Shipping packages may seem simple, but there’s more to it than you might think. Every step in inventory management is crucial to ultimately getting a product to the consumer. One factor that gets little attention but is extremely important is the packaging of orders. Yet, this can make all the difference! Packaging orders is a skill in itself and requires a thoughtful approach. When you sell products via an online store, it’s not just important to sell the products, but also to transport them safely to the consumer. Packaging with your company’s logo and well-protected products will lead to customer satisfaction and positive reviews.
In stark contrast, the use of bad boxes or too little protective material leads to the delivery of a damaged package. As a business owner, you must avoid such issues, as they incur many costs. You’ll need to return the shipment and send a new product, while the damaged product is simply a loss. You also waste a lot of time dealing with damage cases, whereas you should be spending that time building your business. Here are some things to consider when packaging orders and how you can track costs easily.
Packaging Materials
Packaging orders begins with the choice of packaging materials. The product range in an online store or business is often not limited to one type of product. Most online stores or businesses have very diverse products. We’re not just talking about the characteristics of a product, but about the sizes and weights. You need to deliver all products in perfect condition to the consumer. Not easy, but the packaging industry has been very active in recent years. New innovative packaging solutions have emerged. These new packages excel not only in safety but also in practical comfort. Here are the most commonly used packaging materials:
Shipping boxes
Clothing boxes
Reinforced plastic shipping bags
Reinforced envelopes with bubble wrap
Gift packaging
Of course, there are further subdivisions within each category. We’re talking about boxes with foam, automatic bottoms, closure flaps, etc. Do you ship other products? There are probably existing solutions for that. For example, books are shipped in specific book packaging, and posters in tubes.
It’s important to have the right packaging materials. Packing a small product in a large box will cause the product to move around a lot. During transport, the product will be tossed around, increasing the likelihood of damage. Trying to pack a large product in a too-small box will also have disastrous consequences. In short, you need a range of packaging materials to pack products of all sizes and weights. Ideally, you choose packaging that’s about the same size as the product you’re sending to minimize movement space.
Protective Materials
Once your packaging materials are sorted, you need to think about the right protective materials. A product will almost never fit perfectly in its packaging. Therefore, you must ensure that the products are as well protected as possible and move as little as possible. How? You should fill the box with filler material. This includes paper, packing peanuts, wood wool, bubble wrap, paper cushions, packing foam, etc.
Furthermore, filler material provides an excellent way to protect fragile products. Are you selling glass bottles? You can protect them with special packaging. So, filler material should not be overlooked, as it’s crucial to deliver products in perfect condition to the consumer.
The “fragile” sticker is also part of protective materials. This sticker indicates that there are fragile items in the package. This will automatically make you handle the package more carefully. You should also use the right tape. Always choose a strong and high-quality tape so that your packaging materials don’t open due to poor tape. You can even customize your tape! Interested? Send us an email at hallo@webship.online!
Cost of Packaging Orders
Packaging orders is therefore crucial. Once you’ve selected your packaging and protective materials, you’ll, of course, use them for packing orders. You’ll always pack orders as well as possible. First, you select the most suitable packaging material, then you fill it with protective material. One order may require a different package, while another will need more protective material.
As a business owner, you obviously want to track the costs associated with an order. You can manually keep track of the packaging and protective materials you’ve used for orders on paper or in an Excel file. In reality, this is a never-ending task. However, we offer an automated solution. The WMS or inventory management system Webship Online allows you to integrate packaging and protective materials. This means you can add all packaging and protective materials to the system once, including their cost and, if desired, stock levels.
When you pack an order, you can easily add the packaging and protective materials to the order. You can manually add the materials or use a barcode scanner. Based on the added materials, the system will automatically calculate the cost. This way, you can quickly view and optimize the costs per order. Also, if you add stock, the materials will be deducted automatically, allowing you to always track available materials.
A complete report is also available. You can call up a report on packaging and protective materials at any time. This will give you an overview of the materials used and the total cost.
Want to discover all the features of Webship Online? Contact Webship at hallo@webship.online and request your free trial.
