It is one thing to ship ordinary products and another to ship fragile products like glass or ceramic products.
From packaging, handling, shipping to storage, ensuring that a fragile product reaches your recipient in one piece can be daunting.
A single rattle can shatter it to pieces. Since you do not want your client to raise any complaints or encounter losses due to poor shipping practices, it can help to rely on the following tips for shipping fragile products.
Choose a perfectly sized packaging box
One of the main reasons why eCommerce sellers specializing in fragile items prefer boxes to envelopes is their ability to withstand impact.
A packaging box that is either too big or too small can play a significant role in determining if your fragile product will reach in one piece.
No matter how many items you want to ship, ensure the packaging box is the right size.
Choose a box big enough to accommodate the items, and the protective wrapper prevents them from breaking due to heavy impact. However, it should not be too big to make your items bounce from the inside.
Get high-quality protective wrapping materials
No matter how strong your packaging box might be, it might not protect your fragile goods unless you include a quality-assuring wrapping material.
If you are dealing with fragile items such as electronics and glasses, get bubble wrappers as they have shock-proof properties. As you wrap the item, ensure it covers each part fully.
You can even use brother dk labels to make sure that the safety instructions are not faded away due to weather changes during shipping.
Avoid tight wrapping
Assuming you were sitting in a room and are tightly wrapped in a shawl that does not let you breathe, will you not feel uncomfortable? Imagine doing the same for your fragile items.
Tight wrapping induces too much pressure on breakable items. The worst part is that tight wrapping might increase your products’ chances of breaking because of frequent motions.
If you have to wrap your products, ensure it is neither too tight nor too loose. The bottom line is; ensure your items do not conform to too much tension.
Indicate “fragile” on your label
Part of the reason why it is essential to label your package as fragile is to inform your shipping company about what is inside. As you do so, picture how many orders they receive in a day.
They might likely be overwhelmed with huge orders and mishandle your fragile package. While at it, do not be too stingy with your labels.
Do it on all four sides so that people handling it will get the message no matter how many times they turn the boxes.
If you engage in regular shipping of fragile items, it would be best to buy fragile stickers online and get a stamp for security purposes.
Include extra wrapping for long-distance shipping
If you are a business that deals with fragile goods’ international shipping, logic demands that you add extra wrapping. Your goods will pass through many hands before reaching your final recipient.
Even if you inform them about your products’ fragility, you might not be there to ensure everything happens as you instructed.
Extra wrapping is an essential part of long-distance shipping as it prevents businesses from rubbing shipping companies the wrong way if anything bad happens.
Insure your products
Packaging and wrapping are within your control. However, when it comes to shipping, you have no idea how it will turn out. Businesses encounter losses every day due to improper handling and shipping.
Suing a shipping company if their actions break your fragile good before reaching your recipient can be daunting unless you insure your products.
It helps to note that some items are not replaceable. Insuring them is the only way of ensuring unforeseen circumstances do not interfere with your business activities.
A fragile item only remains relevant as long as it stays in one piece. Once it breaks, it ceases to fulfill its utility factor.
If you specialize in the manufacture or distribution of fragile mass-produced goods, it would be best to consider all these six factors.
Do not assume your courier company already knows the implication of mishandling fragile goods. Always adopt these best shipping practices for fragile goods to sustain your e-commerce business.
While at it, get the best zebra labels to avoid giving your courier company the wrong impression about your message’s seriousness.