How To Effectively Use eCommerce Packaging To Increase Your Revenue

Packaging is perhaps one of the most underestimated and overlooked factors when it comes to setting up an eCommerce store. People often make the mistake of underrating the importance of eCommerce packaging. They do not realize that not only can Packaging influence your sales but may even increase it. Here we will discuss how you can make the most out of your eCommerce packaging.

Let’s start with the basics: what is an eCommerce package? Simply put, an eCommerce package is the packaged product sent to the customer, once he/she has bought a commodity from an online store. The eCommerce package may be small, large, heavy, or light based on the product purchased by the customer. They say, “The First Impression is the Best Impression,” and the same is true for eCommerce packaging. Whatever the content of the package may be, the customer always sees the box first. Imagine you are a customer, and you just ordered an expensive piece of jewelry. You’ve been eagerly waiting for it to arrive and at long last it does. But, when received it appears to be poorly packed, and you are worried that your product might have suffered the same damage as the package. Naturally, you are disappointed and pray that the product is safe. However, the customer may or may not have received a damaged product. Let us assume that the product is, in fact, safe despite the package suffering the damage. Would you still shop from the same seller? You would at least think twice before buying from the same seller. Therein lies the importance of Packaging in eCommerce.

The purpose of a package is to protect its contents; when it comes to the eCommerce industry, its purpose has much more significance. It is a marketing tool; it is a way to earn customer loyalty. At this point, at least some of you are saying or rather wondering “HOW?”. I assure you that your questions will be answered as you read on. Put yourself in the shoes of the customer who has ordered an expensive piece of jewelry again, except this time you receive it beautifully  packaged. You are excited to open your package and not at all worried about the condition of your product. You now feel it is safe to order costly or breakable jewelry from that seller or site, which makes it probable for you to shop from the same seller/site. One way to earn customer loyalty is by maintaining proper Packaging of your products.

In case you are still not convinced about the importance of Packaging, I urge you to read on. It may be human nature to cut corners on occasion, but I have always tried my best to avoid it if possible. When it comes to eCommerce packaging, it is indeed possible to not cut corners and provide an acceptable (if not perfect) packaging for your customers. You may ask, “But why should I make an extra effort on packaging when I am already giving customers good deals on my website?”, you might ask. The good deals and premium quality products don’t amount to anything if the customer receives a tampered or damaged merchandise. The customer must go through the trouble of repacking and sending it back to the seller in case of tampered or damaged product. He/She could end up resenting your eCommerce store for the inconvenience caused. This not only mean that you’ve lost a customer; it means that you risk losing your brand reputation. Brand Reputation is something that once lost is very hard to regain.

An agitated customer may even post a bad review of your eCommerce store, which further damages your brand reputation. In the meantime, if the customer receives a well-packaged product, it will most likely affect how he/she perceives your brand. It is not uncommon to stumble upon praises on the comment/review section for good Packaging on popular eCommerce stores, which can provide an insight into how important a role eCommerce packaging plays in the industry.

The primary purpose of a package is to ensure the safety of the product. The package is bound to experience some shocks and shakes and vibration during transit. The Packaging must be good enough to withstand shakes, bumps, and drops to protect the product inside. Delivering a tampered or damaged product to the customer is the last thing you want to do. Not only does it hurt your brand reputation, but it also affects your credibility as a seller. When it comes to eCommerce, the safety of the product is one of the prime concerns, you absolutely cannot compromise safe packaging. Customers always look for reliable sellers to buy their products from and protection plays a significant role in choosing an eCommerce store. A damaged product is a liability for both the seller and the buyer and should always be avoided.

Despite being one of the prominent factors when it comes to eCommerce, Packaging is a sector which can let you cut down on your expenses. The packaging is something that can be changed, adjusted, or modified to suit your needs. We have already established that the purpose of a package is to protect its content. An added layer of protection works well with expensive or premium products, but we need not do that for every product shipped. The most obvious way to cut costs on Packaging is physical elimination or reduction. Which doesn’t meanyou use an inadequate amount of packaging material and get your product damaged on the way. Yet, you could use the minimum amount of material for Packaging without compromising the safety of its contents.

Another method to reduce the packaging cost is by eliminating the extra layer of protection by strengthening the primary Packaging. This ensures the safety of the package while still being able to reduce the packaging cost. Corrugated trays are still widely used for Packaging; one option is to replace the trays with sturdy shrink wraps. The next aspect that you could make changes to cut costs on Packaging is the printing method used for the Packaging. Printing process like lithography printing can be utilized for accomplishing cost reduction.

Another way to cut on packaging cost is to make sure that less expensive material is used for Packaging. Substituting an expensive material like SBS (solid bleached sulfate) paperboard with CCNB (clay coated news back) paperboard is an example for effectively reducing packaging cost. Similarly changing the materials or designs can also affect the packaging cost. Negotiating with your packaging supplier and sourcing from multiple suppliers will drive towards more competitive packaging costs.

In the eCommerce industry, pallets play a significant role in transporting the package. A pallet is a flat structure that is designed to stably support goods while being lifted by a forklift. It was found that a high cost is incurring due to pallet damage. The solution for this is quite straightforward – modify the pallet design to increase the strength of the pallets. Increasing the strength of the pallets will result in a higher cost per pallet, but it can also reduce the overall cost by reducing waste. Require your pallet supplier to use industry standard designs and do not reuse pallets that have visible damage or have been discarded.

The packaging industry, especially the eCommerce packaging industry, routinely uses plastic packaging. There are many reasons for this; plastics protect their contents from water, dirt, and the sun; they are light and easy to handle. However, plastics are considered a significant threat to the environment. Companies are redefining what is considered to be sustainable packaging and opting for new, eco-friendly packaging for their products. eCommerce packaging waste has become a big concern with limited recycling facilities and climate change on the rise, due to manufacturing processes. About 165 billion packages are shipped each year in the US alone. The majority of these are corrugated and plastic, leading to a significant number of trees cut down for corrugated and paper, and a substantial amount of plastic waste. Energy needed to produce both types of packaging is significant. The rate of consumption is so alarming, combined with the fact that the number of resources with the ability to recycle plastic worldwide has recently declined, that governments have started making regulations regarding eCommerce packaging.

The solution most companies are opting now is to use recycled or upcycled or biodegradable eCommerce packaging. Using sustainable Packaging also plays the role of a marketing agent; all of us want to do our part about the growing concern of climate change and waste reduction. The consumer feels good that he/she is able to contribute whatever they can for what they deem to be a good cause. Companies can print eco-friendly and sustainable messages on their packaging, which automatically creates a good impression on the customer. This could even influence how the consumer views the company or brand. We can see both recycled and recyclable Packaging being used. Although they sound similar, they are quite different. Recycled products have already been recycled, whereas recyclable products can be recycled, if the end users locality recycles that type of packaging material. Another alternative would be to use biodegradable material for your eCommerce packaging. The biodegradable package can be easily broken down by the water, oxygen, the sun’s rays, etc., when exposed to these elements and not landfilled. It would come as no surprise if the entire eCommerce packaging industry eventually switches to biodegradable Packaging as the preferred pack for a sustainable future.