Author Archives: Andrej Zivor

Shipping from the Store 

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Do you have different storefronts and your online orders are growing? 

If this is the case, you may want to consider the ship-from-store strategy. The shipping from this uses stores rather than distribution centers to help with driving down the costs. 

However, this doesn’t work for every business, it may not have the location, employees, resources, and the like to make this work. 

What shipping from Store Entails 

This is pretty much a strategy used for fulfillment that involves having orders placed directly into platforms for ecommerce, having them fulfilled, and then have it at the store, rather than directly at warehouses. 

This also is used to fulfill orders online, rather than those inventories that are stored at warehouses, and also are using employees from the store to pick and pack these. 

This is different from curbside or in0-store pickup as it doesn’t require the person to directly go to the store, but it is shipped from the store to the customer. 

How this works is simple: 

  • First, the customers orders the item 
  • The retailer then sends the order to the closest location to the customer. 
  • The employee picks from current inventory and then ships this out 

In a sense, you’re making stores distribution centers of the sort, which can improve the presence geographically, and reduce both the shipping costs and transit times. But this is not easy. 

What to Consider 

The thing is you should know the average order volume that you have. if the business doesn’t ship a ton of online orders on a daily, then you can use the stores without overwhelming them. but if you have a ton, you may need to reconsider this. 

The type of packaging matters. The packaging for the store items may be different from what may be needed for shipping. You should also make sure that the store has the bandwidth and packaging to ship this all out. 

The sizes also matter too, as it may be cheaper to ship directly from the warehouse than the store if the shipping dimensions are odd. 

You also need to figure out where to ship. The right shipping locations can be hard, and this is something that’s hard to get bulk shipping for, so be mindful of that. 

The benefits of this 

There are a few benefits to this. 

First, it offers better in-store turnover, which can definitely be good for those stores that don’t have a bunch of volumes, as it helps with avoiding deadstock and pushes inventory around. 

It also can help with cutting down shipping times, depending on where the package is going. 

It also is good for a lot of people who are worried about possibly shipping from one place, so that you don’t have to worry about possible disasters rendering you useless. 

The downsides. 

One of the biggest downsides is that the operating costs are higher. This can get very labor-intensive for some people, so you’ll want to make sure that you have enough people to train, fulfill, and do this. It also does create more costs. 

It also can disrupt the in-store processes, as the customers won’t get helped enough, and if you have employees multitasking, this can end up being a disaster. 

It also can be something hard to manage, especially if you have to look at the inventory. This can make it super complex, since it may put the company at risk for backorders. 

Unless you invest in omnichannel order management, you’re going to have to coordinate at all levels, which can be very overwhelming for lots of businesses as well.

Recycling Holiday Packaging 

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Holiday sales are supposed to keep going up, and while you have some great gifts, you also will need to figure out how to get rid of the waste and recycle it too. Recycling is great for reducing the pollution, keeping the resources and energy levels lower, and also prevents the landfills from filling with more trash. Most trash is actually in the form of packaging materials, and we actually get rid of our weight in the form of packaging every month or so. that’s why it’s important to make sure that you do recycle, since that of course, can save you a ton of pounds, especially after the holiday season. How can businesses encourage recycling though? What can they do to make this easier for the person to get excited about? Let’s find out. 

Get Customers to recycle

Most people have a recycling bin, but the thing is, it rarely gets used.  Most of the time, they have to bring this to a different place just to recycle it.  It’s important as well to note that you cannot recycle anything that’s contaminated, so you have to clean this, and it’s important to make sure that the quality is good. 

What can you toss into the recycling bin though? Some of the options include. 

  • Boxes when you break them down 
  • Packing slips, cards, and envelopes
  • Paper inserts and other paper dunnage 
  • Tissue paper 
  • Wrapping paper that isn’t metallic 

If you’re looking to recycle certain things, you may have to bring it to a drop-off location, especially if it’s a packaged delivery. 

Some of these include: 

-poly or bubble mailers 

Air pillows or  bubble wrap when deflated 

Reusing Stuff? 

There are certain things that you can reuse. If you send the orders in a box that’s branded, you may want to make it so that they keep it, instead of throwing this into the trash. Keeping the packaging a and reusing it is also good. 

You can use packing peanuts, the bubble wrapping, and other supplies as well for future shipping, especially if you plan to pack your own items, and a whole lot more. 

