Welcome to the Promo Industry

Why sell promo? With a long shelf life that leads to thousands of impressions, promo products are an extremely popular and cost-effective marketing tool, which is why almost every business and brand uses them.

The industry is growing, and it’s easy to get started. Your current customers are already buying promo products. With an ASI account, they can now buy them from you.

$23.2 billion industry
Year-over-year growth
Top markets like healthcare, education and events
Trending products: Apparel, drinkware and tech products
No equipment and inventory needed to get started

Promotional Product Supply Chain: Meet The Key Players

There are four main players within the industry’s supply chain:

Customers – An end-buyer who needs promo and apparel for their business or upcoming events
Distributor (That’s you!) – Works with the end-buyer to make the sale, then orders from a supplier and decorator
Supplier – Manufactures wholesale products and apparel
Decorator – Imprints the products or decorates the apparel

Customer who Typically Buy Promotional Products

Every organization from businesses to schools to event planners use promo products. If you have a current customer base, they need promo, and with an ASI^® account, they can buy from you. Here are some examples:

Schools – Sports gear, office products, backpacks, apparel
Healthcare – PPE, scrubs, stress relievers, hot and cold packs
Sports – Rally towels, uniforms, sporting equipment, water bottles
Events – Sunglasses, drawstring bags, signs, gift baskets

Have an existing apparel or other business? Selling promo products is as easy as an add-on sale to your current orders.

Hover to see top industry sales totals.

* Source: SOI Report 2019.

Healthcare

$2.53 billion

Education

$3.64 billion

Manufacturing

$2.06 billion

Retail

$1.24 billion

Non-Profits

$1.44 billion

Finance

$1.88 billion

How does selling promotional products work?

Join ASI. An ASI account gives you all the tools and support you need, like a dedicated account manager to get you up and running and connect you to our network of suppliers.
Market to customers. Let customers know you now sell promo too. Talk to current customers, post on social media or print out one of our free flyers to place in your shop.
Order the product. Once a customer is interested, use your ASI account to order the product from one of our 2,850+ wholesale suppliers. A decorator will imprint the product with your customers logo or message.
Invoice your customer. Add on your profit margin – the industry average is close to 40%, but some orders are worth as much as 50-60%.
Complete the order. The supplier will ship the products directly to you or your customer.

Revenue Potential

$1,064

Average order size

35%

Profit margin

300

Average number of orders per year

3x

Number of times a client buys from you per year

0

Extra equipment and inventory needed

$3,192

Average annual revenue per customer

Revenue Calculator

If this many of my customers order their promo from me,

I could earn up to $3,192 per year in extra revenue!

*Based on average annual revenue per customer.

Ordering Promotional Products

Get to know ESP^®, the Amazon of the promo products industry.

From product searching and idea generation to keeping your order and customer information organized, ESP makes managing your business so much easier.

Building Your Website

A professionally designed website built to match your brand.

Deliver a world-class shopping experience to your customers with ESP Websites^™. The search field on your website pulls from ESP, the #1 industry business platform, so your customers can search and buy any product directly from your site.

What Members Are Saying

FAQ

Think of ASI^® as your go-to business partner to help you start selling promotional products. We’re a family-owned business of 425 employees with over 25,000 extended relatives, also known as members. We help you get access to over 2,850 trusted wholesale suppliers, and set you up with a dedicated account manager to help you with ideas on how to sell promo and market your business. We also offer tons of tools and resources like free trade shows, education, discounts and support.

Have you ever scored an awesome pen from your local bank? Gotten a free bobblehead from your favorite sports team? Maybe you’ve bought a souvenir T-shirt of a new city while on vacation. These are all products imprinted with a logo to help promote businesses, organizations, places or events.

Businesses often use these products to promote their company and build brand awareness. Events like music festivals and races use them to commemorate the event. Trade shows often give away these products to promote sponsors.

That’s even better! That means you already have a customer base, making it easy to use promo as an add-on sale to your existing orders. Your current customers are already buying promotional products – they just aren’t buying them from you. With ASI, they can.

All you need is an ASI membership, a phone and a computer! You’ll order the products from our suppliers with the logos already on the products, so you don’t need to house inventory or imprint them yourself.

Start Selling Logoed