Boxes & Packing Supplies: How to Evaluate Potential Partners

The right fit for your needs

In the shipping industry, product deliveries are only as secure as the boxes and packing supplies that hold them. If your business model relies on e-commerce or consumer shipments, it’s vital to find suppliers who provide safe and secure packages at the right price. So how do growing companies who are new to the field evaluate supply partners? With this checklist, owners and managers can find suppliers who will meet their precise needs.

Distinguish between suppliers and manufacturers

Both suppliers and manufacturers can provide you with boxes and packing supplies, but each has a specific role within the shipping industry. Understanding the differences between them will let you better determine which is the better fit for your business.

Manufacturers assemble boxes and packing supplies firsthand. When they are also your supplier, it’s far easier to design custom packages for delivery. Manufacturers represent an opportunity to produce structural designs that perfectly fit your product, incorporate uncommon materials or scale packaging orders to meet demand. If you want to customize your shipping boxes, you probably want to deal with a manufacturer.

Suppliers, on the other hand, are shipping merchants and resellers who can help you find the best deals. While manufacturers tend not to carry extra stock, suppliers usually have boxes in multiple sizes you can purchase with minimal lead time. Most suppliers also offer competitive pricing to attract clients and are open to smaller, on-demand orders that manufacturers cannot accommodate. If you don’t need special boxes and want the best rates, you probably want a supplier.

Prioritize product quality

Whenever you ship a package, the safety of the product is completely out of your hands once the shipping carrier takes over. That’s why it’s so important to choose suppliers that offer durable, high-quality packing materials. If something goes wrong with the packaging, customers aren’t going to blame the supplier, but they might blame you—especially if a fragile item is damaged!

As companies grow, the shipping box supplies they use will become associated with the overall brand. How the product is transported will become synonymous with the product itself, to the point of being described in customer reviews. The good news is you can use durable and high-quality packing supplies to your advantage. In the same way that subpar packaging creates negative experiences, effective packaging can become associated with a positive business.

Look for package testing options

It can be a nightmare for small businesses when customers open a package to find their merchandise broken or damaged in some way. Suppliers who conduct packaging tests are well-positioned to deliver products in their intended state.

Here are some of the testing procedures a shipping supplier might use:

Altitude

Altitude simulations test how packages respond to various low-pressure environments. These conditions tend to occur at high altitudes, such as during flights or transport across mountain regions.

Compression

Compression tests ensure that boxes are durable enough to sustain large weights and pressure, like when packages are stacked tightly within shipping containers.

Humidity

Humidity tests simulate environments with variable moisture levels. Changing humidity levels can lead to package degradation, broken tape seals, internal condensation and other harmful effects.

Light exposure

Packaging materials, particularly shipping labels, experience varying levels of UV radiation that can degrade quality over time. Light exposure tests simulate this exposure for an extended period to determine the overall risk.

Shock

In shock testing, boxes and packing supplies undergo sudden impacts and drops that might occur during shipping. These tests ensure that packaging material is structurally sound and that the products it contains are protected.

Temperature

Temperature tests expose packages to extreme hot or cold conditions for extended periods. These techniques simulate what products might experience during transport or when left in storage for extended periods.

Vibration

Minor vibrations occur throughout the entire delivery process, such as when transport trucks drive along roads. Vibration testing exposes packages to different vibration frequencies to measure wear and tear on contents.

Research order minimums

Most manufacturers and suppliers tend to offer bulk rates alongside minimum order quantities (MOQs) as their default pricing model. Business owners must decide whether they can afford to purchase the volume of supplies that they might need in the short term. Remember, you’ll also need to store it!

As a general rule, small businesses should seek out suppliers with low MOQs to ensure the best rates. For additional savings, it’s also good to seek out retail partners who can provide shipping supplies on-demand. Don’t forget that Walmart Business offers boxes and packing supplies to meet these needs!

Identify sustainability criteria

Modern consumers and shipping companies prioritize sustainability more than ever before. If your company has its own sustainability criteria, it’s important to source materials from suppliers who share those goals. If your products are made from recyclable materials but the packages they come in contain non-biodegradable packing peanuts, customers might be confused about what you actually stand for.

There are many eco-friendly policies and programs suppliers can take advantage of:

• Using sustainable packaging made entirely from recyclable materials, such as corrugated cardboard

• Offering a full range of shipping box sizes to avoid wasted space in shipping containers

• Offering biodegradable protective materials

• Partnering with sustainability associations that aim to collectively lower carbon footprints through the lifecycle of packaging
  

Source your boxes and packing supplies with Walmart Business

Every business has unique shipping requirements and deserves to work with suppliers that can meet them. Walmart Business can help with its wide range of shipping boxes, packing supplies and eco-friendly practices for achieving sustainability goals. What’s more, by signing up for a Walmart Business+ membership, you’ll gain access to free shipping,¹ free delivery from stores on orders over $35² and 2% rewards back for purchases over $250.³ You can even save over $500 a year! 4 Learn more here.

¹Excludes most Marketplace items, freight and certain location surcharges.

²Restrictions apply. 

³Exclusions apply. See full terms for details.

⁴Savings based on 1 free $35+ delivery order vs. $9.95 fee and 1 free shipping order under $35 vs. $6.99 fee biweekly, plus 2% Walmart Business rewards on monthly order >$250 (average value of $400).