How else to cut down 

There are a few things that you can do as a retailer too in order to get people to cut down on their waiting. 

The first, is trying to use materials that are sustainable. They offer post-consumer kinds of recycled content, and also eco-friendly packaging options even for boxes that are branded, so that you can actually talk the talk about being sustainable, which is something a lot of companies struggle with achieving. 

The second thing is trying to make it so that buying in bulk is better. Rather than just ordering everything in more than one box, have them order it, and put it inside one box. This not only saves them and you money on shipping, you can actually offer discounts in bulk, and by using the right box, you can also reduce the materials that are used for packaging. 

Finally, you want to try to make sure that you’re not going to extreme places with all of this and using too many resources. For those that deliver their own items, make sure to use different calculators to help with making sure that you optimize the traveling that you do, and also make sure to make deliveries happen, and try to avoid the redeliveries.  You should also try to avoid making the carbon footprint any larger. 

Try to minimize the returns as well, so that you don’t have to go out to get it. 

How to Increase Brand exposure 

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There are a lot of different ways to make your brand stand out, but creativity is at the top of this. Those that are simple, minimal, but bold definitely stand out, but you want to make sure that you have the proper brand exposure customers want, as it creates proper customer retention, which is the ultimate goal for companies. 

A good strategy for brands is to communicate exactly what the brand is, and here, we’ll go over the best ways to improve the brand exposure for a business. 

Go with the good First 

When you’re creating a brand, you want to put the good foot forward.  Talk about what customers like and resonate when it comes to the brand. Using this, you’ll be able to create higher levels of exposure for the brand, and it helps to highlight the good stuff that the brand is all about. You should highlight all that good, positive feedback you’ve been getting from customers. 

Offer value. 

You wnat to make sure that you offer proper value, and it’s something that a lot of people do like, since values help to connect with the markets better, and offer a lot of insight and benefits as well. 

Look at what customers want to interact with as much as they can, and then, provide content that demonstrates all of this. For marketing that’s content driven in order to have an effective measure to this, you can give them something useful and new, as that’s the secret to proper brand exposure. QR codes on packages, or even incentives for customers to buy again are good. 

Create the right brand identity 

This is something that you should have in place, since this will help develop who you are. Create a personality, stick with it, and be consistent. This properly offers humanity for the brand, and also will resonate with your target audience. You want to make sure that you show the different parts of your brand when communicating this, to help them better understand who you are. 

Tell the story 

You want to make sure that you create a good story, something that’s compelling, crisp, and will help with brand exposure. Don’t make it depressing or sad, but just communicate and offer an honest measure of the brand, along with purpose and creativity that’s there too. 

You want to make sure that you tell people about it, and offer humanity, as this is something that gets a lot of exposure super-fast, and it will impact the way people look at the brand. 

Work with Relevant brands 

You can create relationships with brands, especially those that are relatable, but aren’t considered a competitor directly. This is great for those who want to reach audiences that are new, boosting the brand awareness that’s there. 

For instance, if you’re an artist, you can partner with some business that offers home goods, creating a collection hat’s collaborative, and this of course can help boost your brand and business. 

This is a great way to get the word out to others. Plus, with two places promoting the brand, yourself and the other person, this offers a new way to look at brands and understanding them. 

With that said, you’ll want to improve the brand, offer proper brand awareness, and grow as well. You’ll be able to, with this too, create the best brand that you can, and really make it shine. 

This is one of the first steps for brand development and is necessary for a lot of companies to be successful, so don’t neglect any of these steps when creating it. 

Inexpensive Packaging Ideas 

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Packaging is more than just a means to your end, but it’s actually something valuable.  The most trendiest types of social media strategies include creating packaging that’s sharable, and so many people are doing this because it gives not only proper brand recognition, but good exposure without missing out on the potential customers that are there. 

You want to do something that is creative, and won’t break the bank, and that’s something lots of businesses struggle with. Here, we’ll go over the proper inexpensive ideas for packaging that you should be trying. 

Box with Die Cut 

This is something that’s classic but is one of the most affordable types. You can get something that’s super simple, and it can match the branding style without looking super fake and engineered. Simplicity is something that works well, and you can use straight tuck end structures with printing that’s in full color, and it’s also not as costly as one might believe it is. 

Inside Surprises 

A cool thing that you can also add, is a design on the interior of this that’s printed on, and it’s very cheap too. 

