Ecommerce Vs. Retail Packaging 

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A lot of people assume that all packaging that’s done is all the same, and that there’s no specific differences to each. Most packaging falls under two types of packaging, ecommerce and retail packaging, both with the function and appearances. It’s vital to know the difference, especially when choosing the packaging that’s best for the businesses at hand. 

Ecommerce Packaging 

This involves packaging solutions that are designed in order to help with shipping products from people in one location to the next. Ecommerce is basically exterior kinds of packaging. The packaging is focused more on the form that you have and the function over it instead of just looking good. 

That isn’t to say it’s ugly, but security does take precedence, so that the products are transported in a safe manner, so that the contents are safe throughout all of this. The goal of this is to keep everything in a firm, safe type of atmosphere that’s weather resistant whenever it’s needed. The secondary type of goal that’s used in this packaging, is to improve the awareness of the brand, and through the usages of slogans and logos on the boxes, tape, and mailers, this helps. 

When products get redirected to customers directly, the first thing is the ecommerce packaging, with the first and mainly only form of the packaging that’s there. it lets you have the experience that benefits them, and you can buy custom packaging in order to improve sales too and build brand awareness. 

When you’re buying custom packaging, you need to make sure that the product is protected, and it looks good. You also want to make sure there is no waste, and the shipping is nice and secure. 

Remember, the goal of this is much more about the type of packaging that secures, and less about the aesthetics of this. 

Retail Packaging 

This is basically the interior of the packaging, and it’s basically the last barrier between the customer and the product that’s sold. This is the one that you see in the sores, and it’s what entices people to buy something. While sometimes this is omitted during product transport, retail packaging is used in a variety of situations. 

It’s weather-resistant, heavy-duty, and it’s equipped for transportation in the long haul. It also lets you implement different designs that are delicate within the packaging. Unlike the ecommerce one, the goal of this is to be aesthetically pleasing for customers and brands, in order to promote the brand awareness that you want from this. 

If you’re curious about what you need for retail packaging, the goal of this is to make it look good so customers can recognize it, and also in ways that stand out to the buyers at hand. You may be displaying this in certain areas, and if you’re doing that, your goal with this is to show a product that’s correct so that when customers get this and open it, they realize that it’s the same thing that they ordered. You also want to make sure the description of the product is accurate, and any important information for them is visible. 

For lots of people, these two things are practically one in the same when choosing packaging. But knowing the difference is vital for both, as it can help you with better understanding what it is that you need to put into a cot to really make them shine in the realm of packaging. It also helps highlight some vital parts of what makes it better for the customers, so that if there is anything missing, you can add it to the future packaging you have. 

Adhesive Labels for Shipping 

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For a lot of people, shipping, inventory management, and the like rely on one thing: labels which properly identify and tell customers and employees of all kinds what is in there.You can actually buy different kinds, color-coding them in order to help with stock rotation, keeping the workers all informed and up to date on this. A lot of safety is also made better by utilizing the proper tags on this. 

As your shipments leave, you need to make sure that you give the correct messages. From the moment it leaves with the information on the destination, and also the labels that tell you where it may go, and if there are any special necessities for this. All shoppers have different kinds of needs, but tags and labels are there to help the shipping and warehousing departments in a lot of business areas. Shippers and the startups that are out there with new changes and needs do benefit from the proper information for packaging, and with the right consultation, they get the right requirements for this. 

Labels for Stock Rotation 

A lot of times, if you’re looking to keep your stock and the shipments flowing without any problems, you need to have the correct solutions for this. 

Blank labels or pre-printed labels are definitely something that’s good for identifying the stock that’s there. You can use different stickers for warehouse workers to identify the products, where they’re located, and if you’re able to see where stock that’s slow, or not properly rotating is happening, you can make sure that the labels get properly affixed too. 

Even prior to the goods becoming entries for inventory, they get counted, checked in, and then received by certain clerks. The pre-printed labels help to ensure that accountability is there, and some stock is properly tagged as counted or inspected by someone before they’re even allowed to be considered stock. 

Some facilities for storage take this further, offering tracking ways to ensure that the labels are going to the correct destinations, and are printed in a clear manner. 

When the labels are better than numbering, this helps to ensure that there isn’t any possible guessing when you’re rotating the inventory. You just have to put it out, rotate it, and then go from there. It’s really that simple. 

