While the type of cardboard box you use to package your products might seem like a trivial business consideration, it’s actually one that requires a certain degree of thought – especially if you want to delight your customers and save some money in the process.
You see, the thing about packaging is that it actually says a great deal about you as a company. For example, use inadequate packaging and your customers may feel as though you don’t really care about them or the products they’ve purchased from you. Go overboard and you might be accused of wasting packaging and not caring about the environment. It’s a very fine line.
So what about the good old cardboard box? Surely that’s not something you need to spend too much time worrying about? Wrong! The sheer range of cardboard boxes available today can make choosing the “right” one slightly bewildering.
Here’s the lowdown on choosing the right cardboard box for your product:
1. Size Matters
First and foremost, when it comes to cardboard boxes for packaging products, size does matter. That’s because shipping fresh air isn’t free. In other words, you pay shipping costs (usually) on both the weight and size of the box.
Obviously, your shipped package doesn’t want to be bulging at the seams, but its contents should fit rather snugly inside and require little in the way of packaging fillers.
While an oversized box might be welcomed by someone who is moving house in the near future, it will be viewed by many as an unnecessary waste of packaging. Select your size of box carefully.
2. Extra Thickness = Extra Protection
Processing a refund or replacement for a broken product inevitably costs more than using the right cardboard box in the first place, not to mention the potential reputational damage that could occur. That’s why your choice of cardboard box has to be able to adequately protect whatever it is you’re sending. Luckily, you’ve got plenty of options available to you.
A lot of the time single wall cardboard boxes will suffice if your product is light and not easily damaged. They still provide a degree of protection thanks to the single layer of corrugated fluting that runs between the brown sheeting.
However, if you need extra protection for a product that’s fragile, definitely consider using double wall corrugated boxes. The two layers of corrugated fluting used in their construction make them stronger, sturdier and more hardwearing than their single wall counterparts.
3. Wet & Weighty?
While cardboard boxes are extremely versatile, they’re not always ideal if your product is liquid-based. That’s because cardboard loses a huge amount of its integrity if it gets wet. Couple this with a product that’s slightly on the heavy side and the recipient of your box will be signing for a soggy mess, not a pristine looking package.
By sealing your product in watertight plastic packaging, you can significantly reduce the chance of its contents leaking and affecting the strength of the box. Again, using a double wall corrugated box will increase the chances of your package arriving in the state you intended and the state your recipient would expect.