Is right-sized packaging really that important in ecommerce?
Sustainability regulations from governments and international agencies mean companies will have to start making meaningful changes sooner rather than later, especially with “green tax” penalties looming.
If you’re looking for a way to quickly make an impact in sustainability at your company, rethink your ecommerce packaging. Something as basic as using the right-sized packaging can be a win-win-win scenario: for your business, customers, and the environment.
But what makes something as simple as appropriately sized boxes so important?
Right-sized packaging — why it matters and to whom
Consumers are more informed than ever before. They care about what companies stand for, and call out fakes when they spot them. Are you shipping sustainable products in non-recyclable packaging filled with air? It might be time to look for better packaging.
You’ve likely experienced it yourself. You ordered an item only to receive a box several times larger than necessary. Believe it or not, this happens more regularly than it should.
According to Hanko Kiessner, CEO of global packaging equipment manufacturer Packsize, the average box is 40% too large for its contents.
The practical downside is that these oversized packages need more space in storage or during transit, which raises costs for shipping companies.
Why’s that a big deal? Well, besides your product, its packaging and transportation have the biggest impact. Also, ecommerce packaging is often the first physical touchpoint the consumer has with your brand — so you can bet they will notice it.
Across most of the world, Gen Z and Millennials are the largest consumer demographics today. These two tech-savvy consumer bases are wise to the latest online shopping trends, and sustainability is an important consideration in their purchase decisions.
Why Gen Z and Millennials care about right-sized packaging
Gen Z and Millennials represent a new kind of consumer. One that’s as informed as they are committed to ethics. According to a report by First Insight, 63% of Gen Z consumers prefer to support sustainable brands and over 73% are prepared to pay more for products they can confirm were designed with sustainability in mind.
Another study showed that 83% of younger consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable packaging.
What makes right-sized packaging a win-win-win?
A win for consumers
For consumers, unboxing the product they ordered is the peak moment of their buying journey. But wrong-sized packaging can really taint the experience. Why? For two reasons.
First, too much packaging makes the unboxing experience more frustrating.
Imagine you’ve just taken delivery of your new cellphone, only to claw your way through several layers of cardboard — or worse, plastic bubble wrap — to get to the box of your new phone itself. That's not fun.
Secondly, it’s wasteful.
With wrong-sized packaging, your customer is left with copious amounts of packaging that’s typically not reusable.
If it doesn’t trigger a feeling of guilt, it will definitely feel like a nuisance, as they have to figure out a way to recycle the materials responsibly.
A better option is to leave them with a positive feeling — using right-sized packaging made of sustainable materials will make them feel better about buying from you.
A win for businesses
The main benefit for businesses is straightforward: reducing the dimensional (dim) weight — the amount of space a package occupies in relation to its actual weight — of packages means cutting down on spending.
You may think switching packaging materials will save money, but these only make up about 20% of total shipping costs. By reducing the dim weight instead, shipping a small, heavy item in an appropriately sized box will have a much bigger impact on your costs.
That may not seem like much, but consider this: stack thousands of similar, appropriately sized boxes, and you'll have the added benefits of reduced transport, logistics, and costs.
A win for the environment
Right-sized packaging means lower environmental impact in two key ways: less transport emissions and reduced waste.
As parcels take up less space in trucks, more products get shipped in one trip. This means optimised shipping capacity and fewer trips overall, lowering fuel consumption and contributing to a more sustainable supply chain.
Finally, as right-sized parcels use a smaller amount of materials, they generate less waste.
What we found
In 2024, we analysed 42 packages from 38 different retailers, including major ones like Amazon, Rituals, Sephora, and smaller companies. While our data is limited to Europe and somewhat biased towards forward-thinking brands, we could still notice a few patterns:
About 50% of companies use oversized packaging that houses more air than products.
Cardboard boxes were the most common type of packaging used for all incorrectly sized boxes.
Roughly half of all packages used some kind of paper-based filler material, like kraft paper, to occupy space. Crinkle paper and decorative packaging paper were also popular.
6 out of 21 (29%) wrong-sized packages didn’t have any void fill, four (19%) used bubble wrap, and one (5%) used a verifiably biodegradable material called Ultrafill.
That’s just a snapshot of how wrong-sized packages are still commonplace in ecommerce. Let’s take a quick look at what international organisations have to say on the subject.
Right-sized packaging is important to governments and agencies
USA
In 2022, California introduced the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act (SB 54) as part of a broader push towards a circular economy. The law shifts the burden of plastic pollution from consumers to producers and aims to achieve a 25% reduction in single-use plastic packaging and a 65% recycling rate for single-use plastic packaging by 2032.
With Californians throwing away enough plastic to fill 290 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day, it's no wonder that adopting right-sized packaging has only become more urgent for the US alone.
The European Union and the PPWR
Plastic packaging that ends up in landfills eventually leaks into the environment. This is supported by data which found that:
40% of plastics used in the EU are in packaging.
50% of marine litter is from packaging.
In 2022, 186.5 kg of packaging waste was generated in the EU per person.
On 19 December 2024, the EU adopted the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). This is a step toward normalising right-sized packaging because it aims to reduce void space and weight in grouped, transport, and ecommerce packaging to no more than 50%.
Motivating change in the packaging industry
So why isn’t right-sized packaging already the default? Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as flipping a switch. Many automated processes go into packaging production.
Companies are perhaps less motivated to adopt better packaging practices because it comes with caveats like high upfront costs for new equipment and careful analysis of product materials. But it’s not all doom and gloom.
Profits may be the greatest motivator for a major change toward right-sized packaging. Reducing waste and improving efficiency can go a long way in lowering material and shipping costs, leading to increased sales and profit margins.
It’s time to close the lid on oversized packaging
With consumers and policymakers demanding more sustainable packaging from retailers, the question is no longer whether right-sized packaging will become mainstream but when.
Smarter packaging offers multiple advantages for retailers and consumers, showing how shipping methods can be streamlined sustainably. What’s your next step? Start thinking outside the box and make right-sized packaging the new normal.
Woola is ready to lead the charge. We’ve designed snug-fit, customisable Wool Envelopes for small items like cosmetics, electronics, jewellery, and more. Speak to us today to see which packaging solution will work for your products & order your free samples.
