Preventing Damage to Goods During Shipment – Top Tips

Damaged packages are an all too familiar tale in the packing and transportation industries, and they can present a damaging loss of revenue for any business. To avoid reshipping items free of charge, or issuing a refund, we’ve put together our top tips for preventing damage to your goods during shipment.

Suitable Packaging

It may seem obvious, but it is crucial to package goods in suitable and protective packaging. If you’re shipping fragile items, for example glassware, it is advisable to use protective materials such as bubble wrap. Another important step is to make sure you void fill to ensure there is no movement during transportation.

It is also preferable, where possible, to try to stick to environmentally friendly packaging. With the UK generating around 10 million tonnes of waste a year, the majority of which cannot be recycled, the small step of ensuring at least some of your packaging is recycled could go a long way.

Label Fragile Items

When transporting fragile items, one piece of advice is to adopt damage deterrence methods to alert those who handle the package of the content’s fragility. Displaying warnings of this sort will reduce product damage and therefore reduce a loss of revenue.

On the topic of damage deterrence methods, the ShockWatch range of labels is a cost-effective way to increase visibility of handling requirements of your package, provide accountability for oversight and reduce mishandling.

Transportation

Some couriers may be cheaper than others, but this may be at the expense of reliability. Research various couriers beforehand to get a feel for those with the best reputation, after all, it is to you that customers will come to resolve any issues, not the courier.

Monitor During Shipment

If you are plagued by constant complaints of items damaged during transportation, then monitoring your goods during shipment may well save you money. As the UK’s official ShockWatch distributor, IMC have a wide range of impact, temperature and tilt devices to suit your needs.