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Innovation needed in e-commerce packaging

Because e-commerce creates a fundamental paradigm shift in the supply chain, CPGs must “design for intended use,” according to Michael Nieuwesteeg, Managing Director of NVC Netherlands Packaging Centre.

NVC
NVC

Nieuwesteeg said that there is a need to innovate in packaging design, including the disposal or return of emptied packaging by the consumer. He presented at the 7th ISTA European Packaging Symposium last week in Amsterdam (with co-presenter Zezia Zlaiouia, Research Assistant and E-Course Technical Assistant) on the direction web retail packaging is heading.

According to some estimates, said Nieuwesteeg, e-commerce packaging is happening at a rate of 5,000-10,000 times per second. With approximately 40 billion e-commerce customer orders per year that are packed for the merchant, unpacked and stored or stocked, and then re-packed and shipped to the customer, half of the work is unpackaging a product to repack it for e-commerce.

Nieuwesteeg also said that the packaging industry needs to learn the true cost of returns due to breakage and void in shipping, presenting Amazon’s policy of fines for product leakage as an example of hidden costs that create expensive products to ship.

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