A quarter of a century ago if you wanted to purchase some Promotional Products 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.
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