Amidst the rising concerns of the Coronavirus, it is becoming more common to postpone events with larger groups of attendees. In some extreme cases, event planners have outright canceled award shows. As the global status continues to evolve with further preventative measures, find out what options you may have from your award supplier.
While it is understandable that safety is the most important concern to address, we want to make sure that each award show planner knows that they have choices when it comes to the actual awards shipping.
Drop Ship to Individual Recipients
Likely to be the easiest solution if you find yourself in a bind, drop shipping is the highest recommendation. This is a great way to avoid any headaches with shipping logistics. With this option, the award shipments skip the middleman and will ship directly from the production fulfillment warehouse. Wipe your hands clean knowing you do not have to run around and ship each individual package yourself.
This takes the responsibility off your shoulders for ease of transfer. Also, if the event is in fact canceled, this is a great way for the recipients to still receive their honor right away.
When shipping from Cristaux, our Chicago-based production facility is taking substantial precautions to ensure that we ship each package with the highest quality and care.
Ship Directly to Company Office(s)
Similar to the drop shipping option, shipments to an office, or even multiple office locations, will help eliminate added stress. If an event is postponed and you have the extra space, you can house the inventory internally, or you can deliver the awards personally to the recipients.
This is also an alternative if the award recipients are internal employees. You can hand the awards out to recipients before or after the workday. If there are awards for employees at multiple offices, the process will still work just the same.
Postpone Event and Hold Inventory in Supplier Warehouse
Although this is not the last resort with awards shipping, this option is not ideal because many manufacturers will not have warehouse space to hold excess inventory. You may be lucky enough to have a vendor hold your inventory for an extended period of time. In this instance, your awards supplier will be allotted a holding fee.
This a good alternative if you know that your event will not be postponed for an extensive amount of time. If the show will be eventually rescheduled, this option is ideal. That way, when the time comes, you can ship the awards as normal.
The fee for this can range depending on the supplier, so make sure to get a quote before you decide to go ahead with this option.
Last Resort: Cancel the Order
This may seem like an easy option with awards shipping, but this is the most unfortunate and stress-inducing option for both parties. Not only will this cause a major supplier issue if the order is already in production, but more than likely there is contractual agreement that obligates you to pay a fee if you cancel. Oftentimes this fee is a heavy sum to counteract any supplier costs that incur with your order.
We understand that sometimes this is the only option that has been given. The important item to note is whether or not you will have to start this process again in the future. It might be ideal to be charged a holding fee instead and avoid any future setbacks if the event will resume in a few months.
Article by: Samantha Mikos