What is e-commerce packaging: Importance, Types, and Methods

In the dire times of the Corona Pandemic, E-commerce stores and apps turn out to be life-saving. They played an important role in delivering goods right in front of our homes and saved us from the pandemic to a great extent.

There are a lot of things that have helped us to reach this level of comfort and customer-centric experience for the people. These small yet significant things are crucial for all kinds of e-commerce businesses.

One of those critical components is Packaging. For an e-commerce store, it is quite important to make sure that the packaging is always on point. In order, to achieve an on-point packaging game, you must know about the basics of e-commerce packaging.

If you want to know the basics of e-commerce that will help you to pick the right packaging then this article is for you.

Here, we will discuss what is e-commerce packaging, why is it important and the components of packaging.

What is E-commerce packaging?

E-commerce packaging is done on products that need customised packaging and extra protection as they travel from seller to customer.

As these packages are shipped from one place to another. Hence, This packaging needs to be sturdy and functional as well as engaging. For example- custom printing tape or corrugated boxes etc.

Does packaging matter in E-commerce?

A one-word answer to this question will be Yes. Yes, packaging matters in e-commerce. Without a doubt, packaging in itself is an essential part of any business.

But when it comes to E-commerce, the stacks are a bit higher than what they are in retail commerce.

As eCommerce stores do not have any physical stores unlike the retail stores, they have to work harder to build trust among their customer so that they can buy again and again.

Not just that there are more reasons for eCommerce packaging to be seen as a crucial part of business. Even if the packaging came into existence to make sure that our products stay safe.

But now when we have to face the highest competition to date, it would be a foolish decision not to use packaging as a marketing tool.

1. Building brand Awareness

Brand Awareness refers to the awareness or knowledge that people have about your brand. This is quite important for the brand or company to make sure that they are being recognised by their target customers.

Using custom packaging tape to make people aware of a brand is a smart move. As it travels from the seller to the customer, it comes in contact with many people it has the potential to have a huge impact on awareness.

2. Improving Brand Image

After people get to know about your brand, it is important to check if it is in a positive light cause no one wants to get their brand in a negative light.

Packaging that invokes a good and positive expression is welcomed by all people and all brands.

3. Customer experience

Positive customer feedback is the key to having a successful business. As much as 58% of people will try a new brand if the brand has a great customer experience.

In eCommerce, when people can not physically touch or see the product that they are getting seeing positive feedback helps them to trust a brand.

4. Protect from damage

This is one unavoidable reason to invest in good packaging, which is to keep your products safe. No one wants that either customer or seller.

It is best and important to get good packaging for your products.

5. Connecting with customers

The trust in getting the right product from the right seller in the right condition is what keeps a business going in profit. For that to happen one must show how much they value their customer and appreciate them.

Having little gratitude or thank you notes inside the product box is a great way to connect with your customer.

How do you package e-commerce?

In the above section, we have talked about why we need to pack our eCommerce product. Here, in this section, we will talk about the different types of materials for packaging your product.

For easy understanding, we have classified the different types of packaging material as external and internal. The list is down below:

External packaging

External packaging is the kind of packaging that is used as the outer layer of the product.

1. Poly courier bag

This is an extremely popular form of packaging when it comes to packaging lightweight flexible products like clothes.

As these bags are lightweight and flexible. They do not take up too much space while shipping or storing which makes them a popular choice for the sellers.

The other best thing about the courier bag is that it is tamper-proof which means that if anyone tried to tamper with it then it would be evident. This acts as an additional security for your products.

2. Corrugated box

corrugated boxes | e-commerce packaging — Image by Racool_studio from Freepik

This is the most used packaging material all over the world. Not just it is a reliable form of packaging that has been used for a long time. There are many types of corrugated boxes that you can find in the market.

These corrugated boxes are available in almost all the sizes that you can find online or even offline market. You can also choose special designed kraft boxes to make the packaging more prominent.

3. Custom printed tape

If you are looking for a customised product that is easy to use and budget-friendly, then this is something that you should take a look at.

A custom printed tape will be a perfect addition to your business as it is a simple custom tape with logo which will not only help with creating awareness about your brand but also keep your product safe.

Internal packaging

As the name suggests these things are used to pack the product inside the packaging. The role of this packaging is to keep the product from getting damaged or broken.

This is achieved by filling the extra space with fillers or wrapping the product in a protective covering like packing peanuts, or bubble wrap that will help to prevent damage done to the product and provide cushioning as well.