How to Choose Packing Materials to Keep Your Products Safe

Starting an ecommerce-based business comes with a unique set of challenges, but one thing that many entrepreneurs don’t think about is the packing materials they’ll use to keep products safe during shipping. Ideally, you need to find a good middle ground between protection and affordability to keep your customers happy. Below are some of the best tips for choosing the right packing materials for your needs. 

Narrow Down the Choices Based on Your Product

The first step here may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s actually a little more complicated than many people initially think. The packaging that will provide you with the best results can vary wildly based on the product you want to ship. For example, a loaf of bread needs completely different packaging than a thick, hardback book, and the packaging you choose for one might be all wrong for the other. Think about your product, then imagine it tumbling inside a tractor-trailer on the way across the country. What kind of packaging would protect it best? A bubble mailer? A box filled with eco-friendly packing peanuts? 

Cost is Critical, Too

Now that you’ve determined the best sort of protection for your products, it’s time to start looking into cost. If you ship fragile items and you need some serious protection, there’s a chance you’re going to have several options available to you. Air-filled plastic bags, eco-friendly packing peanuts, wadded-up kraft paper, and more are all feasible options, but they all have different costs. What’s more, each option has its own unique benefits and downfalls, too. Be sure that you think about this before you decide. 

Consumers Care about the Planet

There’s a reason why you don’t open boxes to find hundreds of classic Styrofoam packing peanuts inside these days. Styrofoam is terrible for the planet and consumers have all but balked at the idea of continuing to use these nonbiodegradable materials so frivolously. Before you choose the cheapest option that will keep your product protected, make sure you know something about how it’s sourced and whether it’s biodegradable. If it isn’t very good for the planet, then there’s a chance your customers may be none too thrilled. Try to find a balance between good for the planet and good for your wallet when it comes to your packaging

Outsource Your Packing

Of course, if all of this sounds like far too much work for you and you’d rather leave these choices up to the experts, you’re certainly not alone. In fact, many ecommerce-based businesses of all sizes choose to outsource their order fulfillment for this and other reasons. When you outsource to an expert company, they can help you choose packing materials that are best for your needs and budget. The best part is that their team will ensure that your products are packed correctly at the warehouse, too. 

Choosing the right packing materials isn’t always as easy as it sounds, particularly when you consider things like cost, protection, eco-friendliness, and more. Fortunately, there are things you can do that can help you make sure that your products can travel by land, sea, and air safely – all without breaking the bank or clogging up landfills for centuries. 

By | 2021-04-26T07:20:51-04:00 April 28th, 2021|Categories: Packaging|Tags: , |0 Comments

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