While the current challenges the world of shipping is experiencing are new to the last couple years, the topic of shipping in general is not, especially in the promotional products space.

Shipping costs have always been a concern amongst promotional products distributors (PPDs), and for good reason. The PPD wants to be able to quote jobs accurately, provide their customers with price confidence, and ultimately, make sure this part of an order is handled professionally. When a PPD is working with a contract apparel decorator that can check all those boxes, the chances for a successful partnership increase. Getting there, though, does require excellent service and communication.

Shipping: A Hot Topic

Why is shipping such a hot topic among PPDs? That depends on what part of the shipping conversation you’re looking at. When talking about pricing, it boils down to one thing: profit.

“It’s very difficult to quote your customer without knowing what your shipping cost is going to be,” explains Bryan Nichols, CEO at Hightech Graphix (HTG). “PPDs want to be able to quote their customers with confidence that in the end, they are going to be able to make the profit they are expecting. Shipping costs can really eat that profit up quickly.”

Of course, pricing is going to be a major concern, but there are other aspects of shipping that can cause headaches for PPDs working with contract apparel decorators. “One of the biggest headaches is when the apparel vendors mess up by sending the wrong apparel, or short the job,” says Nichols. 

Spiraling off that, recent problems that have rippled out from the COVID-19 pandemic and other economic factors have created additional pain points in the shipping process. There are a lot of moving parts that play a role in the current situation. “Miss-pulls from apparel vendors have increased significantly with the labor shortage,” Nichols notes. “They are constantly training new employees and making more mistakes than ever.”

That carries over to the PPD, who must evaluate when their partnership with a decorator is suffering from these kinds of hits. “For a PPD … to deal with that mess with their decorator takes up tons of time, which is money,” Nichols says. “They need a decorator that will take all that work on for them.”

Ease of Mind

That is where contract decorators like HTG come in. HTG takes the guesswork out of shipping, from pricing all the way to fulfillment. “With HTG, all incoming shipping from the selected major vendors is absolutely free, regardless of where it is coming from,” says Nichols. “With outgoing shipping, we offer free shipping on short- and long-sleeve T-shirts, polos, and hats. We are able to give quick shipping quotes on any other items or they can simply use our free quoting tool to get those quotes instantly.”

It's services like these that distributors should be on the lookout for when hunting for a contract decorator. But to really make the relationship work, there are a few other things to consider that will help avoid shipping nightmares.

“Regular email communication is a key,” Nichols believes. “The good news is if the PPD uses [HTG’s] free inbound shipping program, we handle all issues with apparel from the vendor. The PPD never has to call the vendor. They simply place the initial apparel order with their apparel vendor, and we take over from there.”

One of the ways HTG is able to work on behalf of the PPD is through its tools. “Our Job Tracker shows our client once their apparel has been counted and ready for production,” explains Nichols. “If there are ever any issues with incoming apparel, we email the customer immediately, then if it’s on one of our inbound shipping programs, we handle all the issues with the apparel vendor, so they don’t have to.”

The company also utilizes a Screen Printing quoting tool to help on the price side of the equation. “With the Screen Print quoting tool, all shipping charges (if any) are built into the tool, so as long as [the PPD] is using the quoting tool, they are quoted the final cost,” says Nichols. “We believe by quoting the actual costs, not an estimate up front, this allows the PPD to quote their customers with confidence.”

These kinds of services make a contract decorator an attractive partnership option. In fact, Nichols notes that HTG’s Free Shipping programs are the most popular the company has. “Yes, not every item we decorate qualifies for free shipping, but the most popular items do,” he adds. “And even if they need to pay for shipping, we make it extremely easy for the PPD to get that ‘FINAL’ quote up front. It’s very important to us to make sure our customers are making the most profit they can on their jobs.”