TACKLING THE E-COMMERCE CHALLENGE E-commerce sales have seen impressive growth in recent years, and the trajectory is set to increase even further. With consumer demands growing in line with pack developments, what are the challenges? And what steps are packaging companies taking to stay ahead of the game? Elisabeth Skoda reports.
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ackaging for e-commerce needs to withstand a lot of pressure. In its recently launched Rethinking Packaging report, courier giant DHL observes that while brick-and-mortar retailers typically require packaging to be drop-tested from five different angles, leading online retailers may ask for 18 separate drop tests. Future e-commerce innovations are likely to further intensify demands on packaging. According to the report, logistics providers are now on their fourth or fifth generation of drone delivery projects and are exploring delivery with unmanned ground vehicles. Combined with growing demand for unattended delivery formats, packaging will need to evolve to allow items to be left outside the customer’s home, exposed to inclement weather and the risk of theft.
A driver for growth According to statistics from eMarketer, worldwide retail e-commerce sales are set to grow to over 20% of total sales by 2023. China and the USA are leading the way in the area of e-commerce, but western Europe, especially the UK, Germany and France are also developing strongly. Yi Jiang, Amcor’s e-commerce and business development director, says that the company is investing in e-commerce packaging to support customers’ growth agenda. “Our customers recognize that they have to be where the consumers are – and today’s consumers are online a lot. Beyond growth directly from online sales, according to Forrester Research, half of all retail sales in the US are digitally influenced. Therefore, what you do as a brand online is going to influence your offline sales. With that being said, maturity of e-commerce
development can vary greatly from company to company, from category to category. So there is still a lot to learn for brands working with supply chain partners to improve consumer experience in e-commerce.” She explains that supply chain complexity poses a big challenge. “In traditional brick and mortar channels, there are around five points of handling, but there are at least ten in the e-commerce supply chain. Another challenge is demand uncertainty. Consumer feedback comes in quickly. If a customer doesn’t like the product or the packaging, they will share their opinion, so you have to react fast. “Lastly, sustainability and how it is viewed by consumers is a big challenge. Many online consumers are sustainability conscious and are more likely to complain about a pack that’s perceived as not sustainable on Amazon than at their local supermarket. Feedback about product and packaging are amplified. Therefore, a lot of exploration work is needed to optimize a pack for different channels, be it brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce or omnichannel. Packaging companies can support their customers in both the exploration phase and packaging development phase.” While product protection in transit is highly relevant this needs to be balanced with ease of use for the customer. In the brick-and-mortar retail environment, packaging is often designed to thwart theft or tampering, for example by using rigid clamshells with sealed edges. Freed from the need to protect products from shoplifting, e-commerce retailers have encouraged the development of packaging designs that prioritize access with minimal effort, as is observed in DHL’s Rethinking Packaging Packaging Europe | 37 |
