The world of shipping has been flipped upside down. In addition to shipping costs skyrocketing, delays, damages, and product shortages leave businesses and consumers in many industries feeling frustrated. So we asked ourselves: “What can we do to help?”
The Pandemic’s Effect on Shipping: Major Delays & Higher Costs
At the beginning of the pandemic, quarantined consumers had extra time on their hands, so many turned to online ordering. Many of these consumers were set on putting their extra time inside to good use by updating wardrobes or furnishings, taking on construction projects—basically anything to pass the time productively.
As a result, shipping boomed and freight costs rose with it. Carriers were filling more orders than ever and containers that were used to ship cargo just weren’t available for the rise in demand (and still aren’t). On top of this, the New York Times reported that “the pandemic and its restrictions have limited the availability of dockworkers and truck drivers…” For any distributor or customer, these recent obstacles can be a nightmare.
For Ecommerce Distributors, Some Challenges Aren’t New
Even well before the pandemic, ecommerce distributors of liquid products, such as cleaning chemicals, were already facing an expensive, time-consuming challenge: product damages. In fact, one packaging study showed that the average package is dropped 17 times while en route, which can increase your chance of wasteful leaks and spills. But that’s just the package itself…
Packaging Digest reported that “as much as 11% of unit loads arriving at a distribution center have some level of case damage,” typically caused by factors like:
- Stacking/compression
- Loose or ineffective packaging
- Transportation
- Loading processes
- Weather/storage temperatures
Between the pandemic-related challenges that are predicted to continue well into 2022 and the everyday shipping frustrations like damaged products, there isn’t really an end in sight. Or is there?
Creating Innovative Shipping Solutions
Now more than ever, it’s important that companies who rely on shipping put their best foot forward in terms of innovation. We may not be able to resolve world-wide shipping problems, but we can help make it easier and more efficient for those who count on us to do business.
Our ecommerce distribution partners, for example, rely heavily on shipping to get their products where they need to be without damage, so they don’t have to deal with the costs and customer complaints that come with returns. To aid them in their business efforts during a difficult time, we developed proprietary Safe-to-Ship™️ packaging.
Deliver to More Doors with Fewer Problems
Thanks to our expert packaging engineers, Safe-to-Ship packaging has become one of our most helpful solutions for distributors today. Using high-quality materials, this proprietary packaging protects liquid products during even the roughest deliveries, so distributors can deliver to more doors nationwide.
With this one simple switch, Safe-to-Ship can help ecommerce distributors:
- Reduce their cost to serve
- Save time on shipping prep
- Reach MORE customers than ever before by selling in new market
Save Time & Money on Every Order
In addition to keeping customers happy with orders that arrive undamaged the first time, Safe-to-Ship makes preparing packages for shipping easier and faster. Distributors simply pull from their pallets, apply a shipping label on a Safe-to-Ship box, and voilà—no more individually wrapping products or worrying about shifts and spills during delivery.
Saving time isn’t the only way this shipping solution can benefit ecommerce business though. Safe-to-Ship also helps distributors grow their business by expanding their shipping reach. This new ability to reach more customers without worrying about products being damaged helps reduce hidden return costs and order credits, making business that much easier for those dealing with frustrating shipping limitations.
“Safe-to-Ship packaging is made from strong, sturdy materials, so you don’t have to worry about your products spilling or leaking during delivery. Fewer shipping delays and returns due to damage translates to higher savings for your bottom line.” – Safe-to-Ship Packaging Engineer, Midlab
We’re Here to Help
Our team at Midlab is here to help distributors and their customers keep Everything Clean with essential cleaning and disinfection products. To do that, shipping problems that lead to costly, time-consuming reorders need to be addressed.
With Safe-to-Ship packaging readily available in MAXIM® quarts, gallons, and other sized products, we hope to make 2022 that much easier for people like Buddy. Who’s Buddy, you ask? Watch his story on YouTube or visit safetoship.com to find out!
