Everyone loves online retail – this channel grew an incredible 44% last year in the US, while in store retail declined more than 10%. We love the speed, convenience and the ‘just-got-a-gift’ feeling of boxes turning up on the doorstep. But love can be blind. And as consumers, many times we turn a blind eye to the environmental costs of online retail, particularly when it comes to packaging.
Ecommerce’s Packaging Problem
Parcel shipping reached 103 billion in volume globally in 2019 and is likely to more than double by 2026. Generally speaking, we are drowning in packaging waste. While boxes, bubble wrap and paper void fill provide hours of entertainment for kittens, puppies and small children, many adults are starting to realize the effects packaging waste is having on our environment.
Surveys consistently find many consumers, anywhere from 15% to 40%, believe that online deliveries all too often arrive in oversized boxes for the items they contain. A ‘Which?’ survey reports 48% of customers agree that “excessive packaging is one of the most annoying things about online shopping.” The same surveys show that many customers feel more positively about brands that are trying to reduce unnecessary packaging.
Oversize boxes aren’t just an annoyance to consumers and a danger to the environment. Without adequate void fill in the box, goods can be damaged in transit, and boxes become more susceptible to being crushed. Oversize boxes create unbalanced loads, causing back problems for warehouse and delivery staff, even when the overall weight of the package is quite low. Oversize boxes also waste transportation space and delivery vehicles inevitably ‘max out’ on volume long before they reach weight limits. Shipping empty space or oodles of void fill simply doesn’t make sense – it’s wasteful both environmentally and financially.
A January 2018 KPMG Retail Survey found that over half of consumers would be prepared to pay more for environmentally friendly packaging – but today, that doesn’t have to be the case. Technology now exists to create fit-to-size boxes for every order while improving throughput and dramatically reducing labor, shipping, material and transportation costs.
The Premier High-Volume Fulfillment and Ecommerce Solution
It comes in the form of Automated Packaging Solutions. Our auto-boxers size (using 3D scanning), construct, tape, weigh and label each individual order of single- or multi-items. The CVP Impack auto-boxes up to 500 parcels per hour while the CVP Everest auto-boxes up to 1,100 parcels per hour. With a cycle time as short as seven with the CVP Impack or three seconds with the CVP Everest, one or two operators can do the work of up to twenty packing stations. Typically, there is a 29% saving in corrugate usage, and a complete elimination of void filling materials. Shipping volumes are reduced an average of 50% due to a right-sized box, reducing material costs by an average of 38%. Packing errors are also reduced through weight-checking, invoices/returns labels automatically generated and included, and labeling can be integrated with automated carrier rate-shopping software.
With an automated packaging solution, your packing line can achieve higher and more accurate throughput with fewer staff, major savings on packaging material costs, lower transportation volumes, less consumer anxiety and a positive message on sustainability. Auto-boxing can improve your carbon footprint while solving many of the today’s biggest pain points for shippers.
Automated Packaging Power
Increased Efficiencies
Up to 500 boxes per hour
High-Speed Packaging
Maximum Flexibility
Up to 1,100 boxes per hour
Ready to be a fearless auto-boxer?
We’re here for you, and we are wearing our thinking caps.
Get in touch with our team to start the conversation.