Blog & Resources

The thinking behind every order.

Guides, breakdowns and straight answers from the team that prices and ships branded campaigns across Europe every week, covering VAT and customs, print methods, artwork files and lead times, all written to make your next order easier than your last.

Guides · VAT & customs · Print methods · Lead times

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News, context and original analysis

Swish & Click European editorial desk

The European Merchandising Journal

Rigorous reporting on the policies, markets, events and cultural shifts shaping branded merchandise across Europe.

We go beyond product lists to explain what European decisions genuinely mean for marketing, procurement, sourcing and delivery.

Explore the full Journal

Inside the Journal

  1. Policy and trade

    Regulation, customs, VAT, compliance and sourcing.

  2. Markets and culture

    Local behaviour, language, identity and changing brand expectations.

  3. Events and procurement

    Trade fairs, campaigns, public buying and the decisions behind dependable delivery.

Clear reporting for better merchandising decisions across Europe.

CASE STUDIES

Client stories, told with permission

Real orders, real organisations and the process behind them, published only at the level of detail each client approves.

  • Case study
  • Malta
  • Branded mugs

MITA: from a successful first project to further orders

See why MITA, the Government of Malta's central ICT partner, selected Swish & Click for broader product choice, competitive pricing, quality-assurance samples and dependable communication, and how one mug project became a growing client relationship.

Read the MITA case study
  • Case study
  • Barcelona
  • Branded lanyards

Fieldfisher: branded lanyards for an event in Barcelona

How Fieldfisher’s events team ordered 400 branded lanyards for a Fieldfisher event at SLS Barcelona, Sant Adrià de Besòs: one design, approved in writing before production, and clear updates from artwork to tracking.

Read the Fieldfisher case study

More client stories join this strip as they are approved for publication.

PLANNING TOOLS

Plan the year first, then the merchandise

Practical tools for teams running campaigns and events across Europe, built from the same research we use to plan client orders.

  • Planning tool
  • Trade shows
  • 2026 and 2027

European trade shows 2026 and 2027: the calendar by country

Find the event, then plan everything around it. Trade shows, congresses and professional events across the EU and its neighbours, organised market by market, with dates, cities, sectors and official links collected on one dedicated page per country.

  • 33Markets
  • 27 + 6EU states + wider Europe
  • 6Languages
Open the trade show calendar
  • Delivery guide

    Where a delivery actually goes wrong, venue by venue

    Hotels that will not hold a parcel, stands that only accept freight on build up days, apartments with no concierge. Eight venue types that need extra care, and exactly what to send us so yours arrives.

    • 8Venue types
    • 3Universal rules
    • 17 minRead time
    Open the delivery guide
  • Customs guide

    Customs in and out of the European Union

    What happens at the border when branded goods leave the EU, or come into it: DAP or DDP fixed before dispatch, who pays VAT and duty, the EORI numbers each side needs, and the paperwork that keeps a shipment moving.

    • DAP / DDPFixed before dispatch
    • EORIBoth sides need one
    • 67Export destinations
    Open the customs guide
  • Urgent orders

    Urgent delivery: what express can and cannot fix

    Express shortens transit, not production. Why a standard shipment cannot become express after dispatch, what a realistic rush timeline looks like across Europe, and the questions we ask before we say yes to a deadline.

    • 7 to 14Working days to produce
    • ExpressDecided before dispatch
    • 5Working days minimum
    Open the urgent delivery guide