Many peer-to-peer groups are starting to rise up, with many of them changing the scope of packaging. Overall, these types of gig delivery models are starting to fill our world today.

For example, sellers on the marketplace, selling items either in bulk or with a specific niche to customers, is becoming popular.

There’s also some companies that are offering shared fleets, where they will take these different sellers, put the packaging all on a truck, and from there, just ship it to the customers. 

There’s also flexible warehousing, where warehousing options are built for all sorts of packaging, and can scale with the current state of the business. 

All of these are working together, and in turn, you need to make sure that your shipping supplies do the same.

Here, we will go over how shipping supplies for the shared economy are changing the scope, and what it means for you as a business. 

New Supplies that are Tamper-Evident and Self-Explanatory 

These days, a lot of these brands need to have it so that nobody touches the box twice. It goes from the seller, via the fleet, all the way to the customer. This track record means that you need to have supplies that are tamper-evident, meaning that they cannot be tampered with or will show if there is tampering. This is important, because you may not know who is sending the box otherwise.

Another thing is making it self-explanatory. People don’t want to have to ask questions and delay the shipping. It says what it is, is used, and then shipped out.

Speed and efficiency is the name of the game. 

What’s Made for This 

You want to make sure that the shipping supplies are made for this, but also your handling conditions.

Making sure that they’re durable and strong is a good place to begin.

Ride shares are one example. Having packaging that can withstand being thrown in cars and shipped to customers is a good place to start.

The other one is bikes. Lots of companies will ride bikes, and this of course, is a form of transportation of such shipping supplies. Having good, sturdy materials that are small enough to fit on a bike is imperative.

Finally, cargo lockers. These are lockers where a lot of sellers may put their stuff, to be picked up later.   When it’s delivered, lots of customers may also stop at a locker. Ensuring that it’s snug, secure, and can withstand extreme heat, humidity, and cold, is important as well. 

How to Improve Accountability with Distributed Delivery 

With these shipping supplies, you have to improve accountability. What that means is, if you’re not able to show who delivered it, and also who handled it, then that will be a problem. A customer might ask, and if you cannot say who it is and handle accordingly, that reflects on the business. 

Labels are one example, because they help with tracking where it’s going, and the exact address. A built in GPS or tracking route is another one, because it can show the brand and the customer where the item is going.

Finally, if you have the money, you should also consider app integration via a QR or barcode scanning.   This works because customers can check on the app, to see where it went. 

Again, this might not be as feasible if you do not have the funds, so look at your current budget. 

All of these work well, and give you something to work with, especially if you’re looking to start in the realm of the shared shipping economy world.