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How To Plan Your Custom Made Merchandise Around Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year 2016

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, which in ancient times heralded the beginning of preparations for the crop-growing season, kicks off on 8 February.

Across China, from the largest city to the smallest rural village, Christmas decorations will be put back in their boxes to be replaced with a wonderful array of red lanterns, cherry blossoms, dragons and other decorations.

Years in China are represented by one of 12 creatures; 2016 is the monkey’s turn. The highpoint of the celebrations is a lavish New Year’s Eve dinner. Families across China come together, with loved ones often travelling hundreds of miles to be at this special evening.

Factories, shops, warehouses, ports and custom houses all close. Many won’t re-open until the beginning of March, and even then things will take time to get back up to speed.

Here’s a few tips that might help smooth the ground if you’re planning to ship around the time of the Chinese New Year.

1. Air and sea freight are likely to get congested.

Items need to be at the port at least ten days before the New Year, and booked in at least two weeks in advance.

2. Use an experienced supplier.

Use a supplier who can demonstrate a critical path, showing the stages of your order, when it’ll leave the factory in China and when it’ll arrive at your door.

3. Plan in advance.

The average lead time for a sea-freighted order is 12-14 weeks. If you want to see samples, you’ll need to add at least another four weeks prior to the order being placed.

4. Check your supplier has contingency plans in case of problems.

Arcadia has a great deal of experience of sourcing promotional products through the Asia supply chain. We have long-term relationships with an extensive global network of approved suppliers, covering most product categories and manufacturing processes.

For expert advice on how to plan your custom made merchandise around Chinese New Year, contact our sales team at sales@arcadiaonline.co.uk or call us on +44(0) 845 130 2620.

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Having worked in Promotional Merchandise for the last 25 years I have been exposed to all aspects of the industry. Starting out as an account manager working with some of the worlds leading brands, I have learnt to understand the needs of a client, manufacturing processes, and what it takes to deliver a successful promotional campaign that is on brand, on time and within a given budget.