If you own a small business that sells physical goods, then packaging should be one of your main concerns. If you don’t invest time and effort into selecting the right packaging, then customers could end up receiving damaged products. After all, packaging’s main purpose is to protect products, isn’t it?
Sadly, a lot of business owners don’t give packaging the time or diligence that it deserves. More often than not, they select the cheapest and quickest option that they can get their hands on.
This post will tell you how you can choose the perfect packaging, so your customers don’t have to worry about their purchases being damaged during transit.
Cardboard Boxes
Cardboard is one of the best packing materials out there. You can find contact information for a reliable cardboard box manufacturer in the UK online. There’s no shortage of cardboard box manufacturers offering their services on the internet, after all.
Ideally, you should buy cardboard boxes that are sturdy and thick. Avoid flimsy cardboard, because it can get water damaged very easily. If water gets inside your customers’ packages, it could damage their purchases.
Some businesses remedy cardboard’s absorbent nature by putting products inside one box, which is then stored inside another box.
Brand Colours
If your brand has specific colors (like McDonald’s for example, which has red and yellow, or Burger King, which has red, yellow, and green) then make sure that you include them on your packages. Using coloured boxes can make your product look a lot more professionally packaged.
Psychologically, it will also appeal to customers. If customers receive standard brown boxes from you, they will feel underwhelmed, and like they are dealing with an amateurish company. It does not cost a lot of money to get your brand’s logo and colors printed on the boxes that you use.
Plastic Wrap
Plastic wrap is essential. Whenever you are sending anything inside a cardboard box, you need to make sure that it’s wrapped in some kind of plastic. Ideally, you should use clear plastic. This is so that customers can see what’s inside the plastic wrap when they open their package.
If the contents of the plastic wrap have been damaged, then they can reseal the box and ship it back to you. You can use bubble wrap too, but that is something that will be addressed in more detail later.
Using Tape
When sealing packages, you need to make sure that you use strong adhesive tape. A lot of people overlook the fact that tape actually further secures your package and makes it less susceptible to damage.
The tape you use should be strong enough to keep the parcel closed. Do not use basic Sellotape on packages, because Sellotape tears and pulls away without much effort. If a package is handled roughly by couriers and it’s secured using Sellotape, it could easily burst open.
Plastic Bags
Plastic bags are an alternative to cardboard boxes. If you are sending small items (like clothes, for example) then you can just send them in plastic bags. Again, you need to make sure that the inside of the bag is secured, so your customer’s purchases do not get damaged or marked during transit.
One of the advantages of using plastic bags is that they tend to be very strong and aren’t damaged easily. What this means is that it’s very unlikely your customer’s products will get damaged, unless they are handled very roughly.
It’s also a lot easier to fill plastic bags with foam or bubble wrap, which helps to keep products fixed in one place, so they don’t bounce around during transit.
Package Weight
The weight of your packages is something you always need to think about. The heavier packages are, the more money you’ll have to pay for shipping. When you are packaging items for customers, you need to make sure that parcels are as secure as possible, but as light as possible too.
Often, the best way to do this is to stick with cardboard boxes and plastic bags. Other forms of packaging tend to be extremely heavy, making them expensive to use.
Metal Inserts
Metal inserts are a good addition to any parcel that’s carrying extremely heavy objects. When you are shipping heavy objects, metal inserts will prevent them from going straight through the bottom of the box. It is your duty to ensure items are packaged safely.
If any damage occurs during shipping, you will be held liable. What that means is that if your products are damaged during shipping, you’ll have to either refund the customer or ship them a new product, and you will have to take the loss on the broken or damaged item. Metal inserts can prevent this from happening.
Bubble Wrap
Inside parcels carrying delicate objects, make sure that you add bubble wrap. Bubble wrap is good because you can wrap it tightly around the products that you’re packaging. You can add enough bubble wrap as it takes to completely fill the parcel so that it is unable to bounce around or get damaged.
Bubble wrap is very cheap, too. Try to buy the thickest bubble wrap that you can. Another advantage of using bubble wrap is that it is very light, so even if you fill the parcel up with it, it won’t add much to its weight, which will keep shipping affordable.
Foam Protection
An alternative to bubble wrap that’s equally as affordable and light is foam. Foam can be inserted inside larger parcels. Usually, foam is added in addition to bubble wrap. Adding both foam and bubble wrap can help to keep your parcels nice and secure.
Foam is widely available and can be ordered in bulk. Ordering it in bulk is one of the most effective ways of saving yourself money. When you order it in bulk, you will pay less. Companies tend to charge more when you buy smaller amounts of foam or bubble wrap.
You need to protect your products when shipping them out. If they arrive to customers damaged, you’ll have to foot the bill. Packaging products securely is not as difficult as a lot of business owners make it out to be. You can do it easily by following this post’s guidance.
