E-commerce logistics: 5 tips for your 2019 budget

“This is really not the time to talk about budgeting, I’m preparing for Black Friday / Cyber Monday / Christmas, January Sales…”(tick the box that suits you) Yet this is the time when the CFO requires a projection for the following year. To help you, here are 5 areas of improvement to budget for that meet consumer demands or recurring issues in the warehouse.

E-commerce Packaging Budget 2019

1. Customise your packaging. Why? Because it’s a trend that affects all sectors and you can’t undercut all your competitors… or risk being left behind.
2. Explore eco-responsible alternatives to your plastic packaging. Why? Because civil society is increasingly demanding in this area – the recent youtuber initiative that gathered tens of thousands of people may be the trigger for a 2019 of demands. Now is the time to budget for a more eco-responsible purchasing policy.
3. Reduce your transport budget by investing in packaging. Why? Because working on the weight and volume of your shipments with new packaging solutions lowers the transport bill for each package sent.
4. Improve the customer experience. Why? Because the opening experience has become essential for e-retailers. Make it easier to open, facilitate the return, use less cushioning… Discover below our investment ideas to improve customer loyalty from tomorrow.
5. Boost the productivity of your pickers. Why? Invest in packaging solutions that will allow each picker to manage more orders. Increase production rates while reducing the number of sick days and the need for interim workers (80% of sick days in warehouses are linked to Musculoskeletal Disorders). This is an investment that will pay off in three ways in 2019! Solutions are relevant from as little as 50 orders per picker.

i. Personalising your shipping packaging

Objective for 2019: the wow effect, standing out from the competition. Textiles and sports, electronics, video games, food, parapharmacy, luxury, spirits, health, etc. we have been interviewed in each sector by leaders, challengers or new entrants.

Inserting a flyer

some ideas for the content of your flyer: an impactful message to encourage people to share their positive experience on social networks, a promo code to create “brand loyalty”. Should the flyer be personalised with the person’s name? Technically more complex and a source of error during preparation! Take inspiration from what Cheerz or Le Closet does in terms of inserted messages

Personalised tissue paper

…in your own colours or branded outright. This is becoming a recurring theme in the textile and luxury industries. However… if you must invest in personalisation, branded tissue paper may not be the most impactful medium. Your own branded tissue paper will suffice. Instead, invest in one of the media below

Personalise the adhesive on your packaging

This branded adhesive will have three advantages

• proof against theft: your adhesive is unique, no one can open the package and close it again with a standard adhesive. Deception is thus immediately detected.
• your brand is reinforced in the minds of customers and carriers alike
• the personalised adhesive takes up no extra storage space and no extra preparation time for the logistics team

our advice: consult us to find out about the technical constraints linked to printing on adhesive, and don’t hesitate to adapt your message to match the specific format of the adhesive (a creative brief can be done in 5 minutes on a platform such as Creads).Tip: if a more responsible purchasing policy is one of your resolutions for next year, you should know that 100% recyclable kraft adhesive can be personalisedas youwish.An alternative? Personalised strapping ! At 123roulement, we close parcels using a strapping machine and not with adhesive. Hugo Guffroy, the logistics manager, has decided to personalise strapping: strong, fast, secure, and very difficult to counterfeit

Personalise labels

labels to close your packaging or tissue paper or to stick on the inside bottom of a white box – this is the low-budget solution originally adopted by Ralph Mansour, founder of Le Closet, when he created the company

Personalise your packaging directly: box, crate or pouch

the personalised case allows Sézane to benefit from free advertising on social networks; it is “a measured loyalty lever” for Ralph Mansour (Le Closet); it is “the brand’s only physical ambassador” for Gaëlle Dauger (Easyparapharmacie) and an extension of the in-store customer experience for Kenzo.

Our advice

• Get inspired by the customised boxes and crates you like;
• Think about a message that will have an impact on the customer when they open it;
• Finally, submit your project to us for manufacturing (we will validate several prototypes with you until final satisfaction).

Low budget tip: for those who want to test a lower level of personalisation, we have created the Merci line. Box with Merci interior printing in several languages and Merci soft pocket version. If you are a shop or marketplace seller and your brand is not significant to the customer, these small touches combined with a flyer to create the link will help you make the difference.In terms of budget: this is a joint investment with marketing, often sponsors or even initiator on the personalisation of the packaging. To enhance the overall benefits of this operation, we advise having marketing support. The most beautiful personalised packaging is in fact the fruit of collaboration between the two departments (beautiful and effective packaging). RAJA has a dedicated department to support you. Contact them

