In the business world, packaging is crucial. It’s often viewed as an afterthought. However, once you consider the package’s appearance when it arrives at your customer’s address in its final form, you’ll know that you need to put in a lot more effort into packaging your goods than you may have thought. There’s a good reason for this. No customer wants to receive a scruffy box that’s about to fall apart in their hands.
As such, carefully considering your packaging and taking the right steps to ensure a pleasant unboxing experience can help you stand out from the crowd. But apart from this, what are some of the other reasons why you should consider packaging and what options are available to you? This article explores the answers to these questions. Stick around and find out more.
Why is packaging important in logistics?
It doesn’t matter whether you are a small, medium or large business owner. The importance of packaging in logistics cannot be overstated. This is because of the role of packaging in logistics. If not done correctly, you risk losing out on your loyal customers and this can affect your bottom line. This is why considering proper packaging in your logistics process is vital. But there are several other reasons to consider it. Here are just a few of these:
- It can help minimise the risk of loss: without robust and secure packaging, your item might get lost. Boxes or poorly wrapped items can tear apart leading to only an outer shell of the packaging while the product itself is in the back of some truck or in some distribution centre with no name to it. Therefore, the chances of your customer actually getting their product is quite slim.
- It can help improve professionalism: in e-commerce businesses, appearance is key. And this applies not only to the pretty pictures you have on your website. It also applies to the final appearance of the product including its packaging. If your item arrives in a scruffy condition, the chances are that you will lose credibility and your customer’s trust. The opposite is also true. You can be viewed as an authority and as a professional business if your package arrives in great condition.
- You’ll avoid minor and major damage: the right packaging means that your product will be protected both inside and out. Cracks, scuff marks or bigger damage are something no customer wants when they receive their parcel. So by taking the necessary precautions with your product packaging from the outset, you’ll ensure your customer is satisfied.
- You can better control how your items are handled: the right packaging can help ensure that the couriers assigned to delivering your parcels handle it with care. Even if the packaging is perfect, incorrect handling can damage the product. Labels and stickers including instructions such as “Fragile”or “Handle with care” can go a long way to protecting your products from harm and this minimises risk of damage.
- You can improve efficiency: efficiency is the name of the game for every business. If you package your products properly the first time around, you are more likely to experience fewer customer returns and complaints, improve your productivity and get more items out to market and focus on your business’ efficiency and technical processes as opposed to dealing with unhappy customers.
How many types of packing are there?
In short, there are three types of packaging in logistics that exist. The first is primary packaging. This is the packaging that the product comes in. This part of the packaging is usually to avoid the product from being contaminated by dust and other elements and ultimately to preserve it in mint condition before reaching the customer. But whether you are selling a t-shirt, a mug or a laptop, this outer casing is important.
The second type of packaging is called secondary packaging. This is the packaging that is outside of the primary packaging. It adds extra protection to the primary packaging and can include boxes, padding, separators, reinforcements, bags, paper and more.
As for the third type of packaging, it is called tertiary packaging. This is used for bulk or transit packaging which groups items in the secondary packaging category together. As such, whereas the secondary packaging could comprise packed boxes, tertiary packaging is about how these individual boxes are grouped and packed together to form a larger unit. An example of this is a pallet that contains multiple boxes.
Product packaging examples
And now we come to some examples of different types of product packaging that you can take advantage of. Some of these are frequently encountered whereas others are not. Here is a short list of them:
- Rigid boxes
- Paperboard
- Chipboard
- Corrugated cardboard
- Cotton (used as gift bags, for example)
- Plastics
Which type of packing is right for you?
And now we try to answer the question: how do we choose the right packaging materials? The answer is not as straightforward as it seems because every business offers different products and the packaging each requires will be unique. For example, there will be a difference in packaging a non-perishable t-shirt as opposed to shipping tins of tuna. Whereas the former may require less padding and protection the latter may require more sturdy boxes such as those made of corrugated cardboard or even plastic containers as moving them around may be quite strenuous and the added weight could break down a cardboard box. As such, you always have to think of your items in question and consider the best alternative for them.
In conclusion
And if you aren’t sure what type of packaging is right for your products, don’t worry. At DRG Solutions, we offer expert advice and have years of experience to our name in terms of shipping items both locally and internationally with precision, efficiency and of course, perfect packaging.
By now, you already know what is the importance of packaging a product. The next step is to actually get it done. Get in touch with us for expert help whether with packaging or with any international courier services from Barcelona. We are more than happy to assist you!