Guide to Packing and Labeling Product Packages Like a Pro

by Chelsea Camper | Last Updated December 30, 2015

Some things are necessary to do when packing and labeling your products for shipment, but it’s the things you do above and beyond the norm that sets you apart from your competition. That’s not saying you have to spend half your budget on changing your order fulfillment system. Just the little things can go a long way toward making your packages look more professional. guide to packing and labeling product packages like a pro

There’s more to sprucing up your end package than just getting a pretty box to put your products in. The box is one piece of the packaging, but you also need to think about the packing materials and, yes, even the shipping label.

Remember! For online stores the package your customer receives is usually their first physical impression of your company. Let’s make it a good one!

Perfecting the Packaging

Primary Uses

Protects product. Most products need to be protected during transit and that’s the main purpose of your packaging. While you do want to make a good impression and doll your package up for you customer, don’t completely jeopardize your product’s safety.
Promotes your brand. Your package is going to pass through a lot of hands during transit, adding your logo and/or website to the outside of the package wouldn’t be a bad idea!
Unique and memorable. Create a unique design for the outside of your boxes (budget pending!) to make your customer’s experience with receiving and opening your package one of a kind.
Make a good first impression of your company. For most eCommerce companies the first physical impression their customers will have will be the package they receive. Make sure they remember it!

The Needed: Selecting a box and packing materials

Sturdy Box

Even if you’re using a standard brown, cardboard box, you want to get one that can withstand the trip from your warehouse to your customer’s doorstep. Using doubled-walled boxes can help keep your products safe during its journey to the customer. The job of the box is to protect the products inside of it; make sure it does its job!

Right Box Size

Just like you don’t want your porridge to be to hot or too cold, you don’t want your boxes to be too big or too small; you want them just right. Too big of a box will mean you’ll have to stuff your box with more padding to keep the product from bouncing around the box during transit. A box too small can result in a damaged product as your pickers and packers try to stuff the product into the box.

It might take some testing to find the right box size, but it’ll be worth it!

Get Good Packing Material

The packing material is going to help keep the product steady as the box is moved from truck to truck in transit. If your packing material is too weak it can be crushed by your product thus allowing the product to hit the inside of the box. Packing material too stiff could scuff your product.

Again, it could take some testing to get it just right.

Going above and beyond

So how can you go above and beyond the norm? Here’s a few ideas:

Colored boxes
Branded boxes
Easy to remove padding
Thank you message inside

Lavish Labels

Primary Uses

Gets the package to the customer. The shipping label contains a barcode that your shipping carrier uses to get the package to the customer.
Can promote your brand. You can customize the shipping label to include your company’s name and/or logo.

The Needed: Selecting the right label sheet

Label to work with your order fulfillment process.

You probably already have an order fulfillment process set up and you’re not too keen on changing the entire thing up to accommodate the label placement on your label sheet. Sometimes you can’t find a standard label sheet layout that works with your order fulfillment system, but that’s alright! You can just design your own shipping label sheet layout to fit your unique fulfillment process.

Label needs to be the right size.

Your shipping label of choice needs to be the right size for your eCommerce platform and for your shipping carrier. Most shipping labels will fit comfortably on a 7.5″ x 5.125″ label, though some may require a smaller or even larger sized label. If your eCommerce platform doesn’t allow you to customize the layout of your packing list and/or shipping label (or you just don’t have time to fiddle with it) you’ll need to find a label sheet with the label, perforations, etc. in an exact place; this may require you to design your own label sheet.

Going above and beyond

Is it possible to go above and beyond with a shipping label? Yes! Here’s a few ways you can top your competitors:

Keep label looking clean and uncluttered
Place the label in an unobtrusive place so the customer doesn’t have to tear through it to open it
Customize your label to be well designed and/or branded

What are some other ways you can perfect your packaging and spruce up your shipping label?

Want to learn more about shipping label sheets?