A box error is repeated when sent to the same customer each month in a subscription service. A poor seal, or a product that is not a tight fit, or a worn-looking box by month six goes back to the same spot. One of the few costs that apply to each renewal is subscription box packing. Empress Packaging is a manufacturer of product subscription box packaging brands throughout the USA.
The reship math
There is a price for damage and it can be calculated. Let's say you have 5,000 shipments per month and 2 percent damage rate, that's 100 replacements. The loss for each unit (product + postage/packaging) per month. That new insert costs monthly and costs itself off in savings after 56 out of 100 insert replacements are avoided. These are only sample numbers, you can use your own.
This is what the math doesn't tell you.
There's also a support ticket, an unhappy customer and a greater risk of cancelling for a damaged box. Those costs are real, but cannot be measured, and use the reship figure as a base and not the actual cost of a bad box.
Customer experience happens on a monthly basis.
Customers get to know the box. They know the location of the card, the details of how the product is kept and where the lid is opened and a consistent, neat opening is part of the subscription value. Variation is helpful, like a seasonal insert or new card but if it is structurally reliable. A luxuary packaging boxes that does what it always does is more acceptable than a box that things up on itself in the wrong way.
Door-to-door branded packages
A customer experience is the only physical interaction a brand may have with a customer. A branded package that sits on a porch, a hallway or a social feed does the job of an ad! Print the inside too, as this is when the reader's attention is highest.
The box is defined by ecommerce shipping costs.
Carriers charge for oversized and heavy parcels and branded packaging send the same size parcels thousands of times. Contact your carrier, before committing to a box size, to find out where the cuts are, as it may take only a 1/2" to bump a box into the next rate band. A box of the correct size is cost-saving with each delivery.
Retail Packaging as a growth step
Subscription brands with store sales can leverage artwork for retail packaging making it visible to the subscriber on the shelf. Design to the same insert sizes, and to minimize the need for additional tooling when migrating to stores.
Using a rigid box when it is appropriate
Do the math for a hard-sided box, too: the cost vs. the value of the subscriber it's designed to retain. Luxury packaging boxes provide the most returns at the renewal point, which can be month twelve or an annual plan. In between, corrugated mailers move the volume.
FAQs
Q: What is the cost of having a subscription box package?
A: First do the reship math, then do the math of how much a better box costs compared to how much damage it saves. Determine your maximum price per box before selecting finishes.
Q: How to reduce costs while increasing damage?
A: Do fit and insert first. The snug fit is usually more effective than the thicker board.
Q: If the box is packed in a carton, is branded packing really important?
A: Yes, as long as it is the inner box that the customer looks at first. Place the brand at the customer-opening point.
Q: How can I try out a new box?
A: Send samples to employees and select customers and compare damage and feedback with current box over a complete cycle.
Get a free quote on subscription boxes.
Send us your monthly volume, product size, and damage rate and Empress Packaging will quote retail packaging to cut it. For a free quote, please visit empresspackaging.com, send an email to query@empresspackaging.com.
