There’s nothing more problematic than running out of shipping boxes during the busiest week of the year, orders not shipped are not orders fulfilled, and a stock-out in the third week of a holiday rush isn’t going to be resolved by a rush order that comes after the selling window is over. Most brands begin their holiday stocking of the product and leave packaging to “take care of itself. Wholesale cardboard mailer boxes will address the one thing that can’t be fixed in the supply chain, and it’s preventable months before the busy season. Empress Packaging designs and creates peak-season packaging plans for US brands to ensure that in November, no order is left unfilled because of box availability.

Why Packaging Expires Before Product?

The vast majority of brands place an order, get their bulk mailer boxes, then reorder it when they run out, all year long. This is great at a normal volume and doesn’t work at all when order volume triples for 6-8 weeks. As holiday volume is already on the rise, a reorder is placed at the same factories and for the same brands, and at the same time, carriers and suppliers are already operating at full capacity. When there are gaps in the warehouse, the lead time to rectify the situation is typically long by the time the situation becomes apparent, and this is generally before the end of the selling season.

Peak-season Packaging Planning Benefits

Pre-season planning of cardboard box supply has five pay-off areas. Branding: A branded box is a box that does not default to “generic” during the highest visibility selling period when there isn’t much available. Protection: Boxes ordered and tested to the correct size in advance of a rush prevent the damage rate of using just whatever size is on hand. Cost savings: When bulk ordering, the POTW's price can be fixed before the seasonal demand drives up industry-wide prices. 

Peak-Season Packaging Planning Matters Most

For brands that have a high percentage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, packaging must be in place before this week, not after. Seasonal and gift-based categories, beauty, food, and custom cardboard packaging all have box supplies that must match order volume multiples of a normal month of activity. Brands that are using promotions that are based on a set time frame must have packs ordered well in advance of the promotion, the date of the promotion does not move with the order of the pack. Multi-warehouse operations require unified packaging positioned at each location that can’t be centralized at one site that cannot handle an upsurge in a region.

Peak-Season Box Supply with customization options.

Empress Packaging takes into account peak-season volume based on a brand's historical order data, if available, versus a generic seasonal multiplier. The staggered delivery schedules allow boxes to be delivered before the rush, but do not require a brand to warehouse an entire season’s inventory at once. When factories are running at capacity, standard sizes in production have priority scheduling over new custom dies. Brands with less confidence in how much demand will be at their peak have reorder buffers in place to protect against a demand surge, but without having to over-ambitiously make an assumption.

FAQs 

Q: When is the best time to place packaging orders? 

A: Well in advance of the season’s demand, industry-wide, confirmed against dates at quoting.

Q: Is it possible to stagger deliveries rather than sending one big delivery? 

A: Yes, staggered release schedules can be arranged to prevent warehousing an entire season’s worth at a time.

Get Your Free Quote

Box shortage in the busiest week of the year costs more than just missing boxes. Empress Packaging creates shipping boxes strategies for the peak season for US brands. For a no-cost quote, visit empresspackaging.com, send an email to query@empresspackaging.com, or call (888) 900-7629.