This is becoming a lot more popular since unboxing does thrive on this. 

Patterns to Print 

Patterns are something that people like, and if you use this on minimal designs, it really does shine. 

Printed patterns can be done in a lot of cases at no, or minimal additional costs, and you don’t need a bunch of things to get this look, just a decision, and a little bit to invest it in. 

Digital Options 

Digital is probably one of the best ways to innovate the way packaging is and offer a personalized consumer experience. 

Digital printing is also cheaper, and it offers a better trajectory for packaging along with printing. 

The offset does offer a better output quality too, and it can actually be simple to add to the average corrugated box. 

With more and more digital printing becoming way more popular, you will see that it saves you a lot on ecommerce and corrugated printing, and you’ll also save a lot of money while also getting the items back in a much faster manner, since digital printing is way quicker! 

This also saves you a lot of money too, as you don’t need to get as much for tooling and setup, and a better turn time. 

Sleeves that are Custom 

One cool thing that people like to add is a sleeve around the box, and you can personalize this, even with a minimalistic design, and it oftentimes heightens your unboxing experience, for a fraction of the price point that normal custom boxes will be costing you. 

For companies that are keen on not only being efficient in costs, but also ecofriendly, this is one of the best things. 

They don’t mess up the structural integrity of the box, and customers can either ruse this again, or toss it. Plus, you can opt out of adding more paper and other materials that are usually included in goods that are perishable, and you don’t have to spend as much in order to be creative. 

Foil Stamping 

Finally, consider foil stamping and other options.  Hot foil stamping is way more expensive, but you can get regular, cold foil stamping, embossing, and UV, and it doesn’t cost a ton in terms of the packaging, and the cool thing, is that it offers a creative box without breaking the bank!

These are all great options for fixing your ability to send out your packaging to others in a way that entices them and gets them interested. 

Custom Packaging’s Future 

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More and more companies are looking to ship to customers directly, and that means that the product packaging is even more important, since it lets you put effort into this in order to market it, and it helps improve the experience of the customers. The appeal of the product that’s new, the deliveries and speed, the engaging and shopping of items, and even the unboxing experience is vital for those who want real custom packaging. 

The history 

It actually first started in 1817 in England. That was because cartons for shipping were actually a big part of it, and they stuck around till the 1900s, and stayed around for a bit. The containers that were used for this all contained a lot of different products that come along with this, and it also helped to create a design that’s fundamental and really worked. 

There are so many custom boxes, used for a variety of purposes, and is now used to transport items directly to other people, and custom sizing has exploded, because customers want to make sure that they give the product in a way that benefits those who use it, and also won’t damage the goods. 

The cool thing about this is that you can also get different sizes, weights, and you don’t even have to worry about it messing up. Pus, within the last 10 years or so, the new boom has happened: recycled packaging, and is something that plenty of people who are interested in getting the most out of their packaging experience have started to look at in terms of the best way to ensure that they get the most that they can out of their product. 

Eco friendly: the Newest trends 

One of the biggest, most emerging trends in custom packaging is eco friendly options. With more and more people worried about the plastic waste than ever before, it’s imperative that you look for eco-friendly, affordable packaging. 

A lot of people will pay for products that are sustainable, and some will even pay premium prices for greener packaging. It’s important to make sure that if you do this, you also don’t be wasteful with this either. If you’re a company that’s been using plastics, you may want to substitute it for a bioplastic, since it’s more friendly for the world. You can even get other alternatives too, including milk proteins, and fungi that’s biodegradable. 

AR Promotions 

AR is becoming more and more popular, including QR codes that take customers to a website, social media, or a bit about the product. They’re simple to put on boxes, and also reduce how much paper waste that’s used for instructional items and other inserts you may put in there. It’s also economical, since you can update everything online without changing the code. There are certain ways to use AR, including: 

  • Telling customers how to put packaging together 
  • Offer nutritional information for food products 
  • Offer interactive content so customers can engage with this, either through a contest or a game.

Go for Convenience 

Finally, in recent years, people want something that’s convenient. There are a few ways to do this. First an foremost, try to order everything online, and have customers a chance to get anything online whenever they can. Your customer service matters, and you should make sure that the service as efficient as can be. Finally, if nothing else, as a business, always make sur that you offer packaging that’s high-quality, durable, and is really good to secure and protect the goods that are in there from getting ruined.