As in every other area of your company, you want to do whatever you can to reduce costs related to packaging and shipping your product. One of the most obvious ways to do this is to reduce the weight of your packaging since every extra ounce can lead to a slight increase in shipping costs. While this may be negligible for a single product, it can quickly add up to a significant price difference when you factor in the number of items you ship. Luckily, there are a few ways to get rid of dead weight on your packaging and cut your costs.
See What You Don’t Need
Start by taking a close look at your product packaging and making sure you actually need everything that is in there. If you can get rid of a single element, it can make a difference. An example would be if you sell a medication that comes in a bottle as well as a box. In this situation, think about why you even have the box there. Do you need it to display additional information or is it just so the items fit on the shelves better? As long as your bottles stack, getting rid of the boxes won’t make them harder to display. Even adding a small foldout paper with information will weigh less than the box itself. Medicines aren’t the only items that sometimes are over-packaged with an extra box; candles and cosmetics may have the same situation.
Make It Smaller or Adjust Shape
Although more time consuming, another way to get rid of dead weight from your packaging is to either change the shape or make it smaller. Smaller packaging will obviously reduce the weight since less material is used, but you can sometimes get the same results by changing the shape. For example, if your product itself is pyramidal but you have it in a rectangular box, you will have several extra sides on the box than you need. In this case, you can change the shape of your packaging to fit your product more precisely and drop the weight. You just need to be creative to make sure the packaging can still stack and display all the necessary information. Work with a company with numerous box styles so you can find the one with the least amount of material that works for your product.
Consider Packaging Materials
Sometimes, you will be able to get rid of dead weight on your package just by changing the materials used. There are different types of cardboard, and some weigh less than others do. This simple swap won’t make a significant difference on your product, or even a hundred of them, but it may over the course of a year. Just make sure that you don’t opt for a lighter material that can’t protect your product correctly.
Consider Cushioning Materials
Just like the actual box or plastic you put your product in, any materials that hold it in place and cushion it may be able to be replaced with lighter ones. Check out the various options for Styrofoam, packing peanuts, bubble wrap, and other items to see which is lightest. Just be sure to factor in the level of protection, cost of the material, and environmental friendliness.
