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Start from a ready-made welcome kit
Our Welcome Essentials and Warm Welcome packs are built for day one. Swap pieces, add your logo, and we ship each kit before the start date.
A new employee's first day used to be a stack of HR forms and a lonely desk. Maybe a pen. If they were lucky, a mug from 2014 with the old logo on it.
We've watched hundreds of companies send out welcome kits over the past few years. And the pattern is impossible to ignore: the ones who invest in a real new hire welcome kit see their people stick around longer. Period.
Why Welcome Kits Actually Matter
Here's a stat that should make every HR leader pause. According to the Brandon Hall Group, organizations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82%. Eighty-two percent. And a BambooHR survey found that 89% of employees who had an effective onboarding experience felt deeply connected to their company culture.
An employee welcome kit isn't just a box of stuff. It's the very first physical signal that says, "We planned for you. We're glad you're here. You belong."
We've seen this firsthand at Merchwell. One of our clients, a 200-person fintech company, cut their 90-day turnover rate by 31% after introducing a branded onboarding swag package for every new hire. Replacing an employee costs 50% to 200% of their annual salary, according to Gallup. The math isn't even close.
First impressions compound. A great first day becomes a great first week. A great first week becomes a great first quarter. That new employee welcome package sitting on someone's desk when they walk in? It starts the whole chain.
What Goes in a Great Welcome Kit
Not everything belongs in a welcome kit. We've learned this the hard way (and helped clients avoid the same mistakes). The best kits hit three categories:
Wear it. Branded apparel people actually want to put on. Not the scratchy poly-blend polo from a trade show supplier.
Use it. Drinkware, notebooks, bags, stickers. Items that become part of someone's daily routine.
Feel it. The unboxing experience itself. Custom tissue paper, a handwritten note from the founder, a printed welcome card. These small touches punch way above their weight.
The worst kits? Cheap junk stuffed in a plain cardboard box. If your new hire opens a welcome kit and thinks "this feels like a conference swag bag," you've already lost.
Pre-Built Welcome Packs (The Easy Route)
Not everyone has time to source individual items, negotiate with five vendors, and figure out fulfillment logistics. We get it. That's exactly why we built preset packs.
The Welcome Essentials Merch Pack is our most popular option for teams that want a solid new hire welcome kit without overcomplicating it. It covers the basics with quality branded items at a price point that finance teams won't push back on.
Scaling up? The Warm Welcome Merch Pack adds more variety and premium touches. We see a lot of mid-size companies (75 to 300 employees) land here.
For senior hires, executives, or roles you really fought to fill, the Executive Welcome Merch Pack makes a statement. Premium materials, high-end brands, the kind of kit that makes someone post an unboxing on LinkedIn. We've seen it happen dozens of times.
Building Your Own: Best Items by Category
If you want full control over your onboarding swag, here's what we recommend by category, based on what our clients reorder most.
Apparel
The Classic T-Shirt is our number-one seller for welcome kits. Soft ringspun cotton, true-to-size fit, and print quality that holds up wash after wash. For cooler climates or fall start dates, the Lightweight Crewneck hits the sweet spot between casual and polished. And the Classic Hoodie is, honestly, the item people wear the most outside of work. That's free brand impressions every weekend at the coffee shop.
Drinkware
You can't go wrong with the YETI Rambler 20 oz Tumbler. It's a brand people recognize and trust, and it keeps drinks cold for hours. The Owala FreeSip 32 oz has been a huge hit with younger teams (the dual sip/straw lid is genuinely clever). On a tighter budget, the Classic Tumbler 16.9oz delivers solid quality without the premium price tag.
Notebooks and Stickers
The Moleskine Hardcover Notebook is a classic for a reason. Instant credibility. For something more unique, the Karst Stone Paper Hardcover Notebook is made from stone paper (no trees, waterproof, impossibly smooth). People always ask about it.
Stickers are the most underrated item in any welcome kit. The Die Cut Sticker 3in goes straight on laptops. The Sticker Sheet 4x6 gives new hires options and personality. They're a no-brainer add to any kit.
Accessories
The Classic Dad Hat and Crew Socks are fun, unexpected additions that show personality. For roles that involve commuting or travel, a quality bag makes a huge impression. The Samsonite Backpack works for corporate environments, while the Osprey Daylite Backpack is perfect for outdoorsy or startup cultures.
Remote Employees: Ship It Right
More than 35% of the welcome kits we fulfill ship directly to home addresses. Remote onboarding is the norm now, and a new employee welcome package is even more critical when there's no office, no desk, no coworkers to greet you on day one.
A few things we've learned from shipping thousands of kits to remote hires:
- Time it perfectly. The kit should arrive the day before or the morning of their start date. Not a week early (spoils the moment). Not a week late (defeats the purpose). - Include a personal note. A printed welcome letter from the CEO or hiring manager goes a long way when someone's starting from their apartment. - Don't cheap out on packaging. The unboxing is the entire experience for remote hires. Custom boxes, branded tissue paper, and a clean presentation matter more than you think. - Collect sizing info early. We handle this through our platform. Nothing kills the vibe faster than a hoodie that doesn't fit.
Budget Tiers
We work with companies spending $25 per kit and companies spending $250 per kit. Both can work. Here's a rough framework:
$25 to $50 per person: A branded t-shirt, sticker pack, and a classic tumbler. Simple, effective, budget-friendly. Great for high-volume hiring.
$50 to $100 per person: This is the sweet spot for most teams. A tee or crewneck, a YETI or Owala bottle, a Moleskine notebook, stickers, and a dad hat. Feels premium without breaking the budget.
$100 to $200+ per person: The executive tier. A hoodie, a premium backpack like the Osprey Daylite, a YETI tumbler, a Karst notebook, crew socks, and custom packaging. This is the kit that makes people text their friends about their new job.
Common Questions
How far in advance should we order new hire welcome kits? We recommend placing orders at least 2 to 3 weeks before the start date. If you're hiring in batches, we can store inventory and ship on demand through our fulfillment platform.
Can we customize every item in the kit? Yes. Every product we offer can be branded with your logo, colors, and design. Our team handles the artwork setup and sends you digital proofs before anything goes to production.
What if we don't know the new hire's shirt size yet? We provide a sizing collection link you can send to new hires during the offer stage. It takes 30 seconds to fill out and saves everyone the headache of exchanges.
Do you ship internationally? We do. We've shipped employee welcome kits to over 30 countries. International orders typically take 5 to 10 additional business days depending on the destination.
What's the minimum order quantity? There's no minimum for preset packs. For fully custom kits, minimums vary by product, but most items start at just 6 units.
Can we include non-Merchwell items in the kit (like a company book or device)? Absolutely. We call these "drop-ship" items. Send them to our warehouse and we'll pack them right into the box alongside everything else.
Build Your Welcome Kit in Minutes
Our Pack Builder makes it dead simple. Pick your items, add your branding, preview the kit, and order. Mix apparel, drinkware, notebooks, stickers, and bags into one cohesive package. No vendor juggling. No guesswork.
Not sure where to start? Grab one of our ready-made packs like the Welcome Essentials Merch Pack or browse the full product catalog. Need help building a kit for 100+ hires? Contact our team and we'll put together a custom plan.
Get pricing for your onboarding kits
Tell us how many hires a month and your budget per kit. We'll send a plan with pricing and a storage-and-ship setup within one business day.
Get a quote for your team
Tell us what you have in mind and a rough quantity. We'll send pricing, a mockup with your logo, and lead times.
