The Hold Up

It’s never been easier to shop for promotional products. The convenience and transparency have been a boon for end-buyers who can see exactly where their order is in the supply chain, and the myriad ways to communicate and share information means they can be involved in every step along the way.

But one and two rungs up the supply chain ladder, these realities are causing headaches for distributors and suppliers. Half of distributors told ASI Research they agreed with the statement that “Projects are taking longer than they have in the past,” and the percentage who “strongly agree” is higher among the largest distributors.

There are many reasons behind this shift. One explanation involves the evolution of the industry’s design capabilities and the buying habits of the customers. Gone are the days of “Add Logo Here.” Things need to be more intentional, as the kids say.

“We’ve seen an uptick in more creative work,” says Bill Feldberg, executive vice president of business development for Counselor Top 40 distributor Something Inked (asi/329822). “It’s no longer just ‘slap’ a logo on something, but rather incorporate it into more creative art, or spice it up so it’s not just a basic logo, especially when it comes to apparel.”

Feldberg says that the slowdowns often come from additional approvals. It’s especially true for Something Inked’s professional sports clients, where licensing and approval from teams and artists can get complicated.

“There’s a long list of approvals to ensure all the art is correct and lines up with the brand-specific marks,” he says. “Now press approvals are required for almost all jobs. The first printed piece is photographed or physically sent. Then, often changes are needed from there, which can severely delay things as the job is set up and ready to run.”

Other distributors, like Counselor Top 40 firm Geiger (asi/202900), have experienced slowdowns as a result of the increased transparency in the ordering process. Even some of the processes designed to create long-term efficiency can gum up the works.

“Clients want control over their brand and brand message across borders,” says Geiger CEO Jo-an Lantz, a member of Counselor’s Power 50. “They want data, which requires sophisticated technical systems. They want efficiency, which requires integration. Finally, that very integration requires sophisticated controls for cybersecurity.”

And the days of a simple handshake deal or verbal agreement are long gone, especially among the largest clients. Lengthy RFPs (requests for proposal) and detailed contracts with names like Statement of Work or Master Service Agreement are increasingly commonplace.

Lantz noticed after COVID the contracts that were once 15 to 20 pages could now be as long as 50 to 70. “We saw a trend for contracts on large one-off orders rather than all purchases over a defined period of time,” she says. “My sense is these contracts were originally developed for large purchases for other product categories and are now moving into the promo and merch space.”

Aaron Hamer, CEO of Counselor Top 40 distributor Boundless (asi/143717) and a Counselor Power 50 member, has found that contract negotiations can get stalled around details like sustainability, product safety and data security. “Think SOC 2/3, PCI compliance, GDPR/CCPA and accessibility standards,” he says. “Our internal teams support sales by fielding these requests in tandem with project execution, so the selling experience remains seamless.”

Distributors are responding to these complexities by assuming more work on the front end. For Lantz and Geiger, dealing with issues like larger contracts has required involving their legal team in the pre-sales process for contract negotiation and review. It’s also meant getting more “sophisticated technology,” as she puts it, for data requests.

At Boundless, the sales process has been streamlined with support staff working in tandem with sales to handle documentation and security reviews while the project is being set up. “This allows us to check the necessary boxes without slowing down momentum,” Hamer says. “By providing upfront documentation and keeping clients looped in early, we avoid bottlenecks down the road.”

Tariffs, of course, have compounded these issues. There’s the broader matter of clients simply putting their orders on hold, along with the added complexities of supply chain disruption and inventory shortages with many companies choosing to pause their imports.

“Global shipping regulations have required expanded sources of supply and procurement, logistics and local representation,” Lantz says. “It requires a staff with a greater level of sophistication on all aspects of the order and program.”

Jake Himelstein, president of Counselor Top 40 distributor BAMKO (asi/131431) and a member of the Counselor Power 50, includes tariffs as one of the three most likely factors to extend order schedules, along with stock shortages and surprise brand-use reviews.

“We hedge by holding core blanks domestically, dual sourcing every key item in at least two regions, and offering pre-cleared design options so internal reviews don’t stall the process,” Himelstein says. “We keep decision authority close to the project team, leverage real-time production data, and maintain long-term supplier partnerships that prioritize our orders. That combination lets us deliver reliably even when external conditions are unpredictable.”