For something that always comes at the same time of year, it’s amazing how the holidays seem to sneak up on all of us every time!
Preparing for a successful corporate holiday season is a process that takes a ton of work, and even more foresight. There are so many things to consider: from planning the ultimate holiday party, to managing time off, to the most important of all, finding the perfect set of gifts that your employees and clients will love.
With more and more employees working remotely, people managers and HR pros at top companies are going all out to continue to strengthen connections between their team members. This includes putting together holiday plans that will reflect a real commitment to showing appreciation, rather than throwing things together at the last minute. For remote teams, in-person teams and hybrid office organizations, holiday shopping will look a bit different, even if the end result looks the same.
So how do the HR and people pros at the top companies make sure their holiday celebrations are a hit every single year?
Simply put, they get what they want because they take action early.
When it comes to the craziness of holiday shopping, the winners are those that plan out what they want early. Most of the fortune 500 companies we work with start ordering their custom gifts for employees no later than the summer— as a result, they are able to get the best gifts to their teams without any delays, hiccups or headaches. Read on to learn more of the secrets that planners at top companies use to create the perfect holiday gift packages for their employees and take some stress out of the holidays.
Here’s why elite people managers start thinking about the holidays early:
It’s easy to guarantee the best employee gifts
We all remember the experience coveting the hottest new toy when Christmas rolled around. Usually there are a handful of must-have items that parents scramble to find, and every year, many of them miss out by waiting too long. Believe or not the same thing applies to corporate gifts! The vendors who supply the most in-demand products ultimately have a limited supply each year, and those who wait until the last minute to order are often disappointed to learn that the gorgeous insulated water bottles or incredible custom headphones have already been scooped up by early birds who make sure their teams get the best.
While we have an incredible selection of products that will make people excited, the earlier you decide to order, the easier it is to guarantee that you will be able to get the items that really fire people up and make a splash! We’ll always help you find something that will be perfect for your needs— but the earlier you order the wider your options are.
Related: 35 Corporate Gifts Your Coworkers Will Never Forget
Better customization options are available
If you have a unique vision of how you want your custom holiday gifts to look, we can help bring it to life. But the reality is that certain customization techniques take more time than others. If you want to create a magnificent embroidered jacket with five different colors stitched into your logo, for example, we need to take some time to get it absolutely right. For every product and customization option we offer, you can see a timeline that will tell you how long it will take directly on our product pages. You can use this tool to get a good sense of how long it will take to get the items you want into the hands of your employees.
We’ll always go above and beyond to make sure there is a solution that fits your needs in the timeline you have. But remember— to get the perfect gifts, the earlier you place your order, the easier it is to bring your vision to life without any compromises!
Read more: 20 “Oddball” Unique Swag Ideas to Make Your Brand Stand Out
Ask your teams exactly what they want
Picking out the right corporate holiday gifts can be difficult. Often it’s hard to narrow down your choices: should you go with an awesome tech item? Or maybe a deluxe wellness kit? This gets even more complicated if you choose to gift custom apparel that needs to be sized correctly for each member of your audience. However, deciding to order earlier gives you the ability to use our swag giveaway feature to directly ask your employees or clients which gifts they would prefer, down to the color and size of the product!
It’s simple: choose a selection of custom gifts you think your team will love, and we’ll build a custom landing page that you can send directly to them with a link. They can use that link to see the options available, including size and color preferences, and then select the option they want more. Once it’s all said and done, you can place an order for the right gifts, in the right sizes. We can even collect shipping addresses that will let us send their gift directly to their door. Just another headache cleared up by getting a head start on holiday shopping!
Related: Learn more about swag giveaways
You can create thoughtful custom holiday boxes that make an impact
If you want to make the holidays really special for your employees, customers or even prospects, sending fully customized boxes full of gifts is a home run for holiday cheer. Boxes are an amazing way to connect with your audience, but they do take some time and creativity to put together!
The best holiday gift boxes for employees begin with a thoughtful selection of products that will get people excited, and end with a custom design that ensures unboxing will be as fun as getting the gifts themselves. But creating a box that wows, takes time. Each year the best holiday boxes come from customers who begin planning their gifts early, giving themselves all the time they need to pick out each detail perfectly.
Leave time to deliver to your remote audiences with our swag distribution platform
Our clients who manage HR at top brands are obsessed with creating the perfect experience for their employees, no matter if their teams are in person, remote or hybrid. Getting the perfect gifts picked out is really only half of the battle— getting those gifts into peoples’ hands can be just as tricky.
That’s why the pros get ahead of this problem by making a plan to use our swag distribution platform to ship custom gifts to as many different addresses as they want. Whether you want to send all your gifts to the office, or send each gift to an individual address, our online portal lets you handle all your complex shipping needs from one simple dashboard. Ordering early means your gifts will be ready to go with plenty of time to get everything sent where you need it to go— all without needing to package gifts by hand! Having things ready to go will avoid the possibility of shipping delays and will allow you to take advantage of more economical shipping options.
Read more: Learn more about our swag distribution platform
Get a head start on holiday shopping, and make this a year to remember for your community
The perfect holiday gift can help strengthen relationships and reconnect your brand with the people who move it forward. Those who make the most of the opportunity know that it takes time to create a meaningful experience, and we encourage you to do the same by reaching out to begin planning your holiday gifting process today!
If you want to talk to someone on our team about how to bring your vision to life, fill out the form below, and one of our expert swag representatives will follow up to answer any questions you may have.
