Black Friday Packaging: How to cope with 2021 demand

So what is Black Friday? And how did it all start?

Well, Black Friday happens on the day after Thanksgiving in the United States. It started as a way to entice shoppers into starting their Christmas shopping – an official launch to the festive season if you like.

Ever since 1924 when the New York City department store Macy’s started its now traditional Thanksgiving Day parade, the day after was known as the official start of the Christmas shopping season as the store opened its doors and reduced its prices.

The “Black Friday” phrase however wasn’t coined until the 1960s. Some claim that it refers to the fact that it is the day that retailers ‘move into the black’ and start making a profit for the year. Others claim it is related to the markdowns on prices.

Whatever the origin of Black Friday, it has transformed the retail calendar in the UK over the last 5 or so years. In fact, it has even overtaken Boxing Day and “Cyber Monday” as the most significant shopping day of the year (although Amazon Prime day now also a contender in terms of deals and overall sales volumes).

And whilst consumers are likely to still head to bricks and mortar stores on the day itself – even with ongoing concerns about the Coronavirus – the real growth since the event became established in the UK has been in online sales. This in itself can pose difficulties for many businesses however, and their ecommerce packaging in particular.

Put simply, successful Black Friday promotions not only put a huge strain on a business’ packaging, but also creates significant disruption throughout their operations.

Staffing can be difficult for example. Emile Naus, partner at consultancy firm BearingPoint and formerly head of logistics strategy at Marks & Spencer is quoted as saying:

You need more people in warehouses but for a very short amount of time. You either bring them in early and train them and they’re standing round doing nothing or you bring them in late and they don’t know what they’re doing, they make mistakes and that has an impact on consumers.

As such, it is crucial that you have a well-trained, focused workforce. But you must also provide the right environment to maximise their efficiency.

This is where the correct warehousing and picking bin setups are crucial, with the option for temporary pick walls / stacking pick bins on aisle ends helping to mitigate increases in stock and order volumes.

Similarly, packing staff can be assisted through easy to assemble boxes, as well as using suitable packaging that helps to minimise the required void fill too (both of which can help reduce fulfilment times).

As the statistics earlier in this guide highlight, the potential for damaged products – and therefore customer returns – across the Black Friday and Christmas period is hugely significant. With the increased online activity of consumers, this is only likely to increase too.

It is possible that there can be as many 50 different touch points for an ecommerce order before it reaches the end consumer. This in turn means 50 potential opportunities for the package to be mis-handled (and damaged) before reaching its destination.

This is in comparison to an estimated 10 touch points for products ending up in traditional retail stores.

As such, it is absolutely critical that your packaging can withstand the rigours of the delivery network. This means working with a packaging designer that can advise on the optimum material, design and size for your packaging. Testing – both theoretical and physical – can also be priceless.

By neglecting your packaging’s primary function – to protect its contents and be easy to open when required – you also run the risk of negative coverage and sentiment about your brand and products being shared across social media too.

Leading on from this, poor quality Black Friday packaging can actually have a longer term impact on your business success.

Whilst the short term pain of replacing or refunding a damaged item should not be underestimated, more than a quarter of consumers would not order again from a business that supply goods in poorly designed / functioning packaging.

Putting this into the context of increased Black Friday activity, there is the potential for thousands of pounds of business lost not only in returns, but in lost brand loyalty and repeat orders too.

The bottom line? Make sure your ecommerce packaging will protect your products during transit!

Whilst protecting products in transit is the primary objective for your Black Friday packaging (and indeed all packaging), the bar has been raised significantly in recent years.

In fact, a product arriving undamaged is now viewed simply as the base level of expectation. Par for the course.

In the age of social media and YouTube coverage, there has been an explosion in unboxing packaging and accompanying videos.

The feeling that your customers get when opening their order – surprise, delight, excitement – can turn them into brand advocates (as well as gaining your business crucial word of mouth recommendations).

