Every damaged delivery is a lost opportunity. For eCommerce businesses, shipping issues can mean lost revenue, increased costs, and unhappy customers. Preventing damage starts with identifying where the problems begin.
In the world of logistics, shipping damage is more than just an inconvenience; it can lead to financial losses, customer dissatisfaction, and long-term brand damage. Shipping damages are a costly and frustrating issue for businesses of all sizes.
Whether you’re sending goods across town or across the globe, a damaged product can mean more than just a loss in revenue. It can also lead to poor customer experiences, negative reviews, and damaged brand reputation.
The good news? Most shipping damages are preventable. This basic reality presents a significant challenge for retailers: an increase in packages leads to a higher likelihood of issues. Each damaged parcel, lost shipment, or stolen delivery directly impacts their profits. Shipping damages result in financial loss and can impact customer trust. The first step of preventing shipping damages is understanding when and why they occur. This blog outlines the most frequent areas of damage and offers strategies to safeguard shipments effectively.
Shipping Damage: What Causes Packages to Break?
Damage during shipping is a cost that businesses must deal with, even when the business has no fault of their own. Knowing how to avoid these situations can save business owners time and money. Here are the most common shipping damage causes:
- Improper Handling: One of the main causes of damaged shipments is improper handling. After you give your package to the logistics provider, it passes through multiple handlers and transportation methods, increasing the risk of damage. Unfortunately, even packages marked as ‘fragile’ often aren’t handled with extra care. Damage to valuable shipments can result in significant financial and resource losses, so it’s important to use proper packaging inserts and packaging best practices to prevent such issues.
- Not Enough Cushioning Material: Many sellers only include cushioning for fragile items and skip it for other shipments, believing the package won’t be damaged during transit. However, this isn’t the correct approach. While not all packaging materials need cushioning, some do. Providing sufficient padding helps preventing shipping damage caused by excessive empty space or rough handling during shipping. Using simple materials like crinkled paper as a safeguard is a good packaging practice.
- Water and Humidity Damage: Changes in temperature or bad weather along a shipping route can cause damage. Additionally, if a package is left outside a home, unexpected rain may harm the contents. Excessive condensation can also occur in trailers or containers exposed to extreme temperature and humidity shifts, leading to warping, corrosion, or product-ruining mold. To prevent this, consider adding desiccants to shipments passing through varying climates to keep them dry. It may also be necessary to review and strengthen your packaging to ensure adequate protection.
- Infestation Damage: When shipping food items, it’s important to be mindful of infestation, which involves a significant presence of insects or rodents that can damage or contaminate your products, making them unsafe to eat. This issue often occurs during international shipments via large freight ships. To prevent this, ensure packaging best practices with durable materials that prevent breakage and protect the contents from pests.
- Poor Handling: There will be rough handling of your product, including jostled, tossed, stacked, shoved, and moved in unpredictable ways. Before reaching its destination, it travels through a few machines, conveyors, delivery trucks, and people. Even though eCommerce fulfillment teams take care to package their products, incorrect handling can still result in shipping damage.
7 Simple Steps to Keep Your Shipments Safe from Damage
Although not all damage can be prevented, proper planning and execution can significantly reduce most issues. Here are effective strategies for preventing shipping damages:
- Choose the Right Packaging: Packaging serves as the initial safeguard for your items. Select sturdy, high-quality materials appropriate for the item’s weight and delicacy. Follow these packaging best practices: choose new, appropriately sized corrugated boxes; provide 2-3 inches of padding with foam, air pillows, or bubble wrap around the product; double-box fragile or valuable items for extra protection; and ensure the package is snugly packed to prevent movement during shipping.
- Label Packages Correctly: Labels need to be clear, precise, and placed where they can be easily seen. Remember to include labels such as “Fragile,” “This Side Up,” or “Perishable” when needed. Use waterproof ink or protective covers to prevent smudging. Verify the recipient’s address and contact details carefully. Proper labeling helps ensure your package receives the appropriate handling during delivery.
- Train Staff in Packaging Best Methods: If your team is responsible for packing, dedicate time to training them on proper packing techniques for various items. Teach them to select the appropriate box size, determine the necessary padding for fragile products, correctly seal boxes using the H-taping method, and accurately read and apply shipping labels and barcodes. Properly trained employees are less prone to making packaging mistakes that could cause damage to the products.
- Use Reliable Carriers: Not all shipping companies offer the same quality of service. Working with dependable logistics providers can help minimize the chances of mishandling. Seek carriers that have effective tracking systems, demonstrated reliability, specialized services for delicate or bulky items, and insurance coverage. Continually evaluate your shipping partners by considering customer feedback and reports of damages.
- Use Technology for Monitoring: Smart sensors, GPS devices, and tamper-proof packaging are useful for tracking the status and location of delicate shipments. These technologies are particularly beneficial for valuable or temperature-sensitive goods. For instance, temperature monitors for pharmaceuticals or impact sensors for electronics can reveal when and where damage occurred, enabling you to pinpoint and address vulnerabilities in the supply chain.
- Invest in Quality Control: Establish a quality assurance procedure to examine packages prior to shipment. Develop a checklist that includes verifying proper sealing and taping, accurate labeling, adequate cushioning, and ensuring there is no visible damage to the boxes. This helps identify and address potential issues early, preventing costly returns or replacements by catching problems before the packages reach customers
- Collect and Review Data on Shipping Damages: If you’re experiencing issues with shipping damages, document each damaged package thoroughly, noting the type of damage and its cause, and implement measures to prevent similar issues in the future.
Conclusion:
Shipping damage may be a common challenge, but it’s not inevitable. With a proactive approach focused on proper packaging, careful labeling, carrier selection, and staff training, most causes of damage can be dramatically reduced or even eliminated.
Businesses that prioritize preventing shipping damages not only protect their bottom line but also build stronger customer relationships. A little extra effort in packaging and process planning goes a long way in ensuring your products arrive safely and your customers stay happy.
By following the packaging best practices outlined in this article and addressing the primary shipping damage causes, your business can move toward safer, more efficient deliveries with fewer disruptions and better customer experiences.
About XPDEL:
XPDEL is a leading provider of high-tech Fulfillment and Logistics Services, dedicated to helping eCommerce businesses scale. With a future-focused approach, we develop innovative technology to meet evolving customer needs. Our nationwide network of fulfillment centers enables fast, reliable delivery—same day, next day, or within two days. By staying close to your customers, we help you deliver faster and more efficiently.