We have an issue. If you are a sustainable, eco-conscious business, social enterprise, or just a small company, not even a dot in the universe, you will still have this in common: PACKAGING.
E-commerce has contributed massively to economic growth, making products accessible from around the world to people living anywhere on the planet. It has opened the doors for social enterprises born with a mission, with very little budget, and given them a chance to commercialize their products. E-commerce is a boom and until now everything seemed incredibly positive. But when things tend to go so well, there is usually a counter-effect. Again, that is the packaging.
Customisable eco-friendly packaging for your brand: better design, more protection
In 2018, the global eCommerce market was worth an estimated 2.8 trillion dollars. Last year, the delivery service UPS delivered 5.2 billion packages. YES, BILLIONS. According to the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States, packaging waste makes up one-third of what is delivered to landfills each year.
What adds up to this concern, is that these packaging solutions are not even satisfying the customer experience. Either packaging is too big for the product, or the brand is using too much packaging, or the material of the packaging cannot be recycled or repurposed. Most of the time, the packaging used for shipping online orders is also not pretty, and when it is good-looking… It’s not protecting how it should!
Like tends to happen, the solution has to be led by brands. Their end-customers deposit all their trust and responsibility in them, but what are the other challenges small businesses have to deal with to source their packaging?
- They have to spend a lot of their budget on the packaging because of the large MOQS (minimum order quantities).
- They have to purchase it all: the mailer, the box, the tissue, the tape, and the stickers.
- If brands decide to make the investment, generally there’s a lack of options to customize with their branding. This translates into spending a lot of money and not getting a good design experience to their customers.
- When brands spend money on all the above, they’ll find that the Post is charging them more to use eco-friendly packaging than their plastic satchels (if you didn’t realize yet, it’s all about making business here!)
How to access eco-friendly packaging solutions no matter the size of your business
Don’t freak out, good brands out there! For sure an ideal world would be where “no packaging is needed”. But that is not an option, I am afraid.
And again, all the pressure is on the smaller companies, who’d their customers are calling the shots to act in the most sustainable way, creating a positive social and environmental impact. Which you may agree with my friends, is a good thing.
Now, I am going to get you thinking of packaging in a way you never did before: sustainable packaging has become a great opportunity for your business (no matter the size) to contribute to the SDGs’ goals. As immediate positive effects, you show off with your eco-friendly packaging! In the long run, you will also include this in your sustainability reports, your marketing communications, and what matters the most to you – you will make your customers happy.
Here are some of the sustainability features you’d like to find in your packaging:
- Full eco-range: mailer, tissue, and stickers (tape coming soon!)
- Made out of acid-free paper that is FSC Certified.
- Print with soy ink, instead of petroleum-based ink. Made out of soybeans, this ink provides more accurate colors and makes it easier to recycle paper (I know, you probably never even thought inks would be such an issue too!)
- Small MOQs (minimum order quantities) starting with 250 units, available in different sizes and colour options. The packaging company is so transparent they will give you an instant budget depending on what you are after.
This solution is ideal for your go-to packaging, but also for marketplaces, crowdfunding campaigns, special promotions, subscription services, pop-ups, PR & Events, creative agencies or 3PL’s services delivered to your facilities.
My wrap-up is that whatever packaging solution you chose for your business, please do the research. Being the packaging waste that makes up one-third of what is delivered to landfills each year, for sure your business doesn’t want to be contributing to that. There are design, features, MOQs, and sustainability needs to accomplish when it comes to packaging, and I get it, it’s become such a nightmare to be great in all areas of your company. The good thing is that there are incredible businesses such as Noissue making packaging easy, so you can get back to what’s most important: your business.
