Only if you want your customers more engaged in packaging than the product, go for traditional packaging. When we talk about frustration free packaging, it is for both- the consumers and the manufacturers. For consumers, it is easy to unpack. For the manufacturers, FFP is the minimum turnaround time (TAT) for packaging. The video below illustrates how time-consuming it becomes to unpack a "not-so-smartly" packaged product. Plus, there is the packaging material overhead.

Courtesy: Amazon News - YouTube
To make your packaging effortless, you can switch to frustration-free packaging techniques. We tell you why.

9 Benefits of Frustration Free Packaging for Buyers & Sellers

1. The Right Sized Box

If you are packing your item in a large-sized or smaller packaging box, then the product is prone to damage while shipping. The right size of the box helps in reducing the material and time needed for packing the orders. Hence, one can ship more items in a go.

According to Amazon frustration free packaging guidelines, one can use at most 50 mm packaging material around the non-fragile products. This reduces the size of the container box significantly.

To reduce the box size, keeping product safety intact, you can opt the following measures.

• Avoid using packing peanuts and air cushions as fillers

• Use bubble wraps or polystyrene foams for extra protection

• For packaging in scale, you can go for custom boxes
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Plus, choosing the right sized box saves money!

2. No Need for an Additional Shipping Box

Except for the fun gifts, nobody likes a box inside the box and then the actual item. Many e-commerce sellers are collaborating with manufacturers to design packaging, which will not need a container for shipping. For example, DELL is switching to this idea even for shipping the delicate gadgets.

3. Saving Material, Assembly, and Shipping Cost and Still Winning It

When you start by reducing the package size, it will eventually reduce the material required, assembly, and shipping cost.
‍Material - FFP can save the outer packing material, fillers, and tapes. This reduces packaging material cost, especially in scale packaging.
‍Assembly - Smaller the package size, lesser is the efforts and logistics associated.
‍Shipping -The shipping industry considers the dimensional weight of the package to determine the cost. The dimensional weight system accounts both weight and volume of the package to determine the shipping cost. Compact packages have lesser volume and so the dimensional weight. More information about calculating dimensional weight here.

4. Frustration-Free Packaging is Easy-To-Open

Have you ever thought, why e-commerce gained this popularity in such a short time? It is because of the ease of accessibility. Frustration-free packaging for retail adheres to the same idea- the ease and comfort for consumers to unpack the item. Although the packaging is easy to open, it ensures product safety during transit. You will not face the product spill or open package while receiving.  

The salient features of easy-to-open packaging are-

• The packaging avoids blister packs

• Fewer or no filler material like packing peanuts, shredded papers, etc.

• The sealed clamshell is not preferred

• Unless necessary (for example, for packing headphones, data cables, parts of assembly toys, etc), wire-ties are not used.

5. Saves Time for Both Packing and Unpacking

The frustration free packaging favors the right shape of the box for packaging. The preferred shape is the rectangular box with square corners. This makes the packaging easy to stack. Also, the elementary shape of the box does not require expert packaging. It's easy and quick to assemble the parts. Because of the simpler shape, one can stack and move the boxes along the assembly line. This saves a lot of packaging time in mass production. FFP uses lesser gums and tapes. This helps consumers and retailers open the package with ease.

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6. Frustration-Free Packaging Makes the Supply Chain Easy

If your business handles supply chain as well, the frustration free packaging can be helpful in the following ways-

• Reduced package size allows shipping more items in a go.

• The package with no cutouts is simpler to handle.

• Because of the preferred rectangular shape of the packaging, during transit, the packages have a stronger base for support. This packaging ensures even weight distribution and is easy to stack.

7. Less Material Waste in terms of Packaging Fillers

The frustration free packaging requires less packaging material which makes it cheaper. Common fillers used in packaging are packing peanuts, air cushions, shredded and crumpled papers. The consumers hardly reuse any of these fillers, although they are reusable.

The traditional packaging also involves blister packs, and wire-ties to organize the parts. But, this system needs many different packaging materials. Even if these materials are recyclable, there is an overhead to sort them.

8. Additional Benefit: Most Frustration-Free Packaging is Recyclable

That’s true. FFP favors the packaging material which is either recycled or are recyclable.

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9. Frustration-Free Packaging is Sustainable

Yes, the frustration free packaging is frustration-free throughout the lifecycle of the packaging. It ensures the least environmental impact. Here is how-

1. Compact packaging: The FFP requires compact packaging or the right-sized box packaging. This saves the packaging material and carbon footprint associated with manufacturing these materials. Companies like LEGO is able to reduce its packaging size by 14%.

1. Lesser variety of material: You will not find a mix of ten different packaging materials in FFP. This helps in the easy sorting of packaging waste for recycling.
2. Avoiding packing fillers: Although packaging fillers are reusable, hardly people would reuse them. FFP ensures minimum use of fillers, hence reducing the packaging waste.

What are the Basic Packaging Requirements and is FFP Able to Adhere?

Packaging must be simple. If a product is packed in a simple container, it will be both easy to pack and unpack. Well, let’s point out the basic packaging requirements first.

• Durable: The packaging must be durable to sustain the shipping turbulence and storage period.

• Product safety: The packaging should not interact with the products. The item inside the packaging container (corrugated box, mailers, polyethylene packages, etc) should be safe from both- internal and external damages. The packaging shall also be spill-proof so that it does not damage the other packages during transit.

• Cost effective: Not all manufacturers are capable of spending multi-dollars on the packaging. Even the low-cost packaging should ensure durability and product safety.

• Easy to handle and open: As an unspoken rule, the receiver should be able to unpack without other people’s or heavy-tool intervention. Also, convenience to handle the package from the factory to the consumer is also an important consideration.
• Labeling: Labeling is an important parameter of packaging. The packaging should have a printable surface or provision to stick labels. The label contains important information like product instructions, shipping address, recyclability, expiry, etc.

Is frustration free packaging able to adhere to these basic packaging requirements? The answer is yes. The FFP is the simplified and smart process of packaging.

Which Packaging Material can be Used for Frustration-Free Packaging?

The FFP prefers packaging with fewer types of materials. For example, a packaging which contains cardboard, blisters, wire-ties, bubble wrap, and tapes in a single unit cannot be considered a frustration free packaging. There is no rule in particular about the use of packaging materials. For example, one can make blister packaging from both recycled and fresh plastics. The packaging can become frustration-free by using limited material and simple design. Some of the preferred packaging material for FFP are-

• Paperboards

• Paper and laminated envelopes

• Kraft paper (e.g.  corrugated or chipboard)

• Polymers like- PET, HDPE, LDPE, and PP

• Other recyclable and biodegradable material

Folks, Amazon’s frustration free packaging guidelines and certification is a good source for businesses to start with this sustainable packaging solution. You might feel that the benefits of frustration-free packaging converge to reducing human efforts, packaging material, cost, and ultimately the environmental impact. In fact, this is the need of time. With millions of tons of packaging waste contributing to landfill every year, a step towards a sustainable solution is worth appreciation. It all starts with an idea to reduce the packaging material, which leads to the reduction in packaging logistics, shipping, recycling, waste disposal, and hence the overall carbon footprint. And yes, the frustration free packaging is pocket-friendly too.

Looking to explore the most innovative packaging ideas of 2021? We got you!