Transcript created by AI, there may be transcription errors.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Hi, I am Anne Marie Mohan, senior Editor of Packaging World, here with my colleague Matt Reynolds, chief editor of the magazine. So welcome to a quick sneak peek overview of the results of our packaging World Reader Survey on e-commerce trends for 2026. Our editorial staff recently completed the production of Packaging World's 2026 annual Outlook report. It's the second report of its kind, which spans the packaging universe and the subjects we look into include healthcare, packaging, contract packaging, packaging, workforce packaging, automation and robotics, digital transformation in packaging, e-commerce, and D two C packaging and sustainable packaging. The full report is available at the SHORTY link you see on your screen. It's PW Go two slash 9 0 5 2, and all the links to the full report should be available on whatever channel through which you're viewing this video on our website, on LinkedIn, et cetera. Give that link a click to access the full report. But today we want to give a quick taste of some of our results, and that's why I'm here with Matt, who's the brains behind our 2026 e-commerce survey. So Matt, when you step back and look at the full 2026 outlook for e-commerce and D two C packaging, what's the defining theme? What does this year's data tell you about where brands are headed?
Matt Reynolds:
Well, there's nothing really defining or definitive other than there's a lot that it's basically serving a lot of different gods and trying to do so all at once. So it has to be tough to make it through a rough and tumble supply chain all the way to your doorstep. So the packaging has to make sure that the contents remain intact, has to be lean, has to be lightweight for sustainability purposes, has to be sustainable, potentially recyclable, and it has to be flexible. I mean, some of the packaging is going to appear on the shelf in a retail setting, and it's also going to appear at your doorstep when it arrives. So essentially, there are a million different variables that any brand can either dial up or dial down, and sometimes dialing up one variable is to the detriment or at the expense of another variable.
But even so, even through all of these different variables, and one brand might prefer to make its e-commerce presence really about sustainability, maybe that lends to its wider brand appeal. Another one might serve product in glass, which in which case, it requires a lot more protection. But regardless, protection is really the core requirement. So even though the brands are juggling sustainability, cost, consumer experience, unboxing all these things, it all backs up to how robust the package itself is and being able to protects contents. In fact, the data shows packaging is less about one perfect solution, one specific thing, one size fits all, and more about managing all of those different trade-offs. But of the trade-offs, I would say that product protection is packaging's chief role in e-comm and D two C.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Okay. It's interesting because a lot of those factors play into traditional retail packaging. Of course, there are those added features that you have to look for when you are shipping a product. But so many of those, and so many of the trade-offs we talk about with traditional packaging, and you talked about how robustness is still the defining requirement in D two C packaging in 2026. Can you elaborate on that a little bit more?
Matt Reynolds:
Yeah, almost seven. In 10 of our respondents just shy of seven in 10 ranked St sturdiness as a top three attribute, we basically gave them a list of all sorts of different attributes and had them rank the top three. So that would help deliver in sharp relief. What floated to the top? What became the cream of the crop of potential factors of e-commerce and D two C packaging? So 70% is a big number of respondents saying that robustness St. Sturdiness is really the number one attribute parcel shipping we've seen behind the scenes from something leaving a warehouse to a distribution center, being de palletized, palletized again, possibly breaking down kitted into different, there's a million different touches that happen from a lot of different people or robots compared to the more streamlined retail side supply chain. So with every single touch, that's another opportunity for a slip, for a break, for a spill, for something to happen compared to traditional light truck freight, the e-commerce channels and distribution channels and distribution center channels through e-com fulfillment centers, imagine all of the miles and miles of conveyors that are going through these e-comm facilities. These are well-handled products. So damage prevention is being directly tied to profitability and consumer trust has to be the number one, and that's reflected well in our results.
Anne Marie Mohan:
I know I've seen studies that show that if a product arrives damaged, then consumers are much less likely to order from that company again. So I can see how robustness is so far and away the biggest requirement that brand owners have for their e-commerce packaging and D two C packaging. And in second place, we see that sustainability and appearance are now tied. What does that tell us about the balancing act that brands are facing?
