From securing financing, creating business plans, and attracting customers, small businesses face a number of challenges. One challenge that many small businesses may not consider is packaging and shipping their products once they are sold. There are many packaging and shipping options on the market for businesses to utilize based on their products and needs.
Read below for 10 packaging options for small businesses:
1. Sustainable Packaging
Sustainable packaging consists of packaging materials that are either renewable, recyclable, biodegradable, or compostable. The purpose of using sustainable packaging is to reduce the environmental footprint of the packaging. Sustainable packaging must be effective, economical, and must be safe for the consumer and the planet. Sustainable packaging can also be designed to reduce damages to products in the shipping process while also reducing your businesses carbon footprint. Sustainable packaging is efficient, effective, and educational. Using sustainable packaging does not mean your business needs to compromise on quality or price.
2. Protective Packaging
One major cost to businesses is products that are damaged in transit. Protective packaging is designed to protect a product from any potential harm or damage that may occur during the shipping or warehousing process. Protective packaging may be made from any material, but common materials used include cardboard, plastic, and metal. Ensuring that your product arrives at its final destination in one piece is critical for your business, which is why using packaging that is designed to be protective is essential.
3. Flexible Packaging
The key to packaging innovation is flexibility. For products that aren’t suited for a box or pallet, flexible packaging is an effective option. Flexible packaging also often uses less materials, which makes it a more cost effective and environmentally friendly option. Different examples of flexible packaging include poly bags, sheeting, and industrial films.
4. Food Packaging
Food can be one of the most complicated and expensive products to ship. Food safety and quality need to be prioritized when considering food packaging options. Effective packaging is essential for safe transportation of food items. There are diverse food packaging options depending on the various food items being shipped.
5. Corrugated Packaging
They may say not to judge a book by a cover, but the way your package looks on the outside is often a customer’s first impression of your business. It is important that you don’t let the packaging of your products lead to a bad impression in the eyes of your customer. Working with experienced corrugated structural experts and graphic designers who understand the importance of presenting a strong brand will allow you to develop, design, and deliver world-class corrugated solutions tailored specifically to your application and budget requirements.
6. Temperature Controlled Packaging
Temperature controlled packaging allows you to maintain a certain temperature range of your products to ensure product freshness and quality. Temperature controlled packaging is essential to providing protection for your temperature sensitive products while in transit to the customer.
7. Tapes and Adhesives
Choosing the right tape is a critical step in the packaging process. It is important to find a tape or an adhesive that you can rely on to perform the first time. From the adhesive properties to the temperature requirements, there is more to tape than one might initially consider. It is important to choose tapes with a fast-acting bond and optimal closure characteristics, which will lock your product securely inside the box.
8. Stretch Film
A properly wrapped pallet protects not only your product, but also your brand’s reputation. For this reason, proper wrapping should be your top priority when it comes to packing and shipping your product. How do you ensure that your pallets are wrapped properly? This is where you are going to want to make sure that you are working with experts that are skilled at auditing stretch film processes and are delivering low-cost, innovative solutions that increase productivity, ensure product safety, and protect your brand.
9. Strapping
Strapping is one of the most crucial steps in the packaging process and it is often overlooked. Strapping is a quick, economical, and easy way to keep your products secure throughout the shipping process. Automating your strapping process will allow you to cut down on your labor costs and increase efficiency.
10. Packaging Mailers
With recent dimensional weight changes and increasing shipping costs, packaging mailers are an excellent alternative to shipping product in cartons. Packaging mailers can be customized to provide the protection and branding that your small business needs. With the right application, mailers are great for reducing overall packaging waste and reducing shipping costs.
