How to Manage Packaging During The Holiday Rush Like a Pro

It’s that time of the year when the festive spirits are at an all-time high. The holiday season not only bears witness to joyous celebrations, but also heavy holiday rush. After all, everyone wishes to send gifts to their friends, family and loved ones. The holiday rush may not affect you in a major way, but it does have an impact on the performance of businesses, especially those involved in eCommerce as the orders may comprise any number and type of products. 

The thing about the holiday season is that people expect a visually appealing and highly attractive packaging that manages to keep all of the contents safe. This is the challenging part that needs to be approached with care. Usually, businesses come up with their own packaging boxes or packaging solutions so that the spirit of the festive season is not diluted in any manner. However, the problem lies in the fact that customers may order anything and in any number so the business needs to accommodate the demands without compromising on packaging effectiveness. 

Do you want to know how the professionals manage the holiday rush? Just follow these tips and you should be able to do it like them. 

Calculate Your Packaging Requirements

This is one of the most important aspect of the holiday rush. You need to come up with proper estimates of the upcoming demand for your products during the festive season. A good way to approach this would be to use previous year’s data and analyse that in keeping with the rate of business growth. This should give you a good idea about the demand that you could expect this year. 

Keep a Buffer

Just because you need a certain number of packages doesn’t mean that you have to order only that much. It is advisable to maintain a buffer so that any last minute problems related to packaging may be managed without causing any delay in the entire process. Keeping a buffer is also beneficial for surplus demand where the sales go beyond that of previous years. 

Come Up With Custom Designs Especially for the Holiday Season

The most notable issue faced by businesses during the festive season is the difficulty in striking a balance between visual appeal and overall design of the package (from a safety perspective). Cost also plays a major role here as the investment in acquiring packaging material needs to be kept at optimal levels. This is where the need for coming up with custom designs can help businesses as the materials would be prepared according to the specific parameters and this would ensure better compatibility of the packaging with the contents. 

Offer Bundled Packs

This is the safest bet that you (as a business) can take during the holiday season. By offering pre-designed bundled packs, you have less chance of getting orders with products of varying sizes and dimensions. Moreover, all of the products in the bundle would come pre-packed and carefully placed within the package so that everything remains intact with minimal movement. Now that the safety aspect has been taken care of, it becomes even easier to focus on making the package highly attractive by adding decorative elements and carefully placed accessories. 

Inform Your Packaging Material Supplier Beforehand

Make sure that you inform your packaging material supplier about the estimated demand beforehand. This would help you to avoid last minute delays and would ensure that your requirement is fulfilled properly. By informing the supplier beforehand, you also get the opportunity to consider the supplier’s perspectives. This is a valuable insight as the supplier has a better understanding of the dynamics of the holiday rush and he would be able to provide effective tips on managing this hectic season like a pro.