Almost every technology introduced into our lives over the past 20 years has promised to remove friction.
One-click ordering. Same-day delivery. Automated recommendations. Seamless transactions.
“Frictionless” has become shorthand for “better,” as though the ideal experience is one that asks almost nothing of us and is over before we have time to notice it.
That is why friction-maxxing feels like such a useful expression for this moment. Coined by Kathryn Jezer-Morton in a January article for The Cut, it means deliberately putting some effort, anticipation, unpredictability, and human involvement back into our lives.
It is not about making an experience difficult for the sake of it. It is about challenging the assumption that faster and easier are always—and only—the acceptable answers.
What might that mean for holiday gifting in the promotional products industry?
The Value Equation Is Changing
Holiday gifting has become remarkably efficient. A recipient list goes into a spreadsheet. A product is selected. A logo is applied. Addresses are uploaded. Boxes are shipped.
That efficiency is valuable. But it does not guarantee that the gift itself will be valued.
Consumers are more selective about what they buy and what they allow into their lives. Fifty-three percent of respondents in a recent McKinsey ConsumerWise survey named rising prices and inflation as their greatest concern. Spending intentions across many discretionary categories were weak, yet holiday spending remained comparatively resilient.
PwC’s Holiday Outlook 2026 found that 79% of consumers say deals and discounts influence when they shop. Yet 64% are also prioritizing nostalgic, screen-free gifts—and that rises to 78% among Gen Z.
Consumers want value, but value is no longer only about price or utility. It is also about whether something deserves space, attention, and time.
The emerging interest in analog and screen-free experiences is not simply nostalgia. Younger consumers are embracing formats they did not necessarily grow up with. They are responding to cognitive overload, fragmented attention, and the digital sameness surrounding them.
As technology occupies more of our lives, we are remembering the value of seeing, touching, smelling, tasting, and hearing the world around us.
Good Friction Creates Meaning
This is where the promotional products industry has an opportunity.
If algorithms keep recommending versions of what already sells, who discovers the strange new product, unexpected color, or unusual decoration technique that becomes meaningful?
Sometimes the friction may not be in the product itself. It may be in the process of discovering it. An article on “The Power of Good Friction” describes how Patagonia slows down the purchase journey to share information about how a product was made and its environmental impact. That pause adds context, integrity, and trust.
Participation can also change how a product is valued. The IKEA effect describes our tendency to value something more when we have helped make it. Research summarized by The Decision Lab found that the effort of successfully assembling an object can increase a person’s attachment to it.
Perhaps the most meaningful promotional product, then, is not always a finished answer. Perhaps it is an invitation.
Design the Right Kind of Friction
We can classify gifts according to what they ask of the recipient:
Making: Crafts, gardening kits, cooking tools and mending kits create competence and ownership.
Waiting: Products that grow, age, develop, or arrive in stages create anticipation.
Exploring: Walking and hiking products, weather-ready apparel, field notebooks and journals create discovery and story.
Choosing: A small, thoughtfully curated selection gives recipients agency without overwhelming them.
Playing: Games, puzzles, card decks, and conversation prompts create interaction and unpredictability.
This is not an argument for a complicated buying process, inaccessible products, or late deliveries. Those are simply frustrations.
Bad friction gets in the way of an experience. Good friction becomes part of its value.
Before defaulting to another familiar holiday bestseller, ask:
- What does this gift invite the recipient to do?
- Could it create participation, anticipation, discovery, or connection?
- Will there be a story attached to it?
- Why would someone choose to keep it?
In the age of frictionless everything, the product people remember may not be the one that asks nothing of them. It may be the one that asks the right thing—and gives something more meaningful in return.
Vicki Ostrom is the founder of Trendependent and a longtime observer of the cultural,
design and consumer shifts shaping promotional products and branded merchandise. Her
evolving Applied Futuring practice looks beyond what is trending to ask what is changing,
what people may need next and where new opportunities might emerge. Her Trendependent
newsletter returns in October.