Matt Reynolds:
Well, like I said, they've got a lot of different toggle switches, and every time you pull one lever, that means the undoing of another lever. So it really is a balancing act, and it's all about trade-offs. But those three are kind of what used to be a clear one, two, and three robustness, one, sustainability, two appearance, and unboxing kind of somewhat a distant third. Now, sustainability and appearance are roughly tied for number two in priority. I spoke to Brent Lindbergh of F Neo, and he seemed to agree that this tracks with a lot of his experience, that sustainability, well important, might not have the chops that it used to have in terms of being able to recycle or using recycled material if it's not getting the job done, and delighting a consumer who's gone out of his way or her way to order this and expects an boxing experience.
We all seen, there's YouTube channels devoted to people unboxing these beautiful packages. And oftentimes sustainability has to take a backseat for just sheer marketing and consumer delight. And as we said, nothing can come in front of the robustness of a package. So while sustainability remains important, that drop down to a tide for number two. It seems like it was an interesting result of this year's survey alongside aesthetics and unboxing is being rising, rising in terms of importance. So again, it just comes down to brands balancing those three pillars, durability, sustainability, and brand experience and consumer experience with the package.
Anne Marie Mohan:
It's interesting that you mentioned those three properties. I received a package yesterday. I ordered some makeup and it came in a box that clearly was recyclable, mentioned on the box that it was recyclable, but it was packaged very beautifully. So both of those are very important to me, so I will be ordering from them again. Good.
Matt Reynolds:
So that was a differentiator then. And I could imagine aesthetics being a makeup or cosmetics would lend itself to an aesthetic experience, I would think.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Absolutely. The little gift inside didn't hurt either. The package, the
Matt Reynolds:
Extras are always welcome. Yes.
Anne Marie Mohan:
So the report shows that ci o or ships and own container and SIP or ships in product packaging design for CIAC and SIP have risen from 23% to 31%. Why is this gaining traction now?
Matt Reynolds:
Well, to back up ships and own container essentially is an omnichannel play. It's usually used as an omnichannel play to be able to not require over boxing, rather the package itself is shipped in its own container. So what you're getting at at your front porch is what you're opening up to get that package. I think there's some pressures from Amazon, namely, but also all of those third party platforms that are out there to avoid having to over box and essentially ship air because there's not a perfect RSC or a retail slotted case for every single package. Now, there's some great companies out there that do a lot of on demand box sizing, which is, I think there's a lot of promise there. But for most companies that only have their small, medium, large RSC boxes, they essentially become shipping air or shipping a smaller package in a bigger package. So avoiding that is important, but Amazon especially has a lot of channels for brand owners, even smaller to medium-sized brand owners to follow a path towards siac or sip, now they call it ships and product packaging at Amazon to really get to a beautiful package that's also living up to those durability standards. So essentially it's just looking for packaging that ships efficiently without having to over box or add dunnage or increase the chance of breakage due to a smaller pack rattling around in a much wider pack.
Anne Marie Mohan:
I can see how that's a great sustainability strategy and also a great consumer strategy because as a consumer, I really appreciate packaging when I don't have two boxes, have to get rid of them, both just have the one as long as it's not clear what the product is inside because I have it sitting on my front porch. But as a case, I do appreciate that.
Matt Reynolds:
Sure, sure.
Anne Marie Mohan:
So tell us now, brands are split between dedicated eCom packaging, packaging and omnichannel designs. And what does this tell us about packaging strategy evolution?
Matt Reynolds:
So again, just like with what brands are deeming the most important attributes of e-comm packaging, there's no single dominant playbook, and its really package dependent. Some products are really well-suited for having a single package that works great on the shelf, the retail shelf and works just as well as maybe a SIOC. Imagine let's say a detergent like a powder detergent or something like that will work just as well on a shelf. And a nice robust corrugated or heavy board will do the same through the mini touch e-comm channel. Some others are looking to optimize packaging specific for the channel. So they might be making one widget. It could be the, I don't know, the five ounce size hand lotion. But when they're packaging that they put that five ounce hand lotion, that same primary package into a very different secondary package, one that's going to appear on that retail shelf and one that's going to come through the channel.
