look up the subject on Google and find a local course that can at least teach you the basics of the subject. Some trade associations run such courses or your local trade & commerce organisation should be able to point you in the right direction. Failing that talk to other traders in the same field as you at exhibitions or conferences. It’s in everybody’s interest to maintain good standards in their respective industries.
Tags: promotional clothing, promotional gifts, promotional items, promotional merchandise, promotional products
Posted in Business · February 10th, 2010 · Comments (0)