Product Sourcing
What do we mean by sourcing?
Here at LSi in our own warehouses we stock thousands of some of the best-selling promotional products marketers are buying in the UK.
This is further supported through our vast network of UK, European & further offshore manufacturers from whom we can quickly access all manner of products in numerous colour combinations that will match your brief.
But sometimes the product you are looking for does not exist already on our warehouse shelves…
Sourcing Brief Example 1: Large Quantity Orders
Sometimes an order quantity is so large it will exceed what is available from us & local warehouses, and will not deliver you the best buying price.
It may be that 10% of your order requirement can be met by local stock, meeting initial needs, but 90% we can have made & printed to order at the point of origin.
This could allow a subtle change to a stock item to make it more perfect for your brand, be it a tweak in colour or trim for example. But it will also deliver better buying prices as the local stock has costs incurred that you will avoid, built in costs for the storage for example, and local as opposed to offshore print costs which are typically more expensive.
Sourcing Brief Example 2: I love this product, but can I have it in Teal with Purple Zips?
It may be that we can show you the perfect item that meets your brief from a UK or European stocked product.
A cooler bag for example may be the perfect size and spec for your needs, but the stock colours available are just not suitable for the brand.
In such instances our design team can help you spec & visualise the perfect bag with panel, handle and zip colours that match the company brand guidelines, and show the additional printing & positioning that is required.
Our sourcing team can typically find the originating factory or one similar and from the visuals and spec agreed with sales confirm costings and lead times for the bag to be made to order.
Sourcing Brief Example 3: Can we recreate our company mascot as a plush toy, powerbank and money box?
Sometimes a product literally does not exist, but you have a company or team mascot that your customer base loves that you want to recreate as merchandise.
There are a surprising large number of materials and subsequent product that can be moulded and recreated to bring your mascot into the real life as 3 dimensional product.
From:
- Plush Toys
- Powerbanks
- USB flashdrives
- Money boxes
- Keyfobs
- Stress Relievers
- Figurines
- Pin Badges
- Coins & Medals
Sourcing Brief Example 4: We'd like new company polo shirts created to make our engineers look like Formula 1 pit crew
Perfect, and a great way to create the WOW and make that first impression with customers & prospects.
From T-Shirts, Polos, Crew Shirts though to Bucket Hats, Caps, Socks and Scarves there are all manner of clothing products that can be created bespoke and will certainly deliver the wow.
The design team can help you spec & visualise the Pit Crew Shirts that matches the company brand guidelines, and show the additional decoration (either embroidery, print or transfer) & positioning that is required.
Our sourcing team will then work with our clothing factories and from the visuals and spec agreed with sales confirm costings and lead times for the Pit Crew Shirts to be made to order.
Sourcing Brief Example 5: We are looking for this copper mug that we have seen retail that we would like to copy but have our logo in relief to the face
If a product exists then there is every chance our global sourcing agents will know of either the originating factory or certainly a similar factory with the skills to recreate a product.
In such instances imagery and/or a physical sample can be sent and typically similar product imagery can be returned within a few days.
In short - If you can think it, visualise it, we can source it!
Sometimes the only thing holding you back is your imagination.
After 30 years of trading our Global Network of suppliers covers much of the globe, from UK, Europe, North America, The Indian Sub-Continent and Far East Asia.
Not only can we source and supply a vast range of cost effective, quality-controlled merchandise products, we also control all aspects of the manufacturing process including visuals, sampling, production, factory despatch, shipping and UK landing and customs clearance.
You can be assured that when your products arrive, they will look just as you envisioned.
The Sourcing process is often surprisingly quick as most product requests we know immediately the best factories to revert too for pricing, photo samples and visuals for approval.
Manufacture lead times vary depending on type of product being made, form of freight used, and country of origin. Typically the quickest items are from 4 weeks for simple items through to 14 weeks for bespoke manufacture and sea freight once visuals & samples have been approved.
LSi has 30 years experience in Promotional Merchandise and Bespoke Manufacture & Sourcing, our team has developed great relationships with locally based sourcing agents and directly with factories - you can rest assure when using LSi for your bespoke products that the factories are some of the best available and all audits and product compliance is managed by the team.
Back to Far East Sourcing