How Protective Packaging Improves Reverse Logistics

There is one frustration that both suppliers and customers share: damaged products. On the customer side, it’s incredibly frustrating to receive a damaged product and the hassle of having to ship it back. But for the supplier, that frustration is also an additional cost - with the whole reverse logistics process and all associated fees. 

Protective packaging can improve - or even eliminate - your reverse logistics process. Here’s how. 

What is Reverse Logistics?

As the name suggests, reverse logistics is the reverse of the typical logistics process. In this case, customers have received a product and elected to return it. One of the most common reasons cited for returns are damaged products (more on that later!). The National Retail Federation estimates consumers will return about 16.5 percent of their gifts. 

The reverse logistics process is costly - not only financially, but also in the added environmental impact of the shipping process. Additionally, the process can leave a negative impression on your customer, who either no longer has a wanted product or has to wait longer to receive an intact product.

Avoid Reverse Logistics by Choosing the Right Packaging, the First Time

The surest way to eliminate returns of damaged products is to ensure those products don’t arrive damaged. Our research has found that the typical box-in-a-box method of shipping has a shorter life cycle and is overall less effective at protecting the product than a custom designed container. 

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But don’t just take our word for it - that’s a huge reason why big retailers like Amazon and Walmart have started requiring SIOC (ship in own container) packaging vs. box-in-a-box. Alongside improved sustainability, it helps ensure recipients receive their items damage-free. As Amazon says in their Frustration-Free Packaging Program Certification Guidelines:

Listening to the customer was the starting point. While they often tell us they loved how their products were packaged, they also told us when our packaging didn’t work – when products were damaged, when the packaging was too big, or just too hard to open. This data is one of the key stimuli that informed our worldwide packaging team to invent and simplify a system called the Frustration-Free Packaging Program to embody a set of core tenants, test methods and a certification process to scale our ideas across millions of products. 

One of those core tenants is - you guessed it - ship in own container packaging. 

A custom foam case insert ensures that your products fit snugly to arrive undamaged - and therefore, don’t have to go back.

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When Reverse Logistics is Necessary, Protect Returned Items

We’ve focused primarily on damaged goods, but there are still cases where a customer may return a perfectly functional product for other reasons. In those instances, protective packaging is vital to ensure that the product can survive two rounds of your logistics process without taking damage. 

In these cases as well, custom foam packaging ensures safe, repeated travels. 

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Find Your Best Option with a Packaging Expert

As a leader in the packaging industry, Foam Industries has set the bar with an unwavering commitment to quality, exceptional client service, and constant innovation. Through our extensive inventory of endlessly customizable products, we ensure you find exactly what you’re looking for.

Contact a Packaging Expert 

Foam Industries is a custom protective packaging company specializing in foam – with additional wood and plastic fabrication services. Our custom foam fabrication services are ideal for any type of packaging, display, or support service needed – from design to finished product.