How to Choose Packaging for Ecommerce Products

Start with the product, not the catalogue

The common mistake is to start from available packaging and work backwards to the product. It produces a stock cupboard full of near-fits and a packer making judgement calls on every order.

Start instead with the five questions below, applied to the product lines that actually carry your volume. You do not need to do this for every SKU - you need to do it for the groups that matter.

Question one: shape and weight

Measure the real external dimensions and weight, and note the awkward dimension - the one that decides which format will work. For a flat item it is depth; for a long item it is length; for a heavy item it is the base.

Group SKUs by that awkward dimension rather than by product category. A ceramic mug and a glass candle belong in the same packaging group even though they sit in different parts of your catalogue.

Question two: how does it fail?

This is the question that decides protection, and it is answered by looking at returns rather than by guessing.

Failure mode to format.

See protective packaging for how these are specified, and foam packaging where the product must not move at all.

Question three: which band should it land in?

Before choosing a format, look at your carriers' size and weight thresholds and decide which band this product group should ship in. Then specify a pack that sits comfortably inside it rather than one that happens to fit the product.

For flat goods, ask specifically whether letterbox depth is achievable - it avoids a band step and a failed delivery at the same time. See postal and parcel packaging.

Question four: does it need to come back?

If the product has a fit, size or taste question attached to it, assume a proportion will return. That makes re-closability a specification requirement rather than a nicety, because it decides whether returned stock is resellable.

If returns are negligible for your category, do not pay for it. This is a genuine either-or rather than a universal best practice.

Question five: does the outside need to work for the brand?

For marketplace orders usually not - plain is often expected. For direct-to-consumer orders usually yes, and the cheapest effective route depends on how many sizes you hold.

• One or two sizes: printed cartons or mailers are straightforward - see custom printed packaging.
• Three or more sizes: printed tape brands all of them with one printed line.
• Premium positioning: printed inner liners and tissue do more per pound than a printed outer, because they land at the moment of opening.

Putting it together into a short ladder

1. Group SKUs by awkward dimension and failure mode.
2. For each group, pick the format family that matches - wrap, mailer, postal box, carton with insert.
3. Size each to sit inside a sensible carrier band.
4. Decide re-closability per group rather than across the board.
5. Decide branded or plain per channel, and specify both where you sell on marketplaces.

That produces a short, defensible set of formats. If a group is large enough, a made-to-size carton for it usually beats the nearest stock size on delivered cost.

The short version

• Group SKUs by awkward dimension and failure mode, not by category.
• Decide the target carrier band before choosing a format.
• Decide re-closability per group rather than across the board.
• Brand on tape and inners before printed cartons.
• Sample anything bespoke with your real product before a run.

Frequently asked questions