Holiday Gift Giving – Kitting and Drop Shipping Tips

MAILING HOLIDAY GIFTS TO YOUR TEAM OR CLIENTS?

Drop shipping holiday gifts has become the new normal and a creative way to recognize employees, clients and stakeholders. It lets your people know you care. To help you get started, we’ve got some pro tips for how to make your holiday gifts kitting job a success. Learn the terminology below and see our key tips for each part of the process.

KITTING AND DROP SHIPPING EXPLAINED

Kitting | One or more products placed in a box or package

Drop Shipping | Refers to shipping to many locations, either to individual addresses or bulk shipped to a number of branches or corporate locations.

TIPS FOR MAILING HOLIDAY GIFTS

Consider donations and digital offerings as a choice to save on shipping.

Choose products that will fit in mailer box and that are not breakable or heavy.

Food products can have limitations for international shipping, so ask us what might work or steer clear.

PACKAGING CONSIDERATIONS FOR HOLIDAY GIFTING

• What’s the experience you want the recipient to have?
• There are a wide range of choices from simple kraft boxes to fully customized mailers.
• Remember to order a small overage to cover lost or damaged product (we recommend 2-3%). We will track and remedy issues as they arise, and we can ship out extras as required.

HOLIDAY GIFT KIT OPTIONS

We can help you curate a great selection of gifts – feel free to get inspired with our sustainable promotional product lookbooks. 

Pre-determined Kits | All products in the kit are predetermined and ordered by you, the recipient’s shipping info is sent to us or we use an online platform to collect shipping information with consent. This is the most common and fastest option to execute. 

Recipient Determined Kits | Recipients are given a choice of what they can order from a list of preselected products. This approach requires an online platform where end users can pick their product during
a set time period. Once the ordering window is closed, orders are consolidated, and products are ordered, kitted and delivered.

SHIPPING TIPS FOR HOLIDAY GIFT GIVING

• Plan for kits to arrive well before or after an event or meeting.
• Packages will not arrive on the same day, so make sure your messaging is generic regarding the date of receipt.
• When shipping to personal addresses, ensure you have clearance to send personal addresses for distribution.
• Shipping to individual locations will add to the overall cost of the project and is generally much more than bulk shipping to a head office. Make sure to budget for this.
• International shipments take longer and add costs for duties and brokerage.

TIMELINES

Kitting projects take more time that tradition promotional product orders where we bulk ship to a head office. Here’s  what you can expect for each part of the order process:

• Production | Our standard production timelines range from 7-21 days from artwork approval depending on the product.
• Inbound Shipping | Your finished product has to ship to one of our kitting partners or our offices to be assembled. Standard ground shipping is 4-5 days, but current conditions (Covid19) are impacting standard timelines.
• Kitting | Assembling your kits into individual boxes and adhering mailing labels takes 2-3 days on average.
• Outbound Shipping | Standard shipping (during non Covid19 times) are 1 week for domestic shipping. Count on 2-3 weeks for international shipping, depending on the
  destination.

Total Timeline | Overall, we’re looking at roughly 4-7 weeks but we can manage programs on a shorter timeline if needed. Just ask. 

Ready to Start a Project?