Packaging for E-commerce Apparel and How to Minimize the Cost
Shipping clothing can be challenging because of the number of order variations that are possible. Whether you are shipping organic baby clothes or lingerie, tee shirts or dress shirts, each order can potentially be different, impacting the type and size of packaging required, as well as shipping weight costs. Are you shipping e-commerce orders of one single item or bulk shipping wholesale orders? Here are a few tips to help you minimize your costs:
Not all clothing requires a shipping box
As you can see from the photos included in this post, mailer envelopes are a great solution for smaller items being shipped. For example, dozens of tee shirt shipping customers use our unpadded paper mailers because they are relatively low cost, very green, and can be branded in very small quantities.
Most soft goods don’t require it, but if you feel you need a more moisture resistant or padded mailer envelope, our poly mailers are a good option and can also be custom printed at a higher MOQ. See minimums “related post” link below.
Compared to boxes, mailer envelopes are:
- Lighter in weight, reducing inbound and outbound shipping costs
- Less storage space for you
- Less waste for your customer
Shipping Boxes for Wearing Apparel
There are times when the order size, the type of customer (bulk wholesale), or the application requires a corrugated shipping container. For example, you may be able to minimize wrinkling of the garments being shipped by utilizing a box rather than a flat mailer.
Most clothing shipped in corrugated containers ship in die cut mailer style boxes. That is the type of box that has an attached lid and opens like a cigar box. This makes packaging and unpacking easier, and visually is a better presentation compared to an RSC style box. For branding purposes, the inside lid of the die cut mailer creates a great billboard and a great spot to say thank you or reinforce your brand image.
For larger, bulkier orders, an RSC style box may be the best option and can be printed in a low, 1,000 MOQ. That is the type of box that has four flaps on top and four on the bottom (typical moving box design) and is sealed with two pieces of plastic or paper tape. If you require this type of container, we offer two good pieces of advice:
- Resist the temptation to save a few cents on a lower grade, thinner, corrugated box made of 32 ECT corrugated board. 200# test corrugated is unnecessary for many applications, but for clothing, which is unexpectedly heavy, it is worth minimal additional cost to make sure the boxes do not rupture when dropped.
- Much product damage occurs when the recipient decides to open an RSC with a sharp knife or scissors. Since we make all our RSC’s to order, we can easily extend the flaps if necessary to prevent your customer from inadvertently damaging the product you ship.
I would say very few companies have the experience and success we have in making shipping containers for soft goods and apparel. Whatever your product or objective, one of our branded packaging advisors is available at no cost, at 630-551-1700 to discuss your requirements. Or if you prefer, contact us via email Salazar Packaging.com and visit our gallery to see more of our work.
Related posts:
https://www.salazarpackaging.com/minimum-custom-printed-packaging/
https://www.salazarpackaging.com/buyers-guide-branded-e-commerce-packaging-clothing/
