Packaging seems like a detail, but it helps determine what each parcel costs, how often something arrives broken and the impression your customer gets when opening it. With a few deliberate choices you save on shipping costs and on returns.
Volumetric weight: why air costs money
Carriers don't just charge for the actual weight of a parcel, but also for its volumetric weight: the space it takes up in the truck or plane. You pay whichever is higher. Volumetric weight is calculated as length × width × height in centimetres, divided by a fixed number. Often that's 5000, but some carriers and services use 4000 or 6000. So check your rates to see which number applies to you.
Choose a limited number of standard sizes
A separate box for every product is expensive and impractical. One size for everything means most parcels are too big. What works best is a small range of standard sizes, matched to your best-selling products and the most common combinations in one order. Look at your order history: often 80% of your orders fit into three or four sizes.
Box or mailer bag?
- Mailer bag: light and compact, ideal for clothing, textiles and other products that can't break.
- Box: needed for fragile, heavy or shape-sensitive products, and for anything that gets stacked.
- Letterbox box: fits through the letterbox, so your customer doesn't need to be home. Handy for small, flat products.
Protect what's fragile
A parcel is sorted, stacked and sometimes thrown several times along the way. Products shouldn't be able to move inside the box. Fill empty space with paper or cardboard, don't place fragile products against the wall of the box, and use extra inner packaging for glass or electronics. Try it yourself: shake the box. If you hear something move, the packaging isn't good enough.
Sustainable packaging
Customers are annoyed by big boxes full of plastic. Cardboard and paper filling are easy to recycle, and a box that fits saves both material and shipping costs. A shipping box that doubles as a returns box, with a second adhesive strip, makes sending items back easier and saves your customer from hunting for packaging.
Branding: when does it pay off?
A printed box, a card or tissue paper turns unboxing into an experience. For gift and premium products it's definitely worth it. For other products, a neat, sturdy standard box with a sticker is often enough. More important than the print is that everything arrives intact and tidy.
At Sendwit we look together at which packaging suits your products and your brand. What packaging and shipping cost together is explained in fulfilment costs.