Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1490460
G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 3 • G R A P H I C S P R O 3 5 existing pre-COVID-19 inventories, then, a tumultuous supply cycle," he explains. "Now we are settling into a more 'normal' delivery cycle." Customers also seem to be more willing to wait for custom products that are innovative and unique. e JDS Industries sales team notes sev- eral changes in the market as well. Some customers are moving away from tra- ditional trophies and into more usable award items, such as laser engraved tum- blers. Others are looking for new and different awards than in the past. While customers have smaller budgets, in some cases, they are seeing a shift to lower priced awards, like medals. With the challenging employment envi- ronment, Kolenut has noticed more demand for pre-assembled award options. "From pre-assembled trophies to cups, customers are looking for ways to reduce labor and still have many options to choose from," Kolenut says. "We have pre-assembled trophies and cups that customers can just add a figure and the award is complete." ese options allow for multiple configurations but reduce the amount of work needed to put into the order. "What I see different than years past is that crystal and glass awards are now being used as sports awards," says Kolenut. "Additionally, European-style cups have returned to the market as strong as ever." Kolenut points out, these two categories of awards have a high perceived value and offer many options. Popular products e current state of awards and recog- nition products offers an increase in cus- tomizable options. Here's what's trend- ing, according to the sales team at JDS Industries: Personalization When you look at the types of products besides awards that distributors are offering, you can see the direction of the industry. More gifts and more per- sonalized items are being offered. It's not necessarily a trophy or a plaque anymore. 1 (Images courtesy Simba)