Everyone wants their packages, and they want them delivered on time. But just as it’s paramount to ensure a timely delivery, the customer also wants their packages in good condition—preferably as perfect as possible. For a truly complete delivery, proper packaging is just as important as the delivery itself.

Packaging does more than keep the items safe. The quality of a delivery’s packaging can make or break a customer’s experience when they first receive their item. It can determine whether a customer will use the same delivery service, or if they will look to another courier for the same kinds of products.

Here’s some of the factors that you should consider, ensuring that you provide both an excellent delivery and packaging experience for the customer:

Outer Packaging

First thing’s first, what kind of product are you shipping? Depending on the item’s size, shape, their weight, and general fragility, these can all factor into what kind of packaging you should use. Your customer will expect the outer packaging to reflect these various qualities of the item.

• Using a Bag: Is your item light and not fragile, like clothing or a soft toy? A bag would be perfect for these items.
• Single-layered cardboard boxes: Great for small items that are not as flexible and not as light as fabric-made products.
• Double-layered or triple-layered cardboard: For the heavier products and for those that are really fragile, this kind of cardboard box will make for protection.

You probably notice that for items as light as clothing or soft toys, all you really need is a bag to ensure that it remains clean and safe while in-transit. But if you’d like to be safe, double bagging the item wouldn’t hurt as it helps take care of the risk of possible tearing. Your customer might even appreciate the consideration. But for anything more fragile than clothing—it’s highly recommended to include inner cushioning to ensure that the products don’t get bumped around too much and possibly break.

Inner Packaging

While in-transit, anything can happen. Things get moved, boxes and packages bump into one another, and so the products within also get jarred around. The best way to be prepared for anything is to also make sure your products have adequate inner packaging. With that internal cushioning, the products will have something to absorb the shock of any movement before the product even bumps into the walls of its outer packaging. This is especially important for fragile objects, such as vases or glassware.

• For objects like clothing and soft toys, some packaging tissue paper will suffice in giving the products some cushioning and extra protection against abrasion and tearing in the case of a rough transit.
• Packing peanuts are great in providing fragile objects shock absorption via increased surface area.
• For products with defined geometric shape, cardboard inserts can help hold those products in place, reducing the amount of space for the product to move in its outer packaging.
• For glass and ceramics, you might want to consider bubble wrap so that the product does not physically collide with anything as it might move in-transit.
• Styrofoam inserts are a great way to provide shock absorption for items such as TVs and other electronics, all while providing a means to restrict product movement within their outer packaging.
• Crumpled paper always works as a backup means to fill out the space of an item’s outer packaging.

While most of these measures work well on their own, depending on the item, a combination of inner packaging may provide better protection. For example, packing peanuts provide great shock absorption, but they don’t always properly restrict a product’s movement within a box. Coupling packing peanuts with a lining of Styrofoam inserts can ensure that if a product moves towards the outer wall of its packaging, you’ll have a final protective buffer. Also, make sure you don’t overstuff the box with your inner packaging. If your outer packaging bursts at the seams, your product can still get damaged.

To ensure all your packaging stays together, the final ingredient will be your sealing material.

Choosing Your Sealing Material

It’s easy to think that all tape is equal. They all help you stick things together, right? While they all perform the same task, different types of sealing tapes provide varying levels of efficacy because they may be made for different purposes.
For delivering packages, the most recommended tape would be within the 40-50mm wide range. But that’s not all. Next, you’ll want to make sure you’re using the right sealing method for the most effective package sealing. The best sealing method is called H-taping. By sealing both outer edges and corners, as well as the center, you’ll make sure that nothing can possibly escape the outer packaging.

Packaging and Unboxing: Creating an Experience

Just as we had discussed earlier about how your choice of packaging can affect the customer experience, there are ways to go further with packaging that in turn affects the customer on a deeper level. Every step further can leave an impression that leads to positive reviews, recurring customers, and of course, the attraction of new customers. Some might say to “never judge a book by its cover”, but that’s not the case with delivering products—inside and outside counts. Both the packaging and unboxing of a product is key to perfecting the customer experience.

• Consider going the extra mile with custom, branded box packaging. It removes the need for stickers, and it leaves a longer-lasting impression on your customers. Also, a recurring customer that sees your branded box will more likely open your package before anything else!
• Is your product fragile or does it require maintenance? Give your customers the product information that the manufacturer has provided—your customer will not only be able to take care of their product, but they’ll know that you care about their enjoyment of the product.
• Leave a personal note or a small gift—the personal touches tend to leave the longest-lasting impressions on the customers. When they see your note or your gift, like a pen with your brand name on it, they’ll think of your products and services!

Make Your Last-Mile Delivery Memorable with Reliable Couriers

When you need a timely and professional delivery made for a customer’s product, no one handles last-mile delivery like the bonded drivers of Reliable Couriers. With GPS guidance and experienced drivers, your packages will always reach their destinations on time. Not only that, we strive to ensure that every package reaches their destination in their original condition. Unlike some of our competitors, we always offer a delivery guarantee for that extra peace of mind. Give us a call or check out our website for more information on how ReliableCouriers can play a part in creating the perfect delivery experience for your customers!