Like any ecommerce company, your goal is to keep your costs to a minimum, while providing the best service possible. And if shipping clothes is part of your business, this is even more true, as you need to keep up with a large amount of orders and returns. Fortunately, there is a packaging solution which combines safety, customizability, and cost-savings: shipping bags.
In recent years, a shift has been happening in the world of commerce and consumers have started gravitating more towards online shopping.
In 2020, the ecommerce revenue generated by the fashion industry in Europe was estimated to be $130.45 billion according to the Fashion eCommerce report of 2021 led by Statista. And between 2020 and 2025, this total revenue is forecasted to grow by 35.3% to reach $176.45 billion.
These numbers do not lie: more and more customers prefer purchasing clothes online, making the online share of the Fashion Market grow from 14% in 2017, to 23% in 2022.
For web fashion retailers, this predicts a bright future, but also presents a growing challenge, as their need for affordable and efficient ecommerce packaging solutions increases. And for smaller businesses for whom margins are crucial, this can be even more decisive.
Even though fast delivery remains a key aspect for consumers in their decision to order fashion items from an online shop, their priority is usually not set on finding clothing websites with fast shipping.
Indeed, a study from Shopify revealed that 59% of online shoppers consider free shipping to be a key advantage for their online shopping experience, while only 34% think the same about fast delivery.
Considering these results and setting the security of goods aside, the number one focus of online fashion retailers when it comes to shipping should be to find packaging for mailing clothes which is budget-friendly.
Before looking for an affordable shipping solution, it is important to understand that in 2022, sustainable shipping packaging is the only way to go.
The manufacturing of clothing articles is extremely polluting and resource-demanding. In fact, according to the United Nation Environment Programme, the fashion industry is responsible for up to 8% of humanity’s carbon emissions, which is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
And if the sector continues on this trajectory, it was estimated that that share could jump to 26% by 2050. And we can believe it will, as the situation is being further aggravated by the fast fashion phenomenon.
On top of that, the shipping of online articles itself can be very detrimental to the environment depending on which packaging materials are used. It was for example found that 3 billion trees are pulped yearly to produce 241 million tons of shipping cartons, generating the equivalent in CO2 to what is produced by 250,000,000 cars each year.
Plastic mailers are usually the most cost-effective option to ship clothing items like t-shirts, trousers, dresses, garments, or even accessories. And on top of that, compared to corrugated boxes, they can also be more sustainable, provided you pick them wisely.
Unlike what we are tempted to believe, plastic resin is a more ecological packaging material than pulp is. For example, taking into consideration the manufacturing process alone, a study from the Northern Ireland Assembly concluded that plastic bags consume four times less water than paper bags during production!
In short, and if you are a fashion retailer which cares about the environment, recycled and recyclable plastic envelopes and bubble mailers are ideal ecological packaging solutions, as they can help you have a positive impact on customers at an affordable price.
When you want to make savings during shipping, parameters like the weight and thickness of your packaging are not mere details.
As an ecommerce company, recycled plastic mailers are the ideal solution if you want to make savings during shipping as their material and shape allow your parcel to be lightweight and lay flat. In fact, it takes about 7 trucks to transport 2 million paper bags, compared to 1 truck for the same amount of plastic bags.
One of the factors that will determine the price of your shipping is the dimensional weight of the package. It is a pricing technique which is used by courier and postal services in order to calculate how much the shipment should be billed.
Following it, if the item you are transporting is light but sits in a large box, you will be charged more money because your parcel takes up a lot of space in the delivery truck. It is thus in your best interest to keep your package as small as possible and use a plastic mailer instead of a corrugated box.
The lightness of shipping bags is also a strong advantage for companies, as the size of your parcel is not the only thing that matters. Indeed, weight is also another crucial element that will affect the cost of the transport: the heavier the parcel is, the more expensive the shipping fee will be.
To give concrete examples, when the GSM (Gram per Square Meter) weight of a cardboard box usually ranges from 200 to 350g/m2, our classic bubble envelopes combine 75g/m2 kraft paper with 45-50g/m2 bubble foil for a total of up to 125 g/m2!
If you choose to ship your items in mailers instead of boxes, you will also be able to save money as early as in your warehouse as shipping bags take up less space than corrugated boxes.
But that is not all. Thanks to the flexibility and simplicity of use of mailers, your company will also save money during the preparation of orders.
Unlike boxes, mailers don’t require any assembly, and there is also usually no need to add any filling material! This means more orders can be made in a shorter time, and less people and tools are needed to accomplish this.
Even though the online market of fashion is booming, there is a dark side to it: the amount of goods which are returned by clients.
As the leaders of the online fashion market regularly propose free delivery and returns, these practices become a standard for consumers who take advantage of them to try clothes on at home and return them when they don’t fit or aren’t to their taste. This is what leads to the return rate of online apparel shops going above 20%.
As a fashion retailer, you unfortunately won’t be able to avoid having a high rate of returns if your process aims at being consumer-friendly, so it is more than recommended to include an easy-return solution to enable your clients to return your goods easily.
As an online company, it will benefit you as your returns flow will become smoother and will require less time, resources and materials for your teams to process, and thus, less money. But it will also benefit the environment, as the same bag will be used for the initial delivery and the return!
At Filmar, we are well aware of this challenge, which is why our Co-Ex Filbags come in a resealable version with two glue lines that ensure a perfect closure for your items, but also convenient returns!
The cost to replace a damaged product can be several times as high as the original cost of shipping. This is why it is important to put effort into avoiding them! Fortunately, clothing items are goods which are not particularly prone to being damaged during shipping.
But to put all the chances on your side, it is wiser to pick safer ecommerce packaging which will keep your goods protected, and in turn, avoid any additional returns and losses! And when it comes to clothes, the biggest threats you should protect them from are weather and mechanical damages.
To serve this purpose, FILMAR shipping bags and bubble mailers are perfect options! Thanks to their multi-layered LDPE plastic film or bubble wrap, they provide optimal protection from damage and moisture, and also ensure an effective closure with their strong adhesive glued strap.
The utility of commerce packaging does not limit to containing goods. It is also an affordable way to get your brand image to be noticed.
Fashion being an industry in which appearance matters a lot, polishing your brand image is very important. And on top of that, your shipping packaging is also the first physical interaction your brand will have with your clients.
It was actually found that 70% of customers form a brand impression solely based on the packaging. And more interestingly even, an astounding 55% of online shoppers have admitted to be willing to repeat business with a website if their purchase comes in a customized packaging.
And if you decide to go for reusable shipping packaging to align with your values of sustainability, you will also allow your shipping packaging to stand out, conveying the message that you care about the environment.
Since they are cheaper to produce and to ship when compared to cardboard boxes, plastic mailers usually will allow you to spare some budget to be customized and provide the best service possible to your customers.
And fortunately, they are very easy to customize and they offer a broad variety of personalization options to tailor to your items and business!
For example, our Co-Ex Filbags, which are the ideal solution for e-commerce shipping, can be customized to better their handling, but also to improve their aesthetic. Among other things, you can decide to add bottom gussets or handles to it, choose its color and size, and even customize it with a high-quality overprint!
If you want to ship fashion items in the most economical way, we strongly recommend you to opt for plastic shipping mailers instead of cardboard boxes.
Shipping and mailers combine many advantages: they are lightweight and flexible, which allows you to make savings in the warehouse and during shipping; they allow you to customize them at a low price, which is crucial for your fashion e-commerce brand; but most importantly, they enable you to lower your impact on the environment in a cost-effective way.