How to package bottles for shipment
Wine, champagne and beer bottles can be challenging to pack and a real nightmare to transport – the sound of clanking bottles in transit is rarely a good sign!
Recent figures from the IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) demonstrate a strong performance of the beer and spirit market this year with an impressive growth of 16.3% to date. This is a significant improvement on the 1% recorded in 2016. *
The UK alcohol industry is estimated to be worth £39.9bn in sales, with 53% coming from wine and spirit sales alone. In fact, Britain is second largest trader of wine and sixth largest wine market in the world! **
These great statistics may put extra pressures on spirit retailers to ensure their products reach customers intact – product damage is not only costly, it can also undermine your brand reputation and annoy your customers.
Alcohol is typically sent out in polystyrene bottle packs, which can be bulky to store and, more importantly, don’t offer sufficient product protection in transit.
Luckily, there are some great alternatives on the market such as Airsac inflatable bags designed specifically for shipping breakables.
These padded protective bags can accommodate single, double, triple, 6 and 12 bottles in a pack, and can be easily deflated after use, making it simple for your customers to dispose of. They are supplied flat for optimised storage and are easy to inflate either by hand or compressor, ensuring your products are despatch quickly.
Not only will you benefit from increased storage space, you will also experience reduced damage and returns and improved operational efficiencies. (One Airsac customer has reduced product damage and returns to an impressive 1% ***). In short, there are some great cost-saving opportunities for your business!
If you need help shipping your bottles, contact Macfarlane Packaging today: www.macfarlanepackaging.com
References
* IMRG sector comparison – BWS continues to perform strongly in July 2017: http://bit.ly/2iNQimZ
** WSTA Market Overview, 2016: http://www.wsta.co.uk/images/Research/Market-Reports/2016MarketOverview.pdf
*** One Vision Case Study: https://macfarlanepackaging.com/case-studies/one-vision-imaging/