Global swag distribution is usually an afterthought. Most people only start thinking about it once the boxes are already stacked in the office. At least first-timers do; veterans start wincing earlier.
I made the same mistake. I was so focused on getting the right quality, designs, and sizes that once I had everything on hand, my first thought was: “Oh damn, now how do I send this to the UK team?”
That moment led me to found Jaapi, after living through the same swag pains at several startups, companies, and organizations before it.
Swag is weird because it is never a top priority on paper, but if done poorly, everyone will get involved. It is a completely underestimated beast, and it matters for company culture and branding far more than its budget line suggests.
I’ll share my learnings below.
Customs and Taxes
Sending swag to multiple countries means dealing with every country’s own customs rules. Half the horror story is paperwork. The other half is surprise charges landing at employees’ doorsteps, which you then get to reimburse one expense report at a time.
The easiest way to avoid customs entirely is to produce swag locally. Most swag suppliers ship from one location, maybe two if you’re lucky. That’s why we built a network of 18+ production facilities across 19 countries, including the US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Europe, the UK, and India.
Delivery Lead times and Shipping costs
Internationally tracked orders commonly cost 3-4 times as much to ship as domestic ones. And cost is only half of it: two days domestically can become two weeks across a border, with tracking that goes quiet somewhere over an ocean.
Local production sidesteps both problems. Over 90% of Jaapi orders ship domestically, at domestic rates, typically arriving within 4-8 business days. Many companies recoup our subscription cost through what they save on shipping, customs, and taxes alone.
Regional Differences and Individual Preferences
Brazilians do not typically wear beanies, and Swedes do not drink coffee out of 30oz tumblers.
When managing branded items for global teams, remember that not everyone appreciates the same swag. Climates differ, and so do people.
Many employees have received swag before and do not want another water bottle. Give people options, or accept that a chunk of your budget becomes drawer filler. Tracking everyone’s sizes and preferences in a spreadsheet does not scale. Letting employees serve themselves, within limits you set, does.
The Solution: Employee Swag Store
An employee swag store is an e-commerce storefront for your team. Nobody has to collect sizes, addresses, or phone numbers for the courier. Employees browse the options, pick what they’ll actually use, and the store handles the rest.
With Jaapi, every product is brandable, made on demand with no minimums, and produced at whichever of our 18+ facilities is closest to the recipient.
