Whether you’re a successful business or an individual, if you’re sending something that can be easily broken or damaged, you need to take extra care.
This is essential as so much of the delivery process is out of your hands, once the items leave your building you’re entrusting it to others to ensure it gets where you need it to go, in one piece.
Fortunately, this is possible; you simply need to take the right steps when preparing your fragile item for shipping:
The Container
The first thing you need is a box to ship your item in. Ideally, the box should be as close as possible to the size of the item you’re sending.
Take a look at cell phone companies, their boxes are specifically designed to hold the phone and the cables separately. The less room spare in your box the less likely it is that your item can move during transit and get damaged.
Packing Material
Now that you have a box, wrap your item in padding, bubble wrap is a good option. Then, carefully slide it into the box and fill the space around the box with whatever packaging material you have available.
Make sure there are no spaces in the box, this means your item can’t move, reducing the risk of damage.
Tape It Up!
After adding any necessary paperwork, close the lid of your box and tape it in an H shape. This means taping over all the seams, reducing the risk of accidental opening and strengthening the box at the same time.
Add Indicators
When you add your address labels consider adding an impact indicator. This is a simple sticker that goes on the box with a dot in the middle. The sticker registers changes in temperature, or whether the box has been bashed, or even dropped.
The exact criteria are set according to which sticker you purchase.
If the dot in the middle changes color to red it means that the package has been subject to an impact or another issue that it shouldn’t have been.
Your customer can reject the parcel and the courier will need to take responsibility.
The great thing about impact indicators is that they are prominent on the box, every person handling your package is aware that it is there, encouraging them to look after your package more carefully.
The Delivery Firm
The final piece of the puzzle is the delivery company you use. It can be hard to find one that offers a good price and will look after your parcel.
The best thing to do is to ask friends, family, other business, and look at social media sites online.
This will give you honest feedback regarding the company and how well they handle parcels, allowing you to make the right decision. This should be based on the service that gets your parcel to its destination in one piece, not the one that offers the cheapest price.
Your customer and your business reputation will thank you for taking these extra steps.
