Shipping packages may seem simple, but there is more to it than meets the eye. Every link in inventory management is important to ultimately deliver a product to the consumer. One aspect that gets little attention but is extremely important is order packaging. Yet, this can make all the difference! Packaging orders is a craft in itself and requires a thoughtful approach. If you sell products through an online store, it’s not just important to sell the products, but also to transport them safely to the consumer. Packaging with the company’s logo and well-protected products will lead to customer satisfaction and positive reviews.
In stark contrast to this is the use of poor boxes or insufficient protective materials, resulting in damaged packages. As a business owner, you must absolutely avoid this, as it leads to significant costs. You will need to return the shipment and send a new product, while the damaged product is simply a loss. Additionally, you waste time on damage cases when that time should be spent growing your business. Here’s what you should consider when packaging orders and how you can easily track the costs.
Packaging Materials
The packaging of orders starts with choosing the right packaging materials. The offer of an online store or business is often not limited to just one type of product. Most online stores or businesses offer a wide range of items. We’re not just talking about the characteristics of a product but about sizes and weights. You need to deliver all products in perfect condition. Not easy, but the packaging sector hasn’t been idle in recent years. Innovative packaging has been brought to market. These new packages not only excel in safety but also in practical comfort. Below are the most commonly used packaging materials:
Shipping boxes
Clothing boxes
Reinforced plastic shipping bags
Reinforced envelopes with bubble wrap
Gift packaging
Of course, within each category, there are different subcategories. Think of boxes with foam, automatic bottoms, sealing flaps, etc. Do you ship other products? There’s most likely already a solution for that. For example, you ship books in specific book packaging and posters in tubes.
It is important to have the right packaging material. Packaging a small product in a large box will allow the product to move a lot. During transport, the product will be tossed around, greatly increasing the risk of damage. Similarly, trying to pack a large product in a too-small box will have negative consequences. In short, you need a range of packaging materials to package products of all sizes and weights. Ideally, choose packaging that is about the same size as the product you want to ship to minimize movement.
Protective Materials
Once your packaging materials are in place, you need to consider the appropriate protective materials. A product will almost never fit perfectly in the packaging material. So, you need to make sure that the products are as well-protected as possible and move as little as possible. How? You need to fill the box with filling materials. This includes paper, packing peanuts, wood wool, bubble wrap, paper pads, packing foam, etc.
Furthermore, the filling material offers an excellent opportunity to protect fragile products. Do you sell glass bottles? You can provide special protection for the bottles. The filling material should not be overlooked because it is incredibly important to deliver products in perfect condition to the consumer.
The “fragile” sticker is also part of the protective materials. This sticker indicates that there are fragile products in the package. You will then automatically handle the package more carefully. You should also use quality tape. Always choose strong, high-quality tape to prevent your packaging from opening due to poor tape. You can also personalize the tape! Interested? Send us an email at hallo@webship.online!
Cost of Packaging Orders
Packaging orders is extremely important. Once you’ve decided on your packaging and protective materials, you’ll, of course, use these materials for packaging orders. You will package orders as well as possible. You’ll choose the most suitable packaging materials and then fill them with protective materials. One order will require a different packaging, while another order will need more protective materials.
As a business owner, you obviously want to track the costs associated with an order. You can manually track on paper or in an Excel file the packaging and protective materials you’ve used to pack orders. In reality, this is a never-ending task. However, we offer an automated solution. The WMS system or inventory management system Webship Online allows you to integrate packaging and protective materials. This means you add all your packaging and protective materials to the system once, including the cost and, if desired, inventory.
When you package 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 the costs per order and optimize them. Also, when you add inventory, the materials are automatically deducted, giving you a continuous overview of available materials.
A complete report is also available. You can call up a report on packaging and protective materials at any time. This way, you get an overview of the materials used and the total cost.
Want to explore all the possibilities of Webship Online? Contact Webship at hallo@webship.online and request your free trial period.