• by email : packaging@raja.fr
• by phone : 0820 316 316 (0,099€ ht)

iI. Reduce the environmental impact of your packaging

I could have put this suggestion at number 1 in view of recent events. Both internationally and nationally, citizen pressure for more respectful business practices is growing. The video of several associated youtubers that exceeded 5 Million views in 24 hours, gathered thousands of French people in the street and incited hundreds to take action locally. As we indicated in a previous article, it is better to anticipate than to suffer the disapproval or even the anger of your customers.Our advice :

• Read and apply our recommendations listed in the article: 5 more eco-responsible packaging
• Eliminate or reduce plastic packaging: kraft envelopes, paper wedges, 100% recyclable kraft adhesive, 100% biodegradable starch wedge chips… solutions exist and can be delivered to RAJA within 24 hours for a test tomorrow. No more excuses!

in terms of budget: the impact is limited because these alternative solutions do not represent a significant additional cost, and may even be beneficial in some cases (e.g. switching from polystyrene particle packing to paper packing with packaging that is more suitable in size).

III. Optimising transport costs

Transport is one of the first items of expenditure for the logistics manager. To reduce transport costs, you need to reduce the weight and volume of your packaging.Our advice

• Read our recommendations on the subject in the article: Packaging, a performance lever for e-commerce.
• Detect the sizes of recurring orders (single or multi-product) in order to determine the most suitable box sizes. The closer the box is to the product(s), the more you reduce the volume and weight of your packages.
• Find the right size on our specialised search engine.
• Test a lighter packing solution with the help of a RAJA expert.
• In the electronics, cosmetics/parapharmacy and spirits sectors, some customers have adopted packaging with integrated film.

in terms of budget: depending on the packaging solutions chosen, this can represent an increased budget. But this investment will be largely offset at the end of 2019 by a reduced transport line.

IV. Improve the customer experience at opening

We have had the opportunity to repeat it on this blog, on Maddyness, Frenchweb, etc. the order tunnel is no longer 100% digital, it now extends to the opening of the package.

Receiving and opening the package are real moments of truth for any e-retailer. Missing out on this final key stage means potentially losing a customer – how much is spent on online acquisition for a single order!

Our advice: we suggest 3 areas of improvement to be budgeted for, based onthe optimisation intentions of 200 European e-retailers

• Ease of opening: very simple, switch to cases, boxes or pouches with tear-off strips.
• Make it easy to return: again, we offer returnable pouches, crates and boxes so that your customer can return the package in a secure package designed for this purpose.
• Eliminate polystyrene chips from your parcels: as they generate frustration when opened in more than 40% of cases [Package Insight study]. Adopt an alternative packaging solution and reduce the size of your parcels at the same time(see III)

in terms of budget: this is a small investment that will have a very positive impact on customer satisfaction. The marketing/customer relations department will be an ally in supporting this investment.

V. Improve productivity by reducing drudgery and work stoppages

work stoppages and temporary staff have a significant cost on the operation of the warehouse. Furthermore, with the opening of new warehouses and the improvement of salaries, recruiting and retaining order pickers is increasingly difficult. Improving working conditions is both a strategic HR and financial issue.

Our advice

• Budget for an MSD prevention plan and the training of a manager in prevention to work on long-term improvement. See our article explaining what the Prevention Plan is.
• Equip the teams with quality shoes, anti-fatigue mats, sit-stand stools if the picker stays more than an hour in front of his packing station, etc.
• If your pickers handle more than 50 – 80 parcels/day, think seriously about mechanising the packing. There are machines for wedging and closing your boxes. Schedule a free audit by an expert
• For the circulation of goods, check the condition of the trolleys, rollers and pallet trucks. And what about a conveyor? Evaluate the gain in productivity and effort as soon as the Christmas rush is over, as the implementation can take time.

in terms of budget: this is an investment that will benefit the logistics team as much as the management and human resources (more serenity, lower interim budget…) To evaluate the cost of a prevention plan, get in touch with your regional fund and ask a certified expert firm.

2019 logistics budget… conclusion?

Next year, e-commerce logistics will have to make efforts in three areas

• Offer more environmentally friendly logistics (eco-responsible packaging, more ecological delivery methods, optimised truck fill rates, etc.)
• Improving the customer experience (more attractive and practical packaging, simpler outward and return delivery methods for the customer, etc.)
• Optimising margins and profitability (transport costs, picker performance, optimising space in the warehouse, etc.)

What are your plans for 2019? Feel free to suggest other areas in the comments below.

for a budget forecast, don’t hesitate to contact our experts by phone at 3912 (0,099€ HT/min)

• They can come to your warehouse for a free audit
• or send you quotes over the phone to document your 2019 logistics budget file.

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BONUS: discover 3 technological innovations applied to the warehouse that could soon make their way into the logistics budget