As such, your packaging should aim to go above and beyond. Make your customers feel valued, communicate your brand message and cement your business in their mind as showing care and attention to detail.

Although the trend towards ecommerce is undeniable – and arguably accelerating – it has highlighted how the traditional distinctions between on and offline retailing are becoming more blurred. This further being seen in “click and collect” services and even in store returns.

What this also presents is an opportunity for businesses and retailers to take a more holistic view of their packaging and supply chain. What efficiencies can be gained? Are online and in-store retail packaging / branding consistent? Are there lessons that can be applied to streamline operations and reduce costs?

Whilst the rush of Black Friday and Christmas is not the best time to be looking for answers, this should be considered, and any changes implemented during quieter periods.

Whilst a lot of the focus of this guide has (rightly) been on avoiding damage in transit, there should be consideration given to avoiding inefficiencies throughout the supply chain too.

Small changes – such as safely reducing material weights or thicknesses, or changing the sizes of boxes – can make significant long-term impacts on your operations as a whole.

From minimising energy consumption, reducing packaging waste and even lowering CO2 emissions (simply getting more smaller boxes on a pallet or delivery vehicle results in fewer trips), cost savings can be used to improve competitiveness, slash prices, or increase marketing presence.

This is particularly true in 2021, with shortages of lorry drivers driving up the cost of shipping goods to customers. This is in fact one of the reasons cited by many “online first” businesses eschewing Black Friday altogether this year.

Another key point that should not be neglected here is that these efficiency gains are also likely to result in environmental benefits too. The majority of consumers are now looking to businesses to be more sustainable (for example utilising sustainable materials such as FSC® packaging), meaning that this can be a key selling point for your brand.

The counter point to reducing packaging sizes to aid transit efficiency is the effect this has on your inventory of boxes.

It is simply not possible to have thousands of different sizes to cover all eventualities, and is not cost effective either. Larger numbers of different sized boxes actually increases costs as you can no longer maximise economies of scale.

The other side of the coin however is the negative press (and customer annoyance) at receiving goods in hugely oversized boxes (as is often reported in the press for larger businesses such as Amazon or Tesco).

This is why it is important to undergo rationalisation of your packaging lines. This should, if done correctly, result in the perfect balance between various suitable sizes and a streamlined inventory that allows you purchase cost effectively and manage efficiently.

Of course, and as mentioned above, the current shortages regarding corrugated packaging may make a rationalisation project difficult at best (and impossible at worst).

Therefore, many businesses will (rightly) argue that simply getting products to consumers in a timely manner (and in one piece) will be the key consideration during the unprecedented circumstances we are currently facing.

The bottom line is that, if you get it right, your Black Friday packaging can provide a competitive advantage. This can be considered even more important when set against the discounting (and subsequently slim margins) that characterises the trading across this period.

By minimising the cost (and brand damage) of returns, fostering loyalty amongst consumers and maximising the efficiency of your packing, supply chain and even retail operations, you can see significant long term benefits to your business.

All of these points and more need to be addressed. Which is why GWP have a team of talented and experienced designers considering all of these things, in order that you don’t have to!

There are a number of commonly asked questions regarding both Black Friday in general but also how the event can impact your packaging and operations.

The most common of these are answered below, but for anything else please do not hesitate to get in touch.

If your online store, marketing, product selection and pricing are all on point, chances are you will see a surge in demand on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the festive period beyond.

If you do experience improved sales, then make sure you don’t let your customers down through poor packaging that doesn’t protect in transit, slows down fulfilment times, or is just plain hard to use / open.

And don’t neglect the un-boxing experience – you should aim to surprise and delight your customers.

Need help with any of this? If so, please don’t hesitate to get in touch using the details below

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Ecommerce shipping – the crucial role played by packaging

Corrugated board grades explained: types of cardboard

Ecommerce unboxing experience: best practice

10 packaging artwork mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Advanced tactics to improve order picking & packing