For a lot of different applications, there are now different labels that you can buy based on different ways to organize that help to smoothly and easily handle all of this, without the further information being placed on them. any fluorescent colors that are there are all there, sold in different colored sheets, and you can also get sets with higher volumes, and goods that get mounted to dispensers, each of which offer certain labels, are totally adjustable, and they accommodate a lot of the core sorts of diameters and widths. 

They send messages 

Finally, the labels that are there are used to send different messages to different departments that are getting the freight that’s received. This is also further mandated when you get a lot of the safety factors out. The sticky labels are great to notify the different companies about shipments, any lists for packaging, and different requirements for handling. 

The department of transportation even has labels that ensure that they get to the right location, and if anything is hazardous, flammable, they are identified through the use of this. Also, mentioning that something is fragile is good too. Labels help a lot, and here, we gave you a few reasons to consider labels for your packaging needs as well too. 

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Packaging 

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When you’re packaging the right products for your brand, there are a lot of different aspects. There are actually different types of packaging, which fall into primary, secondary, and tertiary, all of which are important for a business. Here, we’ll go over all of these, what they are, the purposes, and when to use this kind of packaging. 

The Primary Packaging 

Primary is used for preservation and protection, offering containment, and also to let customers know of what’s within these packages. This is usually the packaging that has a direct contact with your customer. They usually involve multiple aspects. For instance, for those who have beer products, the main packaging is the cap and bottle, along with the label that’s on the product. 

Secondary 

Secondary is usually what shows off the branding, along with the other logistics that are in there. this also protects products, fully collating the units into one giant package. The secondary packaging utilizes different kinds of products, including the following: 

  • Displays 
  • Retail-ready packages 
  • Boxes for containment
  • Shelf-ready packages 
  • Countertop units 
  • Packaging for gifts 

The secondary packaging is usually on corrugated or cardboard, and it’s printed to show off the branding in creative, useful ways. 

Tertiary 

This is used to handle, protect, and then transport the multiple sale units. This is the type of packaging that is rarely seen by the people who buy the items, and it includes the packaging used for transits, mailers, or even boxes to help ensure that the packaging leaves the business and then goes to a consumer in one type of piece. The branding is usually seen on some of the tertiary packaging, but usually the consumer will not see it.  However, it’s not totally necessary. 

Things to Consider with Packaging 

There are a few things that’ll help with choosing the right kinds of packaging that you need. The first thing is what’s important within the packaging. Is it imperative to offer protection for the products? Do you want to ensure that the branding is there? Do you want to make sure that it’s recycled? These are all essential points, especially when choosing packaging. 

You should also look at the packaging value. Do you want to spend a lot of money to make sure that it looks good? Or are you focused more on the practicality? Do you want to have a bi, fancy logo on this. There are also delivery and transport costs that also should be impacted by this too. There is some packaging that weighs much more than some of the others and may take up a lot more space. It can cost a bit more in the expenses used for delivery, and you should also factor this in when you choose the right kind of packaging. 

Finally, the other most important part is your branding. Branding is what people will see, and it’s what they’ll remember you by. 

You should make sure that every chance you get, you take advantage of showing off the branding, and making sure that the branding is consistent all throughout the business. Look at where the logos will go, and then, make sure that the logos are nice and clear. 

The other important thing is to think about colors. Branding and packaging uses colors and making sure that the packaging hits right with the correct colors is a must for businesses. 

When you’re choosing your packaging, you want to make sure that you include all of these, and have all of these factors in place, especially when choosing packaging that works for you. 

Shipping from the Store 

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Do you have different storefronts and your online orders are growing? 

If this is the case, you may want to consider the ship-from-store strategy. The shipping from this uses stores rather than distribution centers to help with driving down the costs. 

However, this doesn’t work for every business, it may not have the location, employees, resources, and the like to make this work. 

What shipping from Store Entails 

This is pretty much a strategy used for fulfillment that involves having orders placed directly into platforms for ecommerce, having them fulfilled, and then have it at the store, rather than directly at warehouses. 

This also is used to fulfill orders online, rather than those inventories that are stored at warehouses, and also are using employees from the store to pick and pack these. 

This is different from curbside or in0-store pickup as it doesn’t require the person to directly go to the store, but it is shipped from the store to the customer. 

How this works is simple: 

  • First, the customers orders the item 
  • The retailer then sends the order to the closest location to the customer. 
  • The employee picks from current inventory and then ships this out 

In a sense, you’re making stores distribution centers of the sort, which can improve the presence geographically, and reduce both the shipping costs and transit times. But this is not easy. 