So it's a matter of optimization, and I'm sure that brand owners have to go through a lot of calculus to see what makes the most sense from an equipment standpoint, because one packaging line can quickly become, two, can quickly become many. And complexity is never anybody's friend when you've got 10 different packages for a single skew, one designed for each channel, but the omnichannel, if you are producing one package for both the retail and the front porch, D two C, that's simplicity as opposed to complexity that might be one packaging line. So the strategy really depends on the fragility of the product and realities of the distribution and how many distribution centers and fulfillment centers and warehouses it's going to be going through. So again, no one single dominant playbook. It's about starting with the package, or excuse me, the product itself and working backwards from there, where it's going to appear. Is it going to be 5% e-comm, 50%, and how much on retail? How large is it on a retail shelf? Can it easily make its way through the many touch e-commerce channel? All variables that brands have to consider, and when they're choosing whether to go with a single omnichannel package for their product versus an optimized package, one for e-comm, one for D two C, and a separate one for retail channels.
Anne Marie Mohan :
Okay. That's very interesting. So when we talk about the biggest execution hurdles for brand owners, and it kind of sounds like we're going back to some of the biggest priorities for brand owners. The biggest hurdles that they've indicated in the report were carriers, damage prevention and sustainability. So why is it so difficult to solve for all three of those at once?
Matt Reynolds:
Well, the biggest one always, and it's not a true package attribute because it's outside of the four walls of a brand owner, and that's carrier complexity, you could probably throw in platform complexity in there. So carriers would be your UPS, FedEx, US Postal Service, any of those DHS is one that has a channel through which you can send your product. And then the platform would be more like an Amazon is a major platform, but also think of dropshippers unique boutique sellers, online sellers, they don't carry any of their own product. Rather, they have you inventory their product and they sell it on their site because they are doing all of the marketing work to get consumers in the door and turn 'em through the door style turnstile just to have your product on their electronic shelf. But what's common to all of those, whether carrier or platform is their completely outside of a brand's direct control.
They're third parties that brands have to manage, and many larger brands have whole teams devoted to managing carrier complexity, to managing platform complexity. Smaller brands don't have that luxury. That might be one person who's got to be able to keep all these balls in the air without any of them dropping. So regardless, carriers and platforms are outside of a brand owner's direct control. What's in their control is the materials that they select. So sustainability being a hurdle and damage prevention, the robustness. So those two are kind of always at attention because it stands to reason and it tends to be true. It's not always true. Tends to be true that the more material you use, the more robust the package is, and the less material you use, the more sustainable a package is. So again, there's those toggle switches. You can move up on the robustness side of things, but that might be to the detriment of using more materials. So really it's about every brand looking back to their product, what they want to sell, where it's going to appear, and what type of package it's going to be in, and then adjusting those toggles to optimize for their specific product and their specific go-to market plan.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Great, great. That's very interesting. I think I said earlier, I feel like there are a lot of challenges that brands face for retail channels that are the same for e-commerce, but there is that extra difficulty of relying on carriers and that can make or break your reputation if you do not provide the packaging that's going to withstand the carrier's handling of that package. So it's a
Matt Reynolds:
Great point, and you basically take the ball down all the way down the field and do everything right, but then you hand the ball off to somebody else to deliver it in the last mile. So you have to be sure you're giving them something that won't be risking brand reputation or won't be delivering your liquid product in a fractured leaker. So brands who sell through the e-commerce channel always have to remember that they are not the ones hand delivering. So an extra layer of robustness and sturdiness has to be added to account for the third parties who are going to be accounting for the last mile.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Great. Well, thank you so much, Matt. That's about all the time we have today for this overview of the e-commerce chapter of the Packaging World Outlook annual report. Remember, the full report is [email protected], so be sure to access that report that has all the chapters of our annual Outlook report. And thank you again for joining.
Matt Reynolds:
Thanks, Anne Marie.
