5 Reasons Why Bespoke Fittings are Key to Packaging Makeup

Quality of packaging should reflect the quality of goods. After all, what’s the use of spending weeks, months and years designing a product, all for it to fall apart in transit from the manufacturing floor to the retail showroom? It’s not just about how things look on the outside – it’s what’s on the inside that counts! Whether your goods sit on the sturdy or fragile end of the spectrum doesn’t matter. All types of products are at risk of damage if they’re not sufficiently protected by their packaging. And that’s one of the many roles bespoke fittings play within your packaging choices! Read on to discover our top five.

1. Product Protection and Damage Mitigation

We’ll start with the obvious first: protection. The right packaging works to ensure your goods get from one end of the supply chain to the other safely. One-size rarely fits all! You’d hardly choose the same corrugated cardboard box to transport sets of luxury wine glasses as you would to move electronic goods, like laptops. Selecting an appropriately-sized box works to limit product movement, which otherwise increases the risk of breakage.

Complementary to box size are the fittings around the product(s) inside. Though we’re rather used to certain retailers stuffing next-to-all spare space inside a box with tissue paper or air bubble void fill, it’s not really the answer. To start with, it’s a waste of materials – but we’ll get onto that later. Mainly, the type of protection one product needs isn’t the same as another.

Back to our glassware example – glass is a fragile material that smashes easily. If glasses inside a box have too much room, they’ll likely move, collide, and break. Whereas too little room puts the glasses under pressure, leading to cracks and ruin. Not what your customer bargained for when they placed an order for a new set of wine glasses in time for Christmas!

Like the products they protect, fittings come in all shapes and sizes, including:

• Foam profiles and inserts
• Layer pads and slip sheets
• Tissue paper
• Paper void fill
• Corrugated cardboard dividers
• Bespoke corrugated cardboard designs

The best type of filling to protect your product depends on the product itself. Take electronic goods – we were approached by a client for a packaging solution that protects their laptops whilst maintaining aesthetic appeal for customers.

Due to the fragile and expensive nature of laptops, we engineered bespoke corrugated fittings to create a buffer around the products and ensure their safe delivery. We also designed additional compartments within the box to keep house accompanying accessories and keep them secure.

The strength of corrugated cardboard works to protect the laptops when stacked, but also has the benefit of design precision that ensures the products aren’t too tightly packed, which could also lead to damage.

2. Optimising Space for Transport and Logistics

Next up, space. The more optimally packed your products, the better managed operations within your supply chain become. The bigger the box, the more space it takes up on a pallet. Vans and lorries can only hold so many pallets of product. So, the more boxes you can get onto a single pallet, the better optimised moving those goods become. And that comes back to box choice, and the inserts you put inside to make that package as strong as it needs to be. What’s more, you’ve greater peace of mind that your products remain protected when they reach warehouses and retail storerooms.

3. Sustainable Packaging Solutions

Improving the sustainability credentials of the packaging sector is an ongoing activity that’s enhanced by public reaction. We’ve all been on the receiving end of an online order for minuscule toiletries that’s arrived in a box far too large, with filling spilling out as soon as you’ve torn through the plastic tape holding the cardboard box together.

Unnecessary inserts don’t offer much in terms of purpose – usually, they’re literally only there to void space which could have otherwise been saved had box sized-for-purpose been used. They also insinuate feelings of frustration among customers. So, using only the necessary amount of filling works two-fold – first, it limits the amount of waste generated as a bi-product of transporting items. Second, it works to uphold your business’s reputation – customers are far more impressed with packaging that’s clearly been thought through, rather than packaging that’s been stuffed or stretched in an attempt to fulfil product protection.

4. Brand Reputation and Recognition

The length of time customers wait to receive products largely depends on the type of goods they’ve ordered. For instance, fast-moving consumer goods, like cooking kits, usually arrive within days. Oppositely, home furniture tends to have lead times of weeks, if not months. So, imagine the disappointment when the delivery day for that new kitchen table finally arrives, only for the legs to be chipped due to insufficient packaging care!

You want the customer’s first impression of your product to be a positive one. And when carefully considered fillings or bespoke fittings are applied within the box, you significantly reduce the risk of damage or fault ruining this. Even more, an unboxing process that reveals neatly-packed and secure products works to create an enjoyable initial aesthetic for the customer. It goes without saying that where brand reputation is upheld, the customers are more likely to purchase from you again.

5. Money-Saving Packaging

So, what do reasons one to four all have in common? Cost. When your products are sufficiently protected by inner fillings:

• Chance of breakage is reduced. You’re less likely to have to provide refunds, exchanges, or other monetary substitutes to your customer, and shell out the cost of having the same product re-manufactured.
• Transport and logistics activities are better optimised, with goods more in a more efficient manner.
• They work to lessen negative environmental Consumer interest in sustainable solutions is only growing – so, too, should interest from your business. Saving the planet also works to save your bottom line in the longer-term.
• Customers are satisfied with quality products, contributing to positively to your business’s reputation.

Goods that arrive in perfect condition and in aesthetically-appealing packaging both contribute to improving and maintaining a brand that you’re proud of.

Does your business have items that you think could benefit from bespoke fittings? Your consultation awaits! Get in touch with our team of technical packaging experts to find out how we can help.