Experimental design procedure

One of the aim of the research was to gain an understanding on packaging material selection criteria, so preferred liner properties, retailers’ and brand owners’ packaging selection criteria and end use specific packaging requirements were identified in the empirical part of the research.

Liner Properties in E-commerce Packaging

The interview and survey participants were asked to list preferred properties for liners or corrugated board used in e-commerce packaging. Approximately 39 different properties were mentioned 90 times by 35 interview and survey answerers. The question was open so lot of different properties were covered, and they were grouped according to their nature to mechanical properties and functionality, sustainability, appearance, cost, and convenience of handling. The mentioned properties are presented in figure 35. The larger the size of the font, the more often the property was mentioned. From the grouped functions, mechanical properties are the most important, followed by visual appearance and sustainability. The interview and survey participants listed both containerboard properties (i.e. quality requirements) and packaging properties (i.e. stackability and oversize reduction). Most often mentioned liner properties found in the research are strength, printability, recyclability and protection. Cost is having also great importance, but it is not a liner or corrugated board property, but more a selection criteria.

Figure 35. Preferred properties for liners used in e-commerce packaging.

Retailers’ and Brand Owners’ Packaging Selection Criteria

The question about the main factors affecting retailers’ or brand owners’ choice of packaging material was added in the questionnaire after few interviews. Even though we know what are the preferred properties for liners used in e-commerce, it is useful to understand the factors impacting packaging material selection. There can be differences depending on if the product is more premium or more of a discount brand. Also, the packaging might differ depending on the product and size of the business. All these were mentioned in the conversations. Still, the most frequently mentioned factor affecting the packaging material decision is cost.

In total 21 participants answered to the question mentioning approximately 18 attributes 48 times. The factors were grouped according to the nature and the mostly mentioned factors are presented in figure 36. After cost, the most important decision making criteria are the customer experience (including unboxing, returning and requirements that come from consumers), efficiency in packaging process and delivery, packaging protection, sustainability and material optimization.

“Speed - how much can you pack in an hour. Scale – how much can you scale in times of peaks. Cost – always important, especially for omni channel retailers.” (Market development director, Corrugated board / Packaging producer)

“Delivery time – priority one! When we go down to packaging – the convenience aspect:

no tooling and easy returning. Also right quality – broken boxes are the worst case.”

(Packaging procurement, Retailer / Brand owner)

“Product protection coupled with perceived sustainability.” (Consultant (1), Association) What is notable is that the visual appearance seems to be less valued than what was seen in the preferred properties for liners used in the e-commerce packaging.

Sustainability was rated high by retailers, and it is a strong factor affecting the decision of retailers. Again, it seems that the driving factor towards more sustainable packaging is the end consumer.

Figure 36. Factors affecting the choice of packaging material.

End Use Specific Packaging Requirements

The interview participants were asked to estimate certain corrugated packaging parameters from 1 (not important) to 5 (very important) in different end uses. These answers were collected and the average importance for each parameter in each end use was analysed. Summary of the analysis is presented in figure 37. The categories chosen to the analysis were clothes, electronics, groceries/food, cosmetics/health care, furniture and books. These categories were chosen because of different types of product characteristics. According to literature most of them are often sold through e-commerce.

Most of the parameters were asked since the beginning, but after few interviews, parameters about barrier/surface properties, brand communication, unboxing experience and returnability were added and informativeness was removed. In total 19 interview participants gave their opinions, of which 9 were producers. Retailers and brand owners were only asked about the end use they were familiar with.

In all categories, production runnability is rated very important. The least important aspect on average is the virgin fibre content, which on the other hand means that recycled fibre-based materials are favoured. Similar conclusion can be made out of the importance of sustainability in all categories. Cost is seen one of the most important factors in e-commerce packaging. The highly valued cheap price and efficient runnability implies that the e-commerce packaging production needs to have high performance and be cost-efficient in order to compete in the market.

Figure 37. End use specific importance of packaging parameters.

Biggest differences among the end uses can be seen in the need of printability, appearance and brand communication, being the most important for electronics and cosmetics. The reason can be highly branded and quality products in cosmetics and electronics segment. It seems that when appearance and marketing become more important for packaging, the cost attribute reduces. This could mean that when brand communication becomes more important, there is more willingness to pay for the packaging. It can be seen from the results that in general, appearance, printability, brand communication and unboxing experience are often perceived similarly.

The requirements of light weight is quite important for all materials (2.9<), being the most important for clothes and cosmetics. These are often light weight products, so also lighter

weight is wanted from packaging. For heavier products such as electronics, books and furniture, light weight is not seen as important. The importance of returnability varies across the end uses, being the most important for clothes and least important for groceries and furniture.

Strength and stiffness have variance among the end uses. For electronics, furniture and groceries high protection is often required and this supports the demand of corrugated packaging. Cosmetics and health care products need average protection and products are relatively light weight. Both corrugated packaging and flexible packaging can be seen with cosmetics, depending on product needs and brand communication. Books are having low protection requirements, which indicates that other than corrugated packaging would be sufficient in terms of protection. On the other hand, books are relatively heavy weight, which often implies that more protection is needed. Fashion and clothing have low protection requirements and cheap packaging is needed. These attributes are favouring demand of plastics or other flexible packaging solutions. What can be seen from the overall picture of these parameters is that strength properties and importance of virgin fibre content grow hand in hand. This could mean that more virgin fibre-based containerboard is needed, when protection requirements increase.

The barrier and surface properties (i.e. moisture) is having fluctuation, being the most important for food/groceries and electronics and least important for clothes, furniture and books. Food might need preservation from external influences and electronics can be sensitive to for example moisture. Barrier properties and preservation could benefit plastics while protection requirements are benefitting corrugated. Sustainability is important, but according to the interviews, food protection always comes first.

Even though the end use specific criteria give hints on what kinds of materials are required, size and weight of the products also define the needs for protection. For example, small electronics or home decoration might need only padded envelopes and when combining multiple fashion or cosmetics items in one order, corrugated box can become more convenient.