Your Guide to Holiday Merch Planning
The holiday season is a golden annual opportunity to connect with clients, reward employees, and promote your brand in a meaningful way. But we have to tell you: a successful holiday campaign isn't usually a magical fulfillment (read: high-stress scramble) of that great idea your VP had on Thanksgiving Day after carving the turkey. The dynamic, successful campaigns we’ve seen and run involve strategic planning, thoughtful execution, and a touch of festive whimsy.
Why Holiday Merch Matters
Holiday merchandise goes beyond a simple gift; it can strengthen client or vendor relationships, and it’s a great way to show appreciation. Merch can extend your brand’s visibility organically and authentically. Unlike a fleeting email or social media post, a physical product creates a tangible memory and a lasting impression of your team’s thoughtfulness.
Gifting employees holiday merch is a fantastic way to show some love. Nothing says team spirit like exclusive team holiday gear, but that’s table stakes for most teams. Ramp it up a notch with additional luxe holiday gear strategically selected as surprise gifts for long-term employees. Whether you share it in private with a personal note or make a full-team celebration of handing it out, this gifting strategy is a great way to show appreciation for (years of) hard work while subtly fostering loyalty.
Building a Realistic Budget
A thoughtful budget is the foundation of a successful campaign. To ensure you get the most bang for your buck, we suggest that you segment your recipients. This probably happens organically as you create your recipient list, but we challenge you to be intentional.
Consider a tiered approach for your gifting. VIP clients and key employees should be your tier 1 gifts. These folks are the first names on the spreadsheet because they are your a-team. Your favorite clients, your best advocates, your core team that makes sure the work gets done. We recommend high-value, premium items for this group.
Most of your recipients naturally fall into a mid-tier budget that necessitates practical items for everyday use. Beyond this core list, consider a third lower-price tier of gifts that you can hand out to folks like the UPS guy, your top client’s receptionist, and office visitors who stop by during the holidays.
This framework will start shaping a cost range per item, which will win you major gift-planning stars at our first planning meeting. But while you’re still finalizing the budget, don’t forget about a few logistics. Working with any merchandise supplier will include setup fees to get your logo applied to the items, kitting costs to get those items in your chosen packaging options, and unavoidable shipping fees to get those gifts to your non-local recipients.
Additionally you’ll want to add a line item for packaging materials - can’t forget the brown paper packages tied up with string (or ribbon, and stuffed with tissue paper, maybe some bubble wrap, packing peanuts and… well, you get the idea.) Some of those costs like shipping and packaging will be unknown early on, but don’t forget to leave a range for those items so you don’t have to backtrack with your accounting team.
When you come to our first planning/ideation meeting, bring that beautiful budget and the list of lucky recipients. Make your list and check it twice. The earlier you make your list in this process, the better. Don’t end up on our naughty list by waiting until the gifts have been selected to start your Excel sheet of recipients. That sounds harsh, but your number of recipients, in our experience, can vastly influence price per item and shipping options. And it’s probably going to take you longer to get everyone’s addresses than you think. Again, experience talking. Don’t stall your order process, and gift shipping window, with the time it will take you to finalize the recipient list.
The Nice List
The key to a peaceful holiday season is preparation. These are some excellent additional steps that can substantially, positively influence your order process.
Plan Ahead: Seriously, we cannot stress this enough.
Get Your Artwork/Logos Ready: Have your holiday artwork and logo files gathered and ready to send, including vector formats like .ai, .eps, or .svg.
Have a Distribution Plan: Start thinking about how you will get the merch to your recipients. Will you hand everything out at a holiday party? Ship gifts directly? Plan this in advance. We can provide recommendations but start thinking about this early.
Choose a Reliable Partner: Work with a reputable promotional product company, like Showpony. Your partner should (at minimum) guide you through the process, offer creative gift ideas within your budget, and manage the logistics.
When to Order: The Golden Rule of Holiday Merch
Procrastination is the enemy of a successful holiday merch campaign. As promotional product experts, our mantra is: start planning in early fall and finalize orders by the end of October. Here’s a more detailed timeline.
September: Planning Time
Ideation & Curation
When you work with Showpony, we’ll strategize on your behalf to curate products we think your recipients will genuinely appreciate. Our collaborative ideation and selection process includes expert recommendations for gifts, packaging options, and guidance on when to hand-deliver or ship your gifts to prioritize your resources. Additionally, we can help you identify when you’ll be able to order in bulk which almost always results in a lower price per item.
October: Orders Placed
Sign that Sales Order
Select your products, and finalize quantities. From there you’ll get visuals of the incredible artwork we’ll lay out for your products. Approve your sales order, and don’t forget to pay so we can actually place your order with our suppliers. Orders have to be placed by the end of October. This is our firm deadline for a stress-free experience.
Why October? Ordering by the end of October helps you avoid:
Product Scarcity: Popular items sell out quickly before and during the holidays.
Increased Costs: Rush fees, expedited shipping, and surcharges eat your budget.
Shipping Delays: Carriers are overwhelmed, expect unpredictable delivery times.
November: Waiting & Tracking
If you’ve placed orders in October, your items are in production during November. Don’t fret, our team is making sure your order stays on track. Most orders are delivered in bulk to our office or yours. After arrival, we’ll execute the packaging and distribution plan we made together, or cheer you on if you decide to receive the delivery at your office then kit and ship yourself.
One of the benefits of having Showpony kit gifts is that we are your ruthless quality control experts. We expect perfection of ourselves and our vendors. We hand inspect each item that gets delivered to our door and aren’t shy about requesting re-work for work that needs it.
December: Season of Giving
December is the typical time to expect your gifts. Once everything is distributed you can rest knowing that you are now a verified gifting expert. Bask in your success briefly and start thinking about next year’s holiday gift campaign.
