When you run a business, it only stands to reason that you’re always looking for ways to improve the health of your bottom line. The lower your overhead costs in relation to your profits, the more you can continue to reinvest in the products and services that make your company great. Some ways of doing this are obvious – as with effective advertising – but others don’t get enough credit for being incredibly savvy business moves.
Making the switch to reusable containers is definitely one of these. They’re more than just a better option for the environment. They can save you quite a bit of money, especially over the long term. Let’s take a closer look at how.
- Eliminate Recurring Packaging Costs
If your business is like most, it relies almost solely on disposable shipping and storage containers. Such containers are designed to be used just once before being recycled or thrown away for good. When you run out, you buy more and do the same with those. It’s such a standard part of how you probably handle shipping and receiving that you forgot a long time ago that those materials come alongside recurrent costs you need to cover again and again.
Reusable options like crates, totes, baskets, and more are designed to be reused over and over. You empty one and refill it again. You collect old shipping containers from your clients when you return to deliver new shipments and put them back into circulation. This means you make one investment up front, and that’s it. Reusable containers quickly pay for themselves, and then begin saving you money.
- Save on Fuel Costs
Picture the cargo bay of the average shipping vehicle before it leaves your facility for its destination. The chances are pretty good that “fully loaded” means the space is fully maximized from side to side with space to spare from top to bottom. Now picture what would happen if you could fill that vertical space with merchandise as well. You could send out fewer trucks and save a fortune in fuel costs over time.
Many reusable containment options are designed to be stackable in a way flimsy cardboard boxes just aren’t. This allows you to maximize the vertical space in your delivery vehicles, as well as in your warehouses and storage facilities.
- Protect Merchandise from Damage
Damaged merchandise is always a disappointment. It means money lost on valuable goods that now need to be replaced or reshipped. It can also add up to frustrated, unhappy customers that may decide they can’t count on your company to the extent they wish they could. This is especially the case when it comes to delicate or exceptionally valuable items.
Reusable containers are made to be sturdy, reliable, and incredibly resilient in comparison to other options meant for only one use. This cuts down considerably on damages sustained during the shipping process. Such containers are better choices when it comes to your storage needs as well. Since they’re stackable, they can mean making better use of your existing storage space. Sturdier, stronger containers mean less potential damage sustained as a result of leakage, vermin, or other inconveniences commonly associated with storage facilities.
- Improve Your Reputation
Reputation counts for a lot when you run a business, especially when you run a small or localized business. Every advantage counts when you’re looking to build a brand and cultivate a client base. What better way to convince your customers that your heart is in the right place by doing everything you can to go sustainable?
People associate businesses that care about the environment with time-honored concepts like integrity, kindness, and reliability. A business that can be counted on to put the planet first is considered more likely to care about doing honest business and delivering excellent customer service. This can mean a big upswing when it comes to both incoming business and ongoing customer loyalty. More business means better profits!
- Free Up Employees
Breaking down cardboard boxes and preparing them for recycling takes up a lot of time and manpower that could be better spent elsewhere. Making the switch to reusable containers means employees’ time and energy is used in ways that really matter. Instead of breaking down endless piles of boxes, they can be seeing to customers or tending to business in other ways.
Making better use of the manpower you have can help eliminate the need to hire additional help or outsource tasks that no one ever seems to get to. Explore the possibilities with sustainable packaging today!