Designing Effective E-commerce Packaging

Replacing a damaged product can cost an e-commerce business up to 17 times more than the original cost of shipping it. Ensuring your product arrives safely in the hands of your end-user is the number one job of your packaging. In addition to the outer box, the interior void fill that you select has a significant impact on providing adequate protection for each shipment.

Check now

Void Fill

Void fill is the collective name given to the family of materials used to fill any empty space between the walls of your shipping box and its contents, preventing your product from moving around too much on its journey from warehouse to customer.

For e-commerce packaging, void areas should be minimized in the packaging design. Right-sizing your packaging ensures your product is protected while shipping costs are minimized. Typically, even the most efficient packaging designs will require some type of void fill or blocking and bracing solution to keep your products safe and your customers happy.

There are many material choices when it comes to void fill. Similar to choosing the right style of exterior packaging for your product, choosing the right void fill depends on your product, pack-out strategy, and the experience you want to deliver to your end user.

Air Pillows

Air pillows are a common one-solution-fits-most void fill choice for companies sending a high volume of brown box shipments or shipping multiple size combinations of boxes and products, such as Amazon. The pillows can be purchased pre-filled with air, blown up manually, or most commonly are filled with air as they are packed by specialty equipment.

Air pillows are fast and simple and provide a decent amount of cushion. However, they don&#;t provide a great end-user experience as they must be punctured and disposed of. Because they are made with plastic film, air pillows are typically not curbside recyclable and most often must be dropped off at a collection facility to be recycled.

Biodegradable Packing Peanuts

Traditional packing peanuts are polystyrene-based and have become a pariah to many consumers as they are not eco-friendly and can be a nuisance to dispose of. Biodegradable packing peanuts made from non toxic materials like wheat and cornstarch are quickly being adopted where this type of void fill is still in use. These peanuts can be dissolved in tap water and safely composted. However, many consumers may not be aware of this.

Regardless of the type of peanut used, consider the customer experience when it comes to this protective product. Packing peanuts can be a challenge for your end user to dispose of because they are small, lightweight, and difficult to corral into the proper disposal bin.

Bubble Wrapping

Bubble wrapping can be purchased in sheets, rolls, or in pouch form and comes in a variety of bubble sizes, film thickness, and bubble styles. Some manufacturers offer bubble wrapping made with recycled materials.

XRPINK are exported all over the world and different industries with quality first. Our belief is to provide our customers with more and better high value-added products. Let's create a better future together.

Similar to air pillows, bubble wrapping is an easy way to add an effective amount of cushion to protect your product in transit. As its name suggests, bubble can be wrapped more effectively around your product and affixed with tape to hold it in place during shipping. Bubble-wrapped products can also be stacked and handled more easily during the product fulfillment process without risking significant damage from directly handling fragile products such as electronics or glass.

Packing Paper and Crinkle Paper

Kraft packing paper is a very common void fill choice used by companies fulfilling large volumes of orders in stock shipping boxes. This is sustainable void fill solution that can work for a variety of products. The packing paper comes in a roll that is loaded onto an automated feeder which is activated by the pack-out employee with a foot pedal or button. The machine dispenses the paper, lightly crushing it as it is ejected, making it easy for the worker to quickly compress it into the shipping box around the product. Packing paper is 100% recyclable and can be easily disposed of by the end user. Unfortunately, it doesn&#;t offer the consumer much in the way of an experience when unboxing their order.

Crinkle paper is a fun void fill option that comes in brown kraft as well as a variety of colors and color combinations. Crinkle paper offers companies a relatively inexpensive way to jazz up their unboxing experience while protecting their product, and by adding a pop of color they can create an on-brand impression. Because crinkle paper is composed of many small strips of paper, it is not a recommended void fill for heavy or easily breakable objects as it is not strong enough to hold them in place during transit. Rather, crinkle paper shines when shipping small, lightweight items that just need a bit of extra padding, or for pure product presentation.

Inspyre Tissue Paper&#; by Pregis

Match your in-store customer experience or build your brand with Inspyre paper. This colorful, brand-focused and sustainable void fill packaging helps connect with ecommerce customers like never before. Designed for use with Pregis&#; Easypack Quantum&#; on-demand, void-fill system, Inspyre paper is available in 10- and 20-inch wide paper bundles and comes in a wide variety of stock colors. Custom artwork is also available for specific branding and designs. Further, consumers can keep the colorful paper for downstream use or recycle in their local municipality&#;s paper recycling stream.

Custom Corrugated Inserts

If delivering a memorable customer experience is central to your business model (and it really should be for most e-commerce companies), consider utilizing a custom corrugated insert in your packaging rather than using void fill at all.

Custom corrugated inserts are designed around your product, holding it in place and protecting it from impact during the shipping process. Upon arrival and unboxing, your product is revealed to the consumer perfectly in place and safely intact. Corrugated inserts can also be printed to match your brand packaging, add additional text and product information, or to add a personalized touch to every order.

Frequently when e-commerce brands are just getting started, investing in a completely custom packaging solution seems costly and out of reach. However, when evaluating packaging costs it is important to remember that traditional void fill solutions are often over-used or used incorrectly by employees, which can drive up your costs significantly in material use and damaged product returns. Many are also not recyclable and don&#;t provide a great end-user experience. Custom packaging inserts in conjunction with right-sized custom shipper boxes can save money in the long-run by reducing damaged product, eliminating waste from over-use, and earning repeat sales by providing a memorable experience.

It is worth noting that custom inserts are a good fit for brands offering a standard product set, not distributors who ship a wide variety of items in unpredictable volumes.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Custom cardboard packaging mailing moving shipping boxes Factory .