6 tips to help you save money on product packaging
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Businesses can never afford to stand still if they want to remain competitive and expand. That’s why many companies are adopting cloud technology, and why Barclays bolstered its corporate banking real estate leadership team.
Product packaging is another important part of any company’s marketing strategy. However, over time this can become an expensive aspect of the business. This article will provide 6 tips on how you can save money while still providing high-quality packaging for your products.
What is product packaging?
This refers to what a product is contained in for sale. Packaging can have many purposes, such as protecting the item from damage or being tampered with during storage or transit. It also serves a display function at retail locations, and it may be designed so that the products can be neatly stacked on shelves.
Packaging also helps inform customers what they are purchasing by providing information about ingredients, nutritional content, instructions for use and warnings. In some cases, it may contain promotional materials on behalf of the manufacturer.
1. Use the right equipment
This is essential if you want your products to be packaged in an efficient and economical way. Rather than buying generic equipment, you need to make sure that it is suitable for your specific products. They must be able to fit through the machine consistently, without any hiccups or jams that could result in wasted time, money, materials, etc.
The ‘go to’ place for this kind of technology would be specialist sites on the internet. If you’re considering a carton erector machine, you can discover what it is and read about things like safety, ergonomics and specifications. You can also learn about things like active case squaring, robotic pick and pass, and opposing-cup case opening.
2. Automatic or manual?
It may be that packing your products is a tedious, costly, repetitive and time-consuming task that nobody enjoys. This is why many companies employ the power of automation to streamline their workflow. Your decision should depend on how many products you currently produce, as well as future projections.
If automation isn’t something that’s financially feasible at the present moment, stick with the manual process until production levels increase sufficiently for automation to become a cost-effective investment option.
3. Choose the right suppliers
Always choose companies that will provide consistent quality packaging supplies and materials. For productivity purposes, it’s equally important that they always deliver what you need when you need it. It might be beneficial to look at their track record before you commit, to ensure they aren’t likely to go out of business any time soon. If possible try getting samples from them before making a final decision since this will give you peace of mind knowing their supplies are exactly what you need in terms of quality and specifications.
As with any purchase decision, it’s important to get several quotes from different companies. This way you can find out what is a realistic price for your packaging materials. The first company you approach may provide an inflated quote, in which case further research may help you find a better deal.
Discounts
Don’t be afraid to ask for discounts. A lot of suppliers will offer volume pricing which can save you a ton of money if you are likely to submit regular bulk orders. They might also give discounts based on the types of materials and supplies you will be requesting. Depending on how often you purchase them, the company may give additional incentives, such as free shipping. Don’t feel shy about negotiating prices, e.g. cost per unit for packaging tape. Whilst you may only be saving a few cents each time, this all adds up later on.
4. Use the smallest box
The larger and heavier a box is, the more expensive the shipping costs will be. For this reason, you should seek to use the smallest boxes wherever possible (e.g. not using a large flat rate box for small items).
Your customers won’t want to spend hours at a post office or shipping store trying to find boxes that match the item size. If there is no box option available, find out whether your supplier has any shipping envelopes (padded mailers) instead. They are cheaper than boxes and can sometimes do more work protecting your product.
5. Re-use your packaging
Try to re-use your boxes and envelopes for other things to save money. It may be that you can send out products from your factory or warehouse with previously used packaging, or find an alternative purpose within your premises. If a shipping box is badly damaged beyond reuse, try using it as a storage container for office supplies instead.
If you have loads of spare paper and cardboard, don’t throw it away because it could be used for padding around fragile objects before it’s placed in new packaging. This may be able to save money on buying things like tissue or bubble wrap.
6. Don’t cut corners
This sounds counterintuitive in terms of trying to save money. If you don’t use quality packaging materials your products could more easily become damaged at the factory, warehouse or shop. If goods are damaged at the store or when they arrive by post, customers will become unhappy. This means more returns, more complaints to process and more refunds to put through. It will be expensive if you have to keep re-sending goods to replace what was damaged and you may lose customers as a result. We mentioned earlier that it’s common for companies to place marketing materials inside product packaging, to inspire customer loyalty and encourage repeat sales. All of this would be wasted if your customers are unhappy.
As you can see, there are many ways you can save money on your product packaging. They include using the right tools for the job, harnessing the power of automation and being wise over your choice of suppliers. Don’t forget to use the smallest packaging, re-use wherever possible and only buy quality packaging materials. In turn, it will protect your goods, your reputation and your sales for many years to come.