E-Commerce: Transit & transport packaging take on more than just logistics tasks

Around 2.7 billion package shipments were sent by courier, express and packaging (CEP) services in Germany in 2013 - mostly in the form of a transport packaging made of corrugated cardboard. The e-commerce megatrend will ensure this figure continues to rise. Transport packaging is therefore of ever increasing importance.

This article was published in the trade press magazine “neue verpackung”.

Brand ambassador transport packaging

Here, on the one hand, it is of course a question of getting the goods to the consumer undamaged. But not only this: the shipping packaging has become an important communications tool between brand and consumer - however, the 'first moment of truth', the first physical contact with the product, is increasingly at the package delivery at the front door and not at the classic point of sale. "The transport packaging is an important brand ambassador for the online dealer," confirms Michael Lamprecht, Sales & Marketing Director at DS Smith in the Germany & Switzerland region. "Attention-grabbing printed images and clever convenience functions of a corrugated cardboard solution ensure a positive shopping experience in online trade."

Around 9.3 billion square metres of corrugated cardboard - an area almost the size of Cyprus - left German corrugated cardboard plants in 2014. The booming online trade made a contribution towards this sales quantity. Between 1999 and 2014 the turnover in the e-commerce industry in Germany increased 30-fold from a meagre 1.3 billion euros to 39 billion euros - and it's still climbing. Even if industry experts expect the growth to level off at five to eight per cent in the medium term, e-commerce remains a promising future market. According to forecasts the share of the retail turnover in the non-food section will be at around 20 to 40 per cent by 2020. And almost everything that online dealers deliver to the front doors of consumers is packaged in boxes made from corrugated cardboard - for a good reason. Alongside the above-average protection, there are characteristics of the corrugated cardboard solution that are particularly decisive for the online shipping business.

Transport packaging as a communications tool

In e-commerce it is true to say that the sender is showing their colours with transport packaging. It is the first thing that consumers get to see and feel upon receiving the ordered goods. Unboxing the packaging is an important moment of contact with the shopper - it is even the only physical contact for the online dealer. "The packaging is an important instrument of communication with the customer," says consumer researcher and trade expert Dr David Bosshart of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institut in Zürich. It gives the online shop a real face and contributes redeeming the promised performance, as well as, in the best case scenario, creating a positive association. Packaging - even those that are primarily intended only for safe shipment - must achieve the same effect with the consumers at home as in the classic retail environment, i.e. motivate towards purchase and repeated purchase as well as recommendation. DS Smith as full service packaging provider is continuously working on innovative packaging concepts that are precisely aligned towards these requirements.

Transport packaging for the emotional brand experience

"Those who want to be successful in e-commerce have to position themselves even more strongly as a brand. This is mostly a question of emotions. The search for ways to greater emotionalisation is therefore becoming an ever more important topic. Transport packaging is a decisive medium here - unboxing the goods is at the centre of the product experience," says Michael Lamprecht. An attention-grabbing printed image is also important. Both for the market leaders as well as thousands of smaller special shippers, alongside the internet and classic advertising, a printed corrugated cardboard packaging has long since been an effective instrument to transport your brand impact.

There are different senders in e-commerce - everyone has their own business concept and brand promise. It is clear that the brand labeller can score points with the design of its transport packaging via the online channel too and transport the studied brand message directly to the front door with the transport packaging. For online dealers such as Amazon, who send out different brands from a great variety of product segments each second, it is about the brand as a sender. In this case a brand essence is transported, which does not target the sent products, but properties such as trust, reliability, range of products and payment security.

For Zalando, Europe's leading online platform for fashion, the striking box has long since become its unmistakable trade mark. Here the shipping box is not purely packaging, but also a part of the customer experience and a calling card. During delivery to a house or a neighbour such appealingly designed packaging reveal the sender and, in some cases, even their philosophy at first glance, thanks to the branding opportunities. The packaging and display manufacturer DS Smith has also managed to achieve this with the realisation of a shipping box in the form of gift packaging for bottles. With a printed image in photo quality on the inside, it is a real eye-catcher both on the inside and outside. Thanks to the removable insert the packaging can also be excellently reused.

Convenience: frustration-free online shopping

Emotions in online trade also have a lot to do with the convenience properties of the packaging. It must be free of stress and frustration for the shoppers. For example, a function that enables the easy opening of the packaging and simple access of the goods guarantees a positive shopping experience. The ability to return corrugated cardboard packaging is also increasingly in demand according to representatives of the association for the corrugated cardboard industry. This demand is no coincidence. In an investigation by research institute ibi research at the University of Regensburg, 40 per cent of online dealers surveyed said that more than ten per cent of ordered products are returned. Four out of ten customers already factor in the return whilst shopping. DS Smith has developed numerous clever solutions for the specific requirements of the online shipping sector: a tear strip and adhesive flaps therefore not only ensure the seamless opening of the shipping box, but also enable a simple return of the goods.

Depending on the product category, e-commerce also makes the highest of demands of the flexibility of its packaging: "With the variety of ordered products and the individually commissioned shopping baskets, packaging that can be precisely adjusted to the packaged good in its dimensions and structure is in demand - a logistical and commercial challenge for online dealers. Bulky packaging and unnecessary filling materials instead ensure frustration amongst consumers," explains Michael Lamprecht. The individual packaging therefore allows a wide range of packed goods with as minimal volume as possible and is process-optimised during handling. According to these criteria DS Smith has developed the 'Variable' packaging concept: from two almost identical corrugated cardboard pre-cuts three different packaging variants can be created. These are different in size, width and length. The thereby significantly reduced number of various packaging types for various sizes not only fulfils the requirements of the consumer, but also optimises the entire packaging process of the sender and saves valuable storage space.

Such process-optimised concepts and similar, such as the size-variable inserts for secure bottle transportation are the result of the continuous development work and innovative capacity of packaging strategist DS Smith. "As one of the leading display and packaging manufacturers we know the requirements of the market and precisely implement our knowledge. Together with our customers this allows us to successfully face up to the challenges of e-commerce," says Michael Lamprecht.