The Redbows Promotional Gifts Blog

This Christmas I predict the UK will see the highest levels of spend – ever. We are witnessing a transformation in how we shop and this is something that few businesses have yet to catch on to. You see when I look at the high street I see two factors that are turning cash notes into electronic transactions. Firstly, there is simply too much of the same, and too much competition. Double speak perhaps. But look at clothing and home furnishings – two things close to my heart. Now look back down your high street and you can see that most retailers stock and supply almost identical items in terms of quality, price and features. Secondly, why do I want to go down the high street when I can do it online! Going shopping these days is no longer a pleasure in itself, if it means finding a parking space, dodging the traffic wardens, passing the odd speed camera and dragging three kids with who would rather be at home. I am no different to the millions of other people who now use the internet to search out ideas, then check them out physically on the high street before turning to the internet to find the best possible and most cost-effective source. Job done and there is no going back. How many times have you heard a shop assistant tell someone this year – ‘yes I know you can buy it cheaper online’. And what are the implications for my own industry – promotional gifts? Well more clients now find us through the internet than any other medium. Search for promotional products on line and we are top-ten Google and other search engines for a number of ranges. So taking things from a flip-side, would we open on the high street – no but we need to keep one step ahead to make sure we keep evolving and innovating.

Action man has just warned me that he is coming down with a serious case of ‘man-flu’ – that’s my other half for those not familiar with my blog. So as he walked in the door I gave hime some handy heat pack promotional gifts to keep him happy this weekend. Seriously, heat packs are a great ideas for winter promotions and come in all sorts of shapes and colours. We can even supply them as keyrings. They are novel and fully reuseable -simply drop into boiling water to reenergise them.