Tales from Packaging Hell

Add comment July 10th, 2006 David Bush - Iasta

CPG manufactures take note! Bad packaging decisions can hurt your customers - literally! A recent article in Wired demonstrates this.

And whether you know it or not, this hurts you. First of all, if a product requires a pair of box-cutters to open, chances are you’re losing money. Besides the fact that the overkill packaging is most likely costing you a considerably larger sum of money then you should otherwise need to pay, any customer that gashes his palm trying to open your product is probably not going to buy from you again.

If, for some reason, heavy packing is needed to insure that the product does not get damaged during transit, make sure that there is at least one hassle free way to open the package and that step-by-step instructions are clearly displayed on the back of the box, PVC clamshell, or combination thereof.

And if you are worried about theft prevention, there’s an easier way. Embed a standard mag-strip or RFID chip in the innermost parts of the packaging. Most stores these days already have the scanning and sensing technology in place. And with read only RFI chips now costing mere pennies, it’s hard to argue that PVC costs less.

This is a prime opportunity to take advantage of advanced eRFx functionality to analyze the differences between supplier products and reduce the amount of material being used. An eRFx engine can help compare suppliers against each other on both quantitative and qualitative factors, if enough of them can provide the better technology to spec, an auction is certainly the next step. And just think of all the environmentalists you’ll please by replacing PVC with biodegradable materials!

Entry Filed under: General, Suppliers, Technology, e-RFx