Corrugated Plays Pivotal Role in E-Commerce Supply Chain Equation

By Jim Chrzan, VP Content/Brand Strategy, PMMI Media Group

The packaging industry needs to get a clear picture of where the growth is, and the public needs to learn about environmental footprint.

Determining the number of “new” corrugated boxes entering the supply chain is not so easy. In many cases that very same box from the retail shelf is being reassigned to residential delivery.

“It is a popular misconception that if e-commerce is growing 15 to 20 percent a year, corrugated must be growing at the same pace,” says Dennis Colley, President and CEO of the Fibre Box Association.

“The data is complex and it’s difficult to quantify trends. We are working with transportation and delivery companies to get a clearer picture of how many of those packages delivered are in corrugated boxes ,” Colley says.

First, there are other materials being used such as flexible plastic pouches or paper-based envelopes. One of Amazon’s levels is SIOC (ship in its own container) which does not call for any “new” boxes to be sold at all. SIOC does lend itself to theft as contents are advertised as the box sits on the front porch. So now, sometimes an outer opaque wrap of flexible film is applied, but it is essentially the same box that sat on the shelf at the big box store.

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