Large Cardboard boxes – When Is Large Small?

Now how many times did you order a key-chain on the internet which came in a TV-size box? Did you ever wonder how in the world companies could justify shipping such small items in huge boxes? I did, many times... To really explore this conundrum and properly answer the question would mean to engage in a serious analytical calculation including the cost of shipping and packaging material, volume and customer loyalty programs at vendors versus likelihood of customers to order smaller-size items at such and such prices. Or to keep it simple – the more cardboard boxes a company orders, the the deeper the discount and they have to deal with the process less often.

In addition, stocking and restocking processes for large and busy environments could involve more than one party. An example can be a large manufacturing company – when a department runs low on supplies of a certain item, they would place a requisitioning request with their purchasing and engage some internal work-flow. Hopefully the purchasing people will have the item in stock. If the department head orders too late or the purchasing people do not have what is needed – they will check the customer order one more time. Is it worth making them wait until they get the proper supplies or would it make more sense to make a customer happy and not take chances. It has been my impression that they would rather ship and deal with the fact that their shipping cost went up and forget about that one order.

All-in-all, the above is the better case scenario. While it would seem somewhat unusual to ship a replacement TV remote controller in a 17-inch computer-monitor-screen box – this is still acceptable and under certain circumstances (such as saving customer frustration etc.), it would have some business sense too. The other way, where an online retailer, for example, has to ship a large item which they do not have a box for (strong or large enough), is a lot worse. Choosing a smaller box or one of inappropriate type might damage the shipment and cause delays or filing insurance claims, replacements etc.

I remember once receiving a table-size box which contained a computer case – no display. Upon opening it, the larger cardboard box was only a protective case wedged firmly with packaging material against a smaller box with the actual computer inside. The PC tower then flew all the way to Europe and made it to the destination safe and sound. A large cardboard box proved small trouble to the manufacturer – all they had to deal with was the extra cost.