Elevate Your Holiday Apparel Game: Boost Sales with Trendy Gifts and Custom Styles

The holidays are quickly approaching, and most decorated apparel orders are already in full production mode. From customized holiday T-shirts to beautifully decorated items that will be given as personal gifts, decorators are currently deep into holiday printing production. But just because the orders are already coming in doesn’t mean there won’t still be more. During the season, decorators can also expect to get order for events or corporate gifts. If your customers are looking for fresh new ideas for employee gifts or need some trending promotional attire for holiday events, Edwards Garment and EdwardsX are poised to help fulfill those orders. From stylish fleece embroidered with a company logo or even custom “ugly” sweaters, Edwards can partner with decorators to elevate this season’s orders.

Ideas to Elevate Your Holiday Apparel Offerings

When thinking about holiday orders, apparel for employee gifts and holiday functions should be top of mind. “The holidays are a perfect time to add a fresh new look to your [clients’] apparel programs,” notes Nancy Martin, Director of Sales at EdwardsX, Edwards Garment’s custom apparel brand. “The weather is changing so adding a cozy new item or two is always a fun way to say ‘thank you’ to employees for a great year.” This is a perfect option to offer to local small businesses, large corporate clients, or even schools and recreation organizations.

Even if a client doesn’t have a formal employee gifting program, many businesses host holiday parties. What better way to make sure everyone looks and feels good than with trending company apparel. For some ideas on what’s trending, Nicolette Dykstra, Director of Merchandising and Product Development at Edwards Garment, says it’s all about universally popular styles for corporate events, for example, a matching custom holiday sweater from EdwardsX.

Dykstra adds that when talking holiday apparel items, focus on anything that invokes comfort and warmth. “Cozy items like fleece, sweaters, and layering pieces — these styles make great gifts because they appeal to everyone,” she says. But don’t stop there. “Because the holidays fall at the end of the year, they make great appreciation gifts for attendance and goal achievement.”

“We continue to see the trend toward comfortable, sustainable apparel,” adds Martin. “Offering a stylish, comfortable piece that doesn’t feel or look like a uniform goes a long way with employees. … For holiday gifting it seems the most popular styles are jackets and hoodies.”

Here is just a small sampling of some other great ideas from Edwards to get decorators going in the promotional space:

Style 3465/6465: Men’s and ladies’ herringbone jackets available in steel gray, navy, burgundy, and olive

Style 3440/6440:Men’s and ladies’ Performance Tek jackets in navy, black, ceil blue, and gray heather

Style 3447/6447: Arriving in November, just in time for the holidays, will be the vest option of the Performance Tek in navy, black, ceil blue, and gray heather

Style 6428/6428: Men’s and ladies’ soft shell jackets in black, deep blue heather, and gray heather

Both Martin and Dykstra note that Edwards stays on top of what’s trending. The company puts quite a bit of effort into understanding the needs of each client, an effort that they utilize when working with decorators on custom programs. “Before deciding on a style, we dig into the DNA of each end-user to create a true custom collection that speaks to their brand,” Martin explains. “When creating apparel from the fiber up, we have many more unique decoration options and placements since we decorate on panels before the garment is sewn together. We can also add messaging inside a piece that makes it a one-of-a-kind item.”

Don’t Forget About Uniforms

Beyond corporate gifting and custom apparel for holiday events, the holiday season is also a time when some industries revisit their uniform programs as well. This is an opportunity where Edwards can really help decorators shine. “The holiday season is the time of year where the service industries are the busiest and make most of their money,” notes Martin. “It is important [for customers] to differentiate themselves from others; one way of doing this is by keeping their brand update to date and fresh through stylish, on-trend apparel.” Decorators working with Edwards can help them do so. It’s also a time when some companies have a little left in their budget, another great opportunity for decorators to create add-on sales. “When a company begins looking for new uniforms around the holiday season it’s typically because they have some money left over in their budget to invest in new uniforms for their staff or they are beginning to do their research into uniforms early in the new year when budgets are approved and funds are available for purchases such as a new uniform,” says Dykstra.

Holiday Ideas From Edwards Garment

Even though apparel decorators are deep into fulfilling all of the usual holiday orders, this doesn’t have to be the time to turn down additional profit. Edwards is geared up and ready to partner in order to take advantage of these opportunities. Martin points to the numbers to emphasize that promotional apparel and the holidays go hand-in-hand. “The promo market is the leader for fourth quarter sales and holiday programs,” she notes.

“Edwards has made a significant inventory investment to make sure that we have multiple items available when needed,” Dykstra explains. Even if a decorator can’t decorate the order in-house, they can still say yes knowing Edwards is there to help. “Take advantage of any holiday marketing pieces that are put together. They are filled with the best and most appropriate items for the holidays,” she adds.

But most importantly, don’t wait any longer to extend these additional offers to your customers. Because holiday printing is already in full-swing, decorators can’t afford to lose any time. “Planning is critical to stay abreast of the fashion,” Martin believes. “Edwards prides itself on being an in-stock company. Blank orders will ship within 24-48 hours even in peak season. EdwardsX will help you plan holiday shipments well in advance and deliver on time even during the busy holiday season.” Ultimately, taking advantage of corporate apparel gifting, holiday events, and even end-of-the-year uniform orders is a huge opportunity for decorators to break into the promotional apparel space. “Custom options and new line updates are a great place to start,” says Martin. “Creating an apparel item that is uniquely branded for your client or offering the latest jacket or layering option will help set you apart from the crowd.”