Why Corporate Gift Quantity Decisions Made at Brief Stage Are Almost Always Wrong by Delivery Day

The quantity decision in corporate gift procurement is treated as a straightforward calculation: count the recipients, add a small buffer, place the order. In practice, this calculation is almost always wrong by the time the gifts arrive. The source of the error is not the calculation itself — it is the assumption that the recipient list is a stable input. Corporate relationship lists are inherently volatile, and the gap between the quantity ordered and the quantity needed at delivery typically runs 15 to 25 percent. The cost consequences are asymmetric: surplus custom-branded drinkware cannot be repurposed, while shortfalls trigger supplementary orders at 40 to 60 percent higher per-unit cost.

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