With 25% of products purchased online returned, Antalis Packaging is championing packaging return schemes as a way of benefiting the environment and company’s bottom lines.
The problem is also compounded by inadequate packaging leading to resalable goods being damaged on the return leg and Antalis’ packaging technologist Jason Poxon says businesses need to look more carefully at their packaging choices.
Although more and more businesses are giving serious consideration to their packaging from an aesthetic and environmental point of view, Mr Poxon stresses that returns aren’t always part of that thinking. He also adds that it’s an issue that extends beyond the relatively straightforward route of the consumer returning a package. With many retailers giving consumers the option to return goods to their stores, which can mean that products are missing both primary and transit packaging, the question arises as to how stores manage the process of packaging goods to be shipped back to their returns centres.
‘If only 20% of goods are returned as a result of damage, that means 80% of items returned have the potential to be resold. That’s if they survive the return journey… and it’s a big IF,’ says Mr Poxon. ‘Of course, it depends on the kind of product we’re talking about. Clothes coming back full of creases is easy to rectify, it’s the shakeable, breakable, high value goods that can cause the biggest problems, logistically and financially.
‘Bespoke packaging design can make a huge difference. The packaging team at our Smart Packaging Centre look at a business’s entire packaging process in order to work out the optimum packaging design in terms of assembly, the choice of materials – the outer structure and void fill and cushioning – as well as delivery and, of course, returns.
‘Using good quality, well designed and easy-to-use packaging that ensures goods not only get from A to B but back again, by whatever circuitous route, can help to reduce the damaging impact of returns on businesses and the environment.’
