Flower boxes – a guide for sourcing florist packaging for eCommerce

If your business ships flowers or plants, choosing the right flower boxes and packaging can be the difference between happy or disappointed customers.

Flower boxes, typically manufactured from corrugated cardboard, are specially designed to protect, preserve, and present flowers from harvest to customer delivery. Flower packaging often includes unique features such as ventilation holes, internal cradles and tear strips. eCommerce flower boxes can also feature striking print and colours for an enhanced unboxing experience.

But what should you consider when sourcing and/or designing your flower boxes?

In this guide, we’ll explore:

• The common types of flower packaging.
• Product-specific considerations.
• How to optimise your customer’s experience.
• Ways to ensure a sustainable solution
• And much more

Cardboard boxes are typically used for transporting cut, fresh, and dried flowers, potted plants, and larger arrangements.

The flexibility of corrugated packaging means that flower boxes can be manufactured in almost any size, shape, and style to package different types and sizes of plants. This versatility ensures that plants fit snugly without excessive movement inside the box, reducing the risk of damage.

You can also customise cardboard flower boxes with handles, labels, and printed branding, making them suitable for retail display directly from the shipping box.

Overall, cardboard boxes balance affordability, durability, and protective capabilities, making them a practical choice for safely transporting plants from growers or florists to customers or retail locations.

Even with the advantages provided by cardboard flower boxes, there are several factors that you must consider when sourcing them.

Considerations when sourcing flower boxes include:

• Whether horizontal or vertical format provides the optimum protection.
• The required material strength of your packs.
• Whether you need internal cradles and inserts.
• Adequate securing of flowers within the outer pack.
• Whether your boxes require moisture resistance.
• The addition of ventilation holes.
• Whether you should use letterbox or Royal Mail PIP sizes.
• Whether to include features such as tear strips for easy opening.
• How you can leverage print for an improved unboxing experience.
• Should you include suitable recycling instructions?
• Whether your boxes are easy to assemble and pack.
• How else can you make your flower boxes more sustainable?

Depending on the type of plant or flowers you are shipping, you must choose between vertical or horizontal packs. Vertical boxes are the best option for live, potted plants, as they help keep any soil within the pot. Whilst they are also suitable for certain bouquets (again, those transported with a pot or liquid), you can also choose to cut flowers in horizontal or “lay flat” boxes.

Providing the correct grade of material is selected, cardboard is sturdy, maintains its shape and integrity, and can prevent crushing or deformation of the plants inside. The temptation is often to use a lightweight material (as the flowers themselves often weigh very little). However, an experienced packaging designer can consider several factors before advising on the optimum material type.

Besides the outer box, cardboard is suitable for creating internal inserts and cradles. These prevent the flowers from moving during transit, helping to protect them from mishandling. They also ensure that the flowers are presented in the same manner upon opening as they were when being packed. While foams can also be used, they are more difficult to recycle for end consumers.

Ensuring that flowers are secure within their packaging is essential to prevent damage during transit. Using bands or cable ties to keep bouquets together and in place can also significantly enhance the stability and protection of the flowers.

While it is important to protect your shipments from the elements, flowers and plants themselves contain moisture and may also have water on their surfaces when being packed. This moisture can affect the structure of your packaging from the inside, potentially weakening it and leading to damage. This can be circumvented by applying specialist coatings (such as Liquiguard) to prevent moisture from penetrating the cardboard material.

It can also be wise to include ventilation holes within your flower boxes. These allow for a degree of airflow, helping to keep your flowers fresher during transit. Adequate ventilation can also help alleviate any excess moisture or condensation issues within the pack.

Whilst not specific to your packaging, it is vital that you work with a courier or transport provider that can provide quick delivery. Fresh flowers sitting in a warehouse or delivery vehicle will soon lose their appeal. Supplying flowers in this condition also means your business is likely to start losing its appeal to your customers.

The convenience of a letterbox-sized delivery ensures that recipients do not need to be at home to accept the package, eliminating the hassle of missed deliveries and the need to arrange redelivery or pick up from a collection point. It also prevents customers or recipients of the flowers from coming home to find a box left on their doorstep (potentially getting wet or dirty) or presenting an opportunity for thieves.

Tear strips can prevent the frustration felt by customers who struggle to open your packaging. This process is not only frustrating but also creates the potential for the contents to be damaged. Perforated strips allow your customers to quickly and effortlessly get to their flowers.

Whilst simple printing to the outside of the box can provide basic branding, handling instructions and recycling symbols, many businesses will add a bold, colourful print to the inside of their flower packaging. This internal print creates an element of surprise (again adding to the experience) and makes your flower boxes and brand more memorable.

All of these factors work together to provide your customers with an enjoyable unboxing experience. However, other steps, such as personalisation, notes, vouchers for discounts on repeat purchases, and other little touches, can also add up.

If you send your flowers or plants via post, you must be aware of Royal Mail’s Pricing in Proportion (PIP) guidelines. These determine the cost of sending mail based on its size and weight. Most couriers and transport providers have similar pricing structures. Ensuring your flower boxes fall within the different bandings can significantly reduce your cost over the longer term.

Another hidden cost is packing times. Flower boxes that are slow or difficult to assemble, have many processes (e.g., adding inserts, tape, labels, etc.), or are difficult to handle can all reduce the productivity of your staff. This can mean fewer orders being processed and dispatched in a set time or higher labour costs to cope with demand.

Storage space has associated costs that many businesses can overlook when sourcing packaging. Keeping a large warehouse stocked with different sizes of ready-assembled boxes can be surprisingly costly. It is much more effective to have flatpack boxes (providing they are easy to assemble) or for your packaging supplier to deliver on a just-in-time basis.

Opting for FSC-certified boxes ensures that the cardboard used in manufacturing your flower boxes is from sustainably and responsibly managed forests. Besides the obvious environmental benefits, using the FSC logo on any applicable packaging can enhance your brand’s reputation and provide significant marketing advantages.

It is a good idea to make recycling your packaging as straightforward as possible for your customers. While material choice is vital, another easy but often overlooked way to improve recycling rates is to incorporate clear and concise recycling instructions directly on your packaging. This will guide your customers on how to dispose of their boxes properly and demonstrate your commitment to environmental sustainability and the circular economy.

Although both white and brown (kraft) cardboard can be recycled and contain equal amounts of recycled material, many consumers perceive brown packaging boxes to be more environmentally friendly. Your business can leverage this perception to position your brand as organic, eco-friendly, and sustainable while still including striking and attractive print (white and green inks work particularly well on brown material).