9 tips to reduce your packaging costs

A good packaging solution is a combination of efficiency, quality and, of course, cost control. Finding the right balance between these factors is not always easy and often the focus is only on opting for the cheapest packaging. But if cost is a concern, there are more options, here are some tips that can help you to reduce your packaging bill:

• Use quality packaging.This may seem contradictory: if we want to save money, let’s reduce the quality of the materials we use, right? However, this is a very bad choice. Choosing poor quality packaging, or packaging that is not suitable for the product to be shipped or stored, has immediate short-term consequences in the form of refunds, returns and customer complaints. But there are also other costs that are not visible at first and that in the long term can affect the image of your company and its reputation. In your packaging purchasing decisions, look for the best combination of price and quality. Giving weight only to price can lead to more costs in the long term.

• Take advantage of volume discounts:as long as you can buy in advance and have no space problems in your warehouse, it is preferable to buy your packaging in large quantities to save with volume pricing and special offers.

• Optimise the number of packaging formats:it is tempting to fill our warehouse with lots of different boxes and fillers for each product (depending on the business this may be essential), but it can significantly affect your packaging bill and introduce complexity into the shipping and storage process. If you use a reduced number of packaging formats for all your products, or ones that can be adapted to their size such as the telescopic or variable height boxesif you use a reduced number of packaging formats for all your products, or ones that can be adapted to their size, such as the “Tetra Pak”, it will allow you to save on your packaging purchases by offering better prices per volume and, in addition, simplify your storage stock.

• Transport costs: Optimising the size and weight of your shipments can save you a lot of money on your transport costs, for example, make sure you only use the necessary padding to protect your product without adding extra cost.

• Correctly identify your shipments. It is just as important to label your packages to avoid loss of goods as it is to indicate the fragility or specific handling conditions of your shipments. Labelling is a very important part of the packaging process and it is worth paying attention to it to avoid costs due to returns or damaged products.

• Productivity costs The use of certain types of packaging, such as boxes with automatic bottoms, can help you increase productivity and gain time and efficiency in the preparation of your orders. Filling machines and systems are also a great option to automate filling processes and reduce costs. It is important that you get advice from packaging specialists, who will study your case and offer you alternatives to improve your productivity.

• Save storage space Traditional bubble wrap or packaging chips can take up a lot of space in your warehouse. If you use a large amount of filler, consider the possibility of opting for paper or air packaging systems that will make you gain in efficiency, but also in space in your warehouse.

• Customer experience: Packaging, especially in the ecommerce world, is your brand ambassador. Everything influences a customer’s shopping experience and may or may not lead to repeat purchases. Take care of that first impression.

• Entrust your packaging purchases to an expert supplier. An integral packaging supplier can mean significant savings through better prices, but also through a more global knowledge of your needs. Demand a quality service from your supplier that is adapted to your business needs: fast delivery, stock availability, payment facilities..

at Rajapack we work every day to offer our customers the best packaging solutions. If you would like us to help you optimise your costs, call us on 902 20 30 06, our packaging experts will be delighted to help you.