Letterbox boxes: ship faster and cheaper
4min read
05/10/2020
Figures from the Belgian organisation Comeos1 show that online shoppers have 64% of their purchases delivered to their home. However, not every parcel is successfully delivered at the first attempt. An expensive business for courier services because they have to make the same trip again the following day. And the consumer is not always pleased either because he has to wait another day longer. This trouble is easily solved with letterbox boxes and shipping bags. They are adapted to the opening of a letterbox, allowing an order to be delivered at the first attempt. You happy! Your customer happy! On to more!
1. The advantages of letterbox boxes
If the size, weight and value of your goods allow it, use extra flat packaging. They fit easily into a letterbox and make life much more pleasant for you and your customers (and yes, also cheaper).
► The advantages for the consumer/recipient
- No more missed deliveries and no more hassle scheduling a new delivery.
- Parcels are not left in unsafe places or outside (in all weathers).
- Less chance of oversized parcels that would saddle consumers with too much packaging waste.
► Benefits for the supplier/shipper
- This packaging usually fits more tightly around your product than standard packaging. As a result, you end up using much less packaging material.
- With letterbox boxes and shipping bags, you need little or no padding to protect your products. That’s a lot cheaper for you!
- Less administrative hassle and complaints of orders having to be redelivered.
- Less storage space is needed to store redeliveries.
2. Common letterbox shipping solutions
► Letterbox boxes
Boxes you can ship with the same ease as a letter? They exist! RAJA’s ‘letterbox boxes‘ have a height of only 2.5 cm, so they effortlessly slide into a standard letterbox opening. You can read more about that below in part 3. With a letterbox box, you basically pack any possible product that fits through a letterbox opening. They are popular for sending textiles (such as clothing) and for products that are a little too fragile to send in a shipping bag. Think, for example, of some fashion accessories or a book with fragile corners.
► Mailbags
A second popular solution is the shipping bag. Usually, it is made of tear- and water-resistant plastic (polyethylene). It is recyclable, flexible and super light, allowing you to save significantly on your shipping costs. A shipping bag is ideal when sending soft materials that require little extra protection: clothes, for example, or fashion accessories and soft toys. Finally, bags are increasingly common in paper form. They are then usually made of very strong kraft paper. Simple and easily recyclable.
► Cardboard envelopes
Closely related to the shipping bag, we find the cardboard envelope. Use it for sending books, notebooks, DVDs, CDs, A4 posters, etc., among other things. In short, all kinds of products that require sturdy, almost unfoldable protection. To close a cardboard envelope, you have two options: either choose an envelope with a closing flap or one with a self-adhesive closing strip.
3. Which letterbox dimensions are common?
European standard EN 13724:2002 standardises the dimensions of letterboxes across Europe. This enables successful delivery of all standard mail: whether you are sending a letter to Father Christmas in the Far North, or to the Easter bells in Rome.
- Opening slot = at least 23 cm wide x 3 cm high.
- Retention space (i.e. the actual letterbox) = 27 x 15 x 38 cm.
In the Netherlands, things may be just a little bigger in this respect. According to PostNL, a letterbox opening must be at least 26.5 cm long and 3.2 cm high. This opening must be from 110 cm high, measured where the postman stands. These rules date back to a time when e-shops were in their infancy. Today, the tens of thousands of parcels we have delivered to our homes do not all end up with the right owner from the first attempt.
New developments on the market – such as the parcel letterbox – should further improve this situation. This type of letterbox has a wide flap in which the postman can also deposit large parcels. The rule remains: the more compact, the better. With RAJA’s letterbox boxes, you can easily do your bit (orpacket?) in this yourself.
Sources:
1 www.comeos.be
