How Banderolka makes packaging that crosses the ocean and is not afraid of the “Post of Russia”

At the end of 2012, a good Google Nexus 4 came onto the smartphone market, and our customers immediately began to buy it in US stores and order home delivery via the Bandera. But not only they wanted to have such a phone - the employees of the Post of Russia tried to steal them. We stopped shipping, paid insurance and started thinking about how to make a package that dishonest postmen can’t open.



We started sending the following phones to the "safe" of polyurethane foam. The phone was sealed in "bubbles" and a plastic bag, and the space between it and the walls of the box - filled with foam. The problem was solved: this monolithic block could not be opened without making the box unsuitable for further shipment - and, thus, without burning itself and the place of theft.

Now this function is performed by scotch tape, reinforced with fiberglass, which is not easy to open, even with a knife, and security tape, which does not protect against opening, but serves as an indicator that someone opened the box after it was packed in a warehouse.
')

Not all postmen - Pechkin

In this post, Pavel Sobol, CEO of the Parcel Post, will talk about how we learned to make cool packaging.

Why Amazon delivers well in the USA and not so much - in Russia

Creating Bandera five years ago, we tried to approach detail in detail. Our Russian friends first of all asked - will it come?

To check this, I bought several inexpensive goods of various sizes in Amazon (CDs, toys, various small things) and ordered delivery along the route Alaska - San Francisco - Moscow - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

I thought: Amazon is a serious shop. They have one of the best packages in the USA. What happens if you send their boxes on a long journey?

Of the five packages reached one and a half. The two dissolved. One came empty, with an open box. The box with CDs turned out to be whole, but pretty shabby. And one parcel was half opened: either someone stole a part, or the box was damaged and some of the goods fell out.



What's the matter?

Amazon has excellent packaging. But sending to the USA is a fairly simple solution. Parcels go one and a half to two days in normal weather. Handled with them, in general, normal. Therefore, shopping is enough for a simple box with sizing tape in the middle, top and bottom.

In our case, the box travels across Russia for two weeks in some wet carriage and passes through a large number of hands.

When we discovered the problem and began to analyze the US-Russia delivery market, it turned out that the situation was not much better. Many companies saved and used old boxes. For example, Amazon sends them some things in a box, they send in it, slightly reinforcing with scotch tape.

It was necessary to come up with something smarter.

What we came to

As a result, we came to the use of transparent reinforced scotch tape and security tape, which our customers suggested to use. Now she is also in our arsenal.

The next iteration of the packages began to look like this:



1. A box made of cardboard, on which it is written, how much it can stand
2. Scotch tape replaced with glass fiber reinforced tape
3. taped all corners
4. Plastic bag to protect the goods from getting wet
5. Bubbles or foam for depreciation
6. Security tape

After a while, we added special screeds to the package. Previously, we tied the package, now there is a plastic clamp that can not be opened if it is closed.

The main filler is the so-called foam "popcorn":



We walked away from big long bubbles and air bags. Polyfoam does not affect weight fundamentally: a child can easily lift a box full of one meter by one meter. But at the same time, popcorn is well absorbed and protected.

Two years ago we replaced the tape with our own brand tape. It is reinforced with fiberglass filaments. Just so it is impossible to cut, if you open it - you will not re-paste it.

For our own delivery of Qwintry Air, we use a package in which an iPhone can be dropped from the 5th floor and there will be nothing for it, about which we will make a special video. There are special thick bubbles that can not burst, and which are very reliably protected from shock and moisture.



And that's not it. All packages travel across the ocean in a special common box, which opens only before the immediate delivery to the customer - as they say, on the last mile.

How do we pack things

Art can not be called, but a certain skill is present. Two common mistakes that can be avoided:

1. The box is bigger than the thing, and the thing starts to fly around the box.
2. The thing is put so that there is no gap. The bag can be folded into a knot, and the electronics are protected only by the outer walls of the box.

We try to do otherwise.



Take the box. There are either bubbles or popcorn. Then a bag of goods. If there are several bags - soft things outside, solid inside. We fasten them with a coupler so that the packages do not fly apart. Pour filler on top again and close.

If we send things that can be enclosed in each other - for example, sneakers in a suitcase - then we invest.

Pricing

If the client himself decided to send his parcel to Russia, while in Oregon or Delaware, it would cost him more than ours. He would have spent at least $ 15 on such packaging as we use.

We buy packaging materials for tens of thousands of dollars a month to get bulk discounts. And here we try not to make money on the client.



For example: some small parcel, packaging materials for which cost $ 3, costs us at cost price or even minus.

Why can we say that more than 99% of packages arrive successfully

We made reviews on the site with the ability to leave a photo of the received parcel. A review can be written only by a real client who sent the package through the Parcel Post.

For example, if the parcel went through the US mail, then when tracking is noted that the mail was delivered (it is noted not by us, but by the US mail), the button “Write a review” is activated on the site.

You can see the reviews on the map .



We do not moderate reviews and do not write ourselves. We clearly share some promotional items and feedback. Something negative sometimes occurs:



But we are trying to prevent this from happening. Try it yourself to find a negative review, except this. It will not be immediately.

"Yummy" in the boxes, or How to make people nice

Sweet in our boxes appeared immediately. When we were just sending parcels to friends, we already understood that there should be an element of surprise.



Many people buy for family, friends. New things are often a joy, everyone is waiting: “Come on, open already!”. And here, besides the ordered, you find something tasty for yourself or a child.

Tried several options. Started with fruit, all-natural pastilles. In Russia there are none. The second were nut and berry bars. Now, when we opened a warehouse in Delaware, we put marmalades in the parcels. Also natural.



Many customers are already accustomed to sweets and often write about this in reviews.

Egg in a duck, duck in a hare

And finally, another funny story: how we sent the customer a golden ring for the wedding. When we sent this ring, we didn’t have our own delivery yet, we used USPS. The ring was supposed to reach the client through the mail of Russia.

You understand the potential problem.

We did a few things. First, they advised the client to declare the ring as a female accessory. This does not contradict the customs rules, but it does not explicitly state that this is an expensive thing that can be borrowed.

Then we made a special box in which we put a few more items ordered by the client.

They put a T-shirt in women's shoes, and put a foil-wrapped ring in this T-shirt (so that those who were looking at the parcels on the scanner also had no temptation).

We hid it so well that the client himself, having received the package, could not find it and began to write to us urgently. We told where it was hidden and everything ended well.



Thanks for attention. Write in the comments what you would like us to tell in our next post.