International Promotional Products Association: 2021 Promotional Products Sales Survey

199IT original compilation

According to the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), sales of promotional products increased by nearly 13% year-on-year in 2021 to $22.1 billion, which has not yet reached the pre-pandemic peak of $24.2 billion, but is still much higher than sales in the past few years. But what kind of promotional products can attract consumers? VistaPrint commissioned a survey of 2,000 American adults.

First, 8/10 of the respondents claimed to have received promotional products from a certain brand, and 3/4 of the respondents’ perception of the brand improved after receiving the promotional products.

So what qualities make a product desirable? Most importantly, it should be useful, which was mentioned by about half of respondents (49%). About 4 in 10 also care about products being unique (42%), colorful (40%) and stylish (39%).

To maintain these leading qualities, design preferences for promotional items revolve around unique or unusual designs (45%), eye-catching designs (42%) and unique or uncommon brand names (38%).

The most popular product among U.S. consumers is T-shirts, followed by pens, mugs, water bottles and headphones. Among the top 50 most popular promotional items, items such as face masks (31st), key chains (35th), car stickers (39th) and bookmarks (43rd) ranked much lower.

199IT.com Original translation from: International Promotional Products Association. Please do not reprint without authorization.