Fast Turnaround Promotional Products: What's Actually Possible

There's usually still something you can order at short notice, and you can see what in a minute. Set the date you need on one of our category pages, and you'll see the products we can deliver by then. The quickest orders use a product from our Express range, a one colour print, artwork that's ready to upload and a Visual Proof™ approved the same day.

We're a UK supplier of promotional products to businesses, charities, schools and clubs, and every product page shows its own delivery date before you order. This guide explains how to find what can still arrive in time, what makes an order fast and what holds one up.

Start from your date

Choose the date you need your products by, then work from what can arrive in time.

Our category pages have a delivery date filter. Select the date you need your merchandise by, and the range narrows to the products available for guaranteed delivery on or before that date. Our delivery FAQs call this shopping by date, because it starts with your deadline and narrows the range to what can meet it.

It's an easy step to skip, and it turns "can anyone do this in time?" into a shortlist. Each product page then shows its own delivery date, and you'll see the latest guaranteed date again on your Visual Proof™ and in your basket before you order. Our article on guaranteed delivery dates explains how those dates work.

What makes an order fast?

Five things, and you control most of them.

1. The product. Start with one from our Express range, in a colour that's in stock. Stock is shown live on the product page and on your Visual Proof™, and your basket tells you before checkout if it changes, as our article on stock levels explains.
2. The print. One colour in one position is the shortest job. An express service can come with conditions, and the product page states them. The Express Curvy Pens page, for example, bases its express service on a one colour print on one side of the pen, up to a maximum quantity, with the order placed and the artwork signed off by a morning cut-off.
3. The artwork. Have your logo ready as a vector file, usually an AI, EPS or vector PDF, to upload when you request your Visual Proof™.
4. The approval. Have one person who can sign off the proof the day it arrives. The proof is usually back in around 20 minutes during working hours, and nothing goes into production until it's approved, so your own approval time counts towards your deadline. If someone else has to agree the spend, a shared basket shows them the proofs, quantities, prices and delivery dates on one page.
5. The delivery option and the payment. Choose Standard or Express at checkout for a guaranteed date, where the product offers them. If you pay by BACS, the date moves forward each day until your payment arrives, and locks once it does.

What is the Express range?

Products set up for a quick turnaround, from bags and pens to bottles, lanyards and notebooks.

Fast turnaround is one of the things we're set up for, and our Express range is where to start when time is short. The Express Cotton Tote Bags, which their page calls our most popular reusable promotional bag, have a fast turnaround up to a quantity stated on the page. The Express Curvy Pens have the express conditions described above.

"Express" in a product's name isn't a promise of a number of days, though. Every product carries its own dispatch figure and its own guaranteed date, and two Express products that look alike can show different dates. The date on the product page is the one to go by.

Can you get branded merchandise next day?

It depends on the product, and the product page shows the earliest date we can guarantee for it.

The delivery dates shown online are always the quickest we can guarantee, and the quickest option is the fastest delivery we can offer, so we can't promise an earlier date. We'd rather show you a date we'll hit than promise one we might not. These are delivery by dates, and we always aim to get your order to you sooner where we can.

A branded order takes longer than something sent straight off a shelf, because your logo has to be approved and applied before anything is sent. For the quickest options, start with the Express range and the delivery date filter.

If your event is next week

Work through this today, and all of it can be done online.

1. Set your date in the delivery date filter, or open the Express range.
2. Choose a product whose date lands before the day you need it in your hands, not the day of the event.
3. Keep the print to one colour in one position.
4. Upload a vector logo and request a Visual Proof™.
5. Get it approved by one person, that day.
6. Check out on Standard or Express, and check the date in your basket.
7. Have it delivered to your office or home, where someone can sign for it.

How do you get it to the event?

Have it delivered to your office or home ahead of the day, rather than to the venue.

We can deliver to a venue, but we don't recommend it, because venues, events and hotels are busy places and deliveries can go missing. A signature is required, so someone needs to be there. Delivery is limited to one UK mainland address per order, so if products need to go to two places, split them into separate orders.

If you've ordered several products, each one has its own lead time, so they may not arrive together. We can't take requests for delivery on a specific day, and on Standard or Express the guaranteed date is the latest we'll deliver, so choose a date that lands before you need the goods. Our delivery FAQs cover the rest.

How far ahead should you order for a trade show or event?

As soon as the stand is booked and the budget's agreed.

Work back from the day you need everything in hand. For a trade show, that's the build day, and for a conference, it's the day you pack the delegate bags. The more time you have, the more of the range is open to you, and the more room there is for changes to your Visual Proof™. Our guide to choosing promotional products for an event sets out what's available at each stage, under how long you need.

What slows an order down?

Usually the steps before production, rather than production itself.

What if nothing can arrive in time?

Simplify the job, split the order or choose from what the date filter shows.

Switching to one colour in one position, or to a different product, can bring the date forward. If you only need part of the quantity for the event, order that part on the quickest option and the rest separately. If the filter shows nothing for your date, the date can't be met, and it's better to know that before you order than after.

To see what can still arrive in time, set your date on a category page or browse our Express range. For the products that work best at an event, see our idea on the best promotional products for events.