These days, quality packaging supplies in Ohio are green and less immense. However, whether with good intentions (like protecting shipments) or out of ignorance about environmental harm, many companies and individuals indulge in overpackaging. These practices include adding unnecessary layers of bubble wrap to packages or wrapping each vegetable individually. This is not only harmful, but unnecessary, since many items are fine to ship in their original boxes, and many types of supplies work best when approached with less-is-more standpoint. Here are the effects of overpackaging and why you should avoid it:
- Environmental harm: The most noticeable effect is waste. While many packing materials are recyclable, many of your customers do not have access to those services, so your efforts to be “green” literally end up in the trash. The best approach is to choose only as much packaging as necessary to keep your shipments safe, and that way there is less waste if your customers cannot recycle them. There is more awareness of climate change and environmental hazards these days, and your customers seek retailers who do not compound the problems.
- Consumer annoyance: Overpackaging is also a form of poor customer service. No one wants to cut through layers of bubble wrap and tape just to get to one small item buried in a too-large box. The same is true of individual wrapping—no one wants to take time to unwrap each bottle of medicine or each individual cucumber. It takes time, and if your customers suffer arthritis or other mobility issues, the whole unwrapping process is also painful. Also, customers do not enjoy handling overflowing boxes full of peanuts and resent the mess these materials make in their homes. However, if you use a reasonable amount of packaging, you will improve your customers’ experience. Your customers likely have many choices of where to buy items, and it’s easy for them to find someone who is more efficient with packaging.
- Expense: Any time you buy and use too much of something, it is going to show in your profit/loss statement. Extra unnecessary packaging is also expensive. If you take the packaging you use now and extend it to cover two to three packages, your expenses will decrease. Besides the expense of the materials, you should also consider employee labor. Your workers fill fewer packages if they have to spend extra time wrapping individual items or placing a small box into a larger box and filling it with peanuts.
- Higher prices: The extra effort and expenses associated with overpackaging will raise your prices. This creates a perfect storm, as your customer is not only annoyed with the excess packaging but can also find more responsible retailers who use less packaging and sell at lower prices. When you cut the cost of overpackaging, you can pass those savings to your customers and now have two benefits to hold their loyalty: less annoying packaging and more reasonable prices.
Lamberson Packaging Solutions offers quality packaging supplies in Ohio to help you avoid overpackaging. Contact us today to make us your reliable packaging partner and learn better ways to keep your shipments safe.