Packaging plays a major role in your eCommerce business. It gives your customers a personal touch of your business. It’s like the clothing covering your product; hence it needs to speak volumes. It should be beautiful, attractive, and of excellent quality.
Therefore, before choosing an eCommerce packaging service, do thorough research. Go for a service that will protect your product and your brand name.
Read on to learn on aspects to look out for before settling for an eCommerce packaging service.
What is Ecommerce Packaging?
Ecommerce packaging is the product you use in shipping your products directly to your customers. It’s all the processes involved in designing, evaluating, and coming up with containers for your product.
It helps in protecting your product, building your brand, and controlling the shipping costs. The packaging includes the box itself, tapes, coupons, and thank you letters. Delivery parcel boxes can also be made fancier using labels, sleeves, and ribbons.
The type of eCommerce package depends on a variety of factors. Examples include:
- Weight – for heavy items opt for a sturdy box.
- Breakability – if the item is highly fragile, you should protect it with necessary materials during shipping. For instance, bubble wraps.
- Product value – you’ll have to spend extra money on protective packaging when shipping high-value items.
How Do Consumers Receive Their Packages?
There are different ways to send parcels to your customers. Opt for a friendly shipping and convenient carrier depending on your budget. You can go for local shipping or contract shipping carriers, depending on your customer’s location.
Different consumers prefer different methods of receiving their parcels. Some are comfortable picking from the post office drop box, while others want it sent to their home parcel box.
A large parcel delivery box is great for anyone who wants to receive their goods in a home or office. Parcel drop box comes in different colors like black, white, grey, and green. The price also differs depending on different aspects.
Consumers should opt for a secure delivery box that won’t tamper with the quality of the product they are receiving.
Ways to Choose the Best eCommerce Packaging Service
Here are some of the things to look out for before choosing an eCommerce packaging service.
1. Offers Customized Packaging
Customization is great for unleashing your brand. Hence, you need to go for a company that customizes products. They need to be great in paper structures, substrates, and styles.
From a marketing perspective, eCommerce packaging identifies you as a brand. The branding of your package acts as your trademark. It includes the color, design, and logo in the packaging.
Excellent customized packaging helps in strengthening your brand. It gives a personalized touch to your products, making the clients feel valued every time they unpack their goods. The result is an incredible connection between you and your customers.
It also gives you a stronger identity and can increase the sales revenue of your company. Lastly, it helps you build authentic and long-lasting relationships with your customers.
2. Have Quality Packaging Material
The material you use in packaging speaks a lot about your business. Hence, you need to go for a company that uses quality materials for your product. Examples of some packaging materials include:
- Poly mailers – These are flexible packaging materials that are light and versatile. They are great for light to medium-weight products. Unfortunately, they aren’t great for heavy products. They are also cost-effective, waterproof, and tear-resistant.
- Chipboard or paperboard boxes – Chipboard is a versatile material that’s made from 100 % recycled paper. It comes in different sizes and strengths to cater to a variety of products.
- Corrugated boxes – Corrugated boxes are among the most popular boxes in the shipping of products. They come in different sizes, shapes, and thicknesses to provide versatility to different kinds of products.
There are lots of things that can go wrong if the packaging material is of poor quality. The product could get damaged during the shipping. Also, it may give your customers a hard time during unboxing.
The parcel box image on your computer should not have a great difference from the actual product. Hence, the packaging material must meet your customers’ expectations.
3. Consider the Pricing
Pricing is important, especially when working on a budget. Can you afford their services, and what are the alternatives if you can’t? Do your research and check which companies have the best and affordable prices according to your pocket.
If your business is small, check whether they sell their package in bulk or offer a low order minimum. Also, evaluate if the company offers boxes of different sizes. This will help you in saving expenses for the dimensional volume rate.
You can use custom tapes and stickers with your company logos or design trademark printed on them to save money. Check if the service you are opting for contains such a service. You end up spending less while giving your customers the packaging they deserve.
4. Excellent Customer Care Services
Good customer care services are important in different industries, including eCommerce.go for a company that cares for customer needs and their well-being. If the shipment is lost or an order is refunded, how do they handle the situation? If such occurrences happen, the customer care representative should act accordingly and follow up on the issue.
Do a thorough background check for the kind of customer service your company offers if they exceed your expectations, the better.
5. Sustainable And Environment Friendly
Sustainable packaging is important as companies reduce the number of waste released to the environment. The company needs to design environment-conscious products. Most consumers are getting conscious when it comes to carbon print. Thus, they are most likely to support brands that align with their interests.
Sustainability creates an environment in which humans and nature can coexist harmoniously. It also creates a balance between economics, society, and the environment. Eco-friendly companies engage in environmentally safe practices from sourcing materials, manufacturing packaging, and shipping.
Here are some things sustainable companies do:
- Ship their items in bulk, working wholesalers to reduce individual shipments.
- Their products can be recycled.
- The products can be reused.
6. Offer a Smooth Working Experience
Working with a service that doesn’t meet your expectations can stress you out. Thus, going for a service that knows your needs would save you a headache. It should help in streamlining and managing your inventory storage and the warehousing of your products.
It should consider the different aspects required for the production of your products, including the workforce needed. Highly trained and professional staff are important in delivering quality products. In the process, they need to account for all transactions.
The service provider needs to have a technical team that would scrutinize and test the quality of the packaging box. They need to ensure it meets the required standards. Check if the company performs regular inspections, measurements, and tests on their equipment.
Final Thoughts
The eCommerce service company you choose is dependent on a variety of factors. Nonetheless, no matter the service you settle for, ensure it aligns with your goals and meets your budget. Giving your customers the best packaging experience is great in customer retention and acquiring new customers.
You deserve the best, and so do your customers.