3 Packaging Tips For eCommerce Companies

E-Commerce means packaging and packaging paranoia at that. However, with a little knowhow you can turn this routine action to your advantage.

Tip 1: Scale Your eCommerce Packages Down

Although many people have experienced receiving an item inside a box that was much too large for it, this kind of packaging continues to be used. Sometimes the right-sized box is not available since many companies try to purchase fewer sizes of boxes in bulk in order to say money. However, over the long run, it can potentially cost you much more money than you might think.

When a box is too large for the product, infill still needs to be added so the product does not rattle around inside the box and get damaged. Of course, it costs money to purchase a lot of money. When you do this, even very light infill, it is still going to add more weight to your package, and therefore increase your shipping cost. Although even if you have a very lightweight product, just the size alone can increase your cost. How does it do that?

Dimensional weight is the answer, which is also referred to as DIMweight. There are basically two formulas that shipping carriers use to calculate shipping prices that are based on the package’s weight and size, and you will get charged whichever price is higher. So if your package weighs just 2 pounds, but is shipped in a 10-foot by 10-foot box, you will be charged a lot of money to ship it since the box is so large. So even with a light product, if you ship it in a big box, most likely you will be charged base on the box size. The more you are able to cut down on the size of the box, the more money you will be able to save.

Tip 2: With eCommerce Packaging, Do Not Underestimate Eco-Friendly

People wrote of eco-friendly packaging solutions as pipe dreams for many years. Research and development do take a lot of money and time, so even when a solution is developed that works better or just as well as the original solution, usually it will be too expensive to justify the use of it. However, over the past few years, this has all changed.

Due to companies like No Issue and EcoEnclose, businesses can now provide their customers with an excellent eco-friendly experience that costs around the same amount of money as their old packaging (while being a lot more consumer-friendly at the same time). For the eCommerce brands that want to really stand out in the crowd, a great way to do this is to offer reusable packagings like those provided by The Gaylord Box Exchange. Shoppers are going to greater lengths these days to try to reduce their carbon footprint.

Today, consumers are much more eco-conscious than they ever were before and are willing to spend money on it. A recent study showed that 80% of North American consumers prefer brands that are eco-conscious, and worldwide 40% of consumers shop with brands that are in alignment with their personal values. You can help to draw in those consumers by focusing on offering eco-friendly packaging.

Tip 3: Consider eCommerce Returns

Although returns and the many headaches they often cause might not be something you want to think about – whether it is unhappy customers, mis-picked orders, or late packages – you can be confident that are your customers think about them. Making your returns process easy and fast for customers, and affordable for you is one of the smartest moves you can make for your business. It is actually possible to do.

First, there are your customers. You may think that if your returns process is easy and free it will just encourage more returns. However, it actually increases sales but does increase returns. This is because online shoppers these days are wary about products meeting their standards. So if are able to reassure them by having an excellent return policy, that can help to increase your conversions.

Second, is your business. When a business does not have a good returns process in place is just costing themselves money.  When you provide a shipping label and box that can be used for customers for a return, it can help to ensure that your product gets packaged properly to keep it safe. On the other hand, if it gets damaged during the returns process, not only will you lose the original sale but you will also not be able to re-sell it to another customer.