There's something about January in promo that feels different from other industries.
While the rest of the business world slowly stumbles back from holiday break, this industry hits the ground sprinting. PPAI Expo lands the second week of the year. Goals get set. Budgets unlock. Clients start planning their merch strategies for the year ahead.
The slate isn't just clean—it's electric with possibility.
Bobby Lehew isn't interviewing anyone this episode. He's sharing what over 930 companies accomplished on commonsku in 2025, where to find the team at Mandalay Bay next week, and two features that just shipped to eliminate the operational friction that was eating hours of manual work.
Over 1 million purchase orders flowed through commonsku last year.
Let that sink in. More than 1 million ePOs submitted by promotional products distributors using our platform. That's a 126% increase in electronic purchase orders compared to 2024.
Distributors created over 320,000 presentations. Launched more than 12,000 shops. Built businesses that scaled without drowning in administrative chaos.
More than 50% of ASI's Power 50 companies now run on commonsku. Over 20% of PPAI's top 100 distributors chose our platform to manage their operations.
Those aren't just statistics celebrating a software company's growth. They represent distributors making a specific choice: systems that remove friction instead of creating it. Technology that amplifies human relationships instead of replacing them.
The numbers tell a story about where promotional products is heading. Teams are choosing tools that let them say yes to client requests without operational nightmares. They're automating the tedious work so they can focus on strategy, relationships, and growth.
2026 starts with that momentum behind it.
Community matters to us. The way we show up at industry events reflects that.
We're not there just to demo features. We're there to listen, connect, and learn what's actually happening in distributor businesses so we can keep building tools that matter.
If you're headed to Las Vegas next week, here's where to connect:
1:30 PM in Room Mandalay F: Charlie Moscow (VP of Product) and Aaron Kucherawy (VP of Customer Success) lead "Connecting Your Workflow: Maximizing Power of commonsku." Current users walk away with advanced tips. Non-customers get a comprehensive overview of how our platform transforms workflow.
2:30 PM in Mandalay Bay C & D: Bobby presents "AI and Promo: The Trends and Tools Every Pro Needs Now." Real-world applications. Specific tools our team uses daily. What actually matters in 2026 versus what's just noise.
8:00-10:00 AM at Libertine Social: Breakfast Club. Come and go as your schedule allows. It's right on your way to the show floor. Coffee, tea, light breakfast, commonsku merch. No agenda. No sales pitch. Just connection before the chaos begins.
5:00-6:30 PM at Libertine Social: Community Happy Hour after the show floor closes. Decompress with our team and the rest of the community.
Throughout the show (January 13-15): Booth 2310
All details and RSVP links at commonsku.com/expo.
Here's the problem: clients love Shopify. They want storefronts that feel modern, that they recognize from their own online shopping experiences.
Distributors want to say yes. But until now, that meant running a second system. Reentering orders by hand. Losing visibility into production timelines. Growth started feeling complicated instead of exciting.
Shopify Connected Shops solves it.
Orders processed in Shopify automatically import into commonsku. Teams manage approvals, production, suppliers, and fulfillment exactly as they already do. Shopify handles the customer-facing experience. commonsku runs the business operations behind the scenes.
No more choosing between client preferences and operational sanity. The integration means distributors can finally say yes without hesitation.
Available to Enterprise and Advanced customers who have opted into Shops Volume-Discounts. Learn more about commonsku Shops.
Multi-destination orders used to mean tax calculation nightmares.
Corporate programs shipping to dozens of offices across different states. Event merch going to venues in multiple cities. Each destination requiring accurate tax rates for that specific state, county, and municipality.
Hours disappeared into spreadsheets. The fear of getting something wrong hovered over every complex order.
Split Ship Taxes powered by commonsku's Avalara integration calculates accurate taxes automatically for every destination in a single project.
Upload your shipping details. The system handles the rest. No more late nights researching obscure tax jurisdictions. No more double-checking calculations for the third time because the stakes feel too high to get wrong.
For teams handling volume or complex orders, this fundamentally changes how work gets done.
The AI Promo Brief
AI can feel overwhelming. Every week brings new tools, new capabilities, new claims about what's possible.
Bobby and his colleague Ritz write The AI Promo Brief specifically for promotional products professionals. Published every other week, it cuts through the noise to focus on what's actually useful.
Tools that work. Trends that matter. What's hype versus what's real. Practical applications that drive results instead of just sounding impressive in conversation.
Subscribe at commonsku.com/aipromobrief.
The Backpack
Cultural insights. Emerging trends. Curated content that keeps distributors ahead of what's happening in the merch world.
The Backpack drops on the first and third Friday of each month. It features inspiring stories about brands using promotional products in unexpected ways. Great for entire sales teams who want to stay informed and inspired.
Subscribe at commonsku.com/thebackpack.
commonsku isn't just software—it's a network of promotional products professionals building something together.
Distributors and suppliers aren't just platform users. They're colleagues. Collaborators. The best ideas for new features come from conversations with people running these businesses every day.
That's why we built Shopify integration when clients kept requesting it. That's why we automated split ship tax calculations when multi-destination orders were consuming hours of manual work. That's why we show up at Expo to listen and learn instead of just pitching features.
2026 feels different than 2025. AI is moving faster. Client expectations are evolving. The tools keep getting more capable.
The promotional products professionals who embrace these changes rather than resist them will build something remarkable this year.
If you're at Expo next week, find the commonsku team at Booth 2310, the Breakfast Club, or Happy Hour. If you're not making it to Vegas, the podcast is here. The newsletters are here. The platform keeps shipping features designed to make your work easier.
The fresh calendar energy isn't just optimism. It's momentum from what 930+ companies accomplished in 2025, carrying forward into what's possible in 2026.
The year is just getting started.
[00:00:28] PPAI Expo schedule and locations
[00:03:13] Shopify Connected Shops integration
[00:04:00] Split Ship Taxes with Avalara
[00:04:36] Newsletters and resources
[00:05:57] 2025 growth: 1M+ POs, 930+ companies