It’s 2020 and e-commerce is undeniably here to stay and maximising the user experience in every aspect is becoming more essential for long term success of any business. Product packaging for e-commerce has become more vital to the customer shopping experience with it not only needing to be innovative, sustainable and cost-effective but also designed for easy shipping.

Many business owners are under the impression that cutting down costs involves going back to packaging basics but that isn’t necessarily the case. One major shift we are seeing is the move away from rigid packaging toward flexible packaging for easier & cheaper shipping, sustainability and convenience. The rise of digital printing also means that short runs are now becoming more affordable giving access to this packaging to the smaller players.

Easier & Cheaper Shipping

The obvious advantage of flexible pouch packaging over traditional rigid packaging for e-commerce is the lightweight material used. Taking up less volume and weighing less overall have an immediate impact on the cost of shipping goods.

An added benefit to support the demands of online shoppers is the tamper-proof seal of pouch packaging that gives consumers confidence in the integrity of the products shipped to them.

Sustainability

The anti-plastic sentiment of shoppers, including those that shop online, is still driving a push to reduce waste in packaging. Flexible packaging again wins over rigid packaging with a smaller environmental footprint due to the smaller volume and weight that impacts sustainability throughout the entire packaging cycle.

Convenience

Although consumers are environmentally driven, nothing beats the convenience factor is our busy lives. Flexible pouch packaging has allowed innovation in product offerings that play to the increasing demand for convenience. Single serve food items being a very popular example seen today.

As e-commerce continues to rise alongside in-store retailing, we will see a convergence of packaging formats across both channels. Products sold online and in-store will have the same convenient, sustainable and easy to ship packaging which will further reduce costs for suppliers who will not have to manage multiple pack types for the same product.

 

Image source: Bean Body