What to Consider 

The thing is you should know the average order volume that you have. if the business doesn’t ship a ton of online orders on a daily, then you can use the stores without overwhelming them. but if you have a ton, you may need to reconsider this. 

The type of packaging matters. The packaging for the store items may be different from what may be needed for shipping. You should also make sure that the store has the bandwidth and packaging to ship this all out. 

The sizes also matter too, as it may be cheaper to ship directly from the warehouse than the store if the shipping dimensions are odd. 

You also need to figure out where to ship. The right shipping locations can be hard, and this is something that’s hard to get bulk shipping for, so be mindful of that. 

The benefits of this 

There are a few benefits to this. 

First, it offers better in-store turnover, which can definitely be good for those stores that don’t have a bunch of volumes, as it helps with avoiding deadstock and pushes inventory around. 

It also can help with cutting down shipping times, depending on where the package is going. 

It also is good for a lot of people who are worried about possibly shipping from one place, so that you don’t have to worry about possible disasters rendering you useless. 

The downsides. 

One of the biggest downsides is that the operating costs are higher. This can get very labor-intensive for some people, so you’ll want to make sure that you have enough people to train, fulfill, and do this. It also does create more costs. 

It also can disrupt the in-store processes, as the customers won’t get helped enough, and if you have employees multitasking, this can end up being a disaster. 

It also can be something hard to manage, especially if you have to look at the inventory. This can make it super complex, since it may put the company at risk for backorders. 

Unless you invest in omnichannel order management, you’re going to have to coordinate at all levels, which can be very overwhelming for lots of businesses as well.

Recycling Holiday Packaging 

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Holiday sales are supposed to keep going up, and while you have some great gifts, you also will need to figure out how to get rid of the waste and recycle it too. Recycling is great for reducing the pollution, keeping the resources and energy levels lower, and also prevents the landfills from filling with more trash. Most trash is actually in the form of packaging materials, and we actually get rid of our weight in the form of packaging every month or so. that’s why it’s important to make sure that you do recycle, since that of course, can save you a ton of pounds, especially after the holiday season. How can businesses encourage recycling though? What can they do to make this easier for the person to get excited about? Let’s find out. 

Get Customers to recycle

Most people have a recycling bin, but the thing is, it rarely gets used.  Most of the time, they have to bring this to a different place just to recycle it.  It’s important as well to note that you cannot recycle anything that’s contaminated, so you have to clean this, and it’s important to make sure that the quality is good. 

What can you toss into the recycling bin though? Some of the options include. 

  • Boxes when you break them down 
  • Packing slips, cards, and envelopes
  • Paper inserts and other paper dunnage 
  • Tissue paper 
  • Wrapping paper that isn’t metallic 

If you’re looking to recycle certain things, you may have to bring it to a drop-off location, especially if it’s a packaged delivery. 

Some of these include: 

-poly or bubble mailers 

Air pillows or  bubble wrap when deflated 

Reusing Stuff? 

There are certain things that you can reuse. If you send the orders in a box that’s branded, you may want to make it so that they keep it, instead of throwing this into the trash. Keeping the packaging a and reusing it is also good. 

You can use packing peanuts, the bubble wrapping, and other supplies as well for future shipping, especially if you plan to pack your own items, and a whole lot more. 

How else to cut down 

There are a few things that you can do as a retailer too in order to get people to cut down on their waiting. 

The first, is trying to use materials that are sustainable. They offer post-consumer kinds of recycled content, and also eco-friendly packaging options even for boxes that are branded, so that you can actually talk the talk about being sustainable, which is something a lot of companies struggle with achieving. 

The second thing is trying to make it so that buying in bulk is better. Rather than just ordering everything in more than one box, have them order it, and put it inside one box. This not only saves them and you money on shipping, you can actually offer discounts in bulk, and by using the right box, you can also reduce the materials that are used for packaging. 

Finally, you want to try to make sure that you’re not going to extreme places with all of this and using too many resources. For those that deliver their own items, make sure to use different calculators to help with making sure that you optimize the traveling that you do, and also make sure to make deliveries happen, and try to avoid the redeliveries.  You should also try to avoid making the carbon footprint any larger. 

Try to minimize the returns as well, so that you don’t have to go out to get it.