Tag Archives: costs of shipping

The Best Labels for Your Business 

While labels are something that you may not like, businesses need these to thrive. 

You use labels on the daily, such as: 

  • Product labels on meats at the store 
  • Barcodes on apparel 
  • Mobile order stickers on a cup of coffee ordered from your phone 
  • Wristbands at concerts 
  • Shipping labels for your items that you deliver 

From the packaging labels that you have, to even stickers on clearance, labels are used for propelling the business forward, while also practicing mindfulness, along with sustainability. 

Here, we’ll talk about the different types of labels, and what you should use 

Direct Thermal Vs. Transfer Labels 

Thermal printing is a very easy and quick means to print stuff, with two types. They are known as thermal transfer or direct thermal. 

Direct thermal labels are the easier, lower maintenance ones that are cost effective. This is where the heat gets put on paper that has ink embedded in it to create texts and images. 

This is great because you don’t need toner, ink ribbings, even ink! It’s also better for the environment. They are pressure sensitive, where you apply this either by hand, or by machine, depending on your business. 

Direct thermals are also available in different rolls or folded in fans to create larger amounts, so it saves you money and time. 

While they are lower in cost, there are a few limits to these. 

For one, they’re very easy to scratch compared to other labels. If it’s directly exposed to UV light or higher heat, it also will fade as well. Plus, while the colors are used for direct thermal, it only prints with black ink, so it’s limited in options. They also can’t be used after about 6-8 months, since their effectiveness does fade. 

Thermal labels are the opposite, where you have thermal printing on melted colored wax, or resin. This is used to create thermal ribbon that’s high quality, and you can print both text and images. 

Like direct thermal, thermal transfer is pressure sensitive as well, and it can be used by hand, or by machines. 

They do require a ribbon to print, and you may need to spend more on costs.

But thermal transfers are better, more durable than the others. They can also be printed on other types of media too, such as synthetic polypropylene or paper. They can be waterproof too and are also scratch resistant as well. 

The importance of labels 

Labels are good for a lot of reasons, and we’ll go over them here. 

First, they’re great for conveying information to others in a quick, effective manner.  They can tell people what to do with something, whether it’s a postal worker who receives the package, or a warehouse manager that works directly with customers. 

Hospitals for instance, use these labels on wristbands to scan the information efficiently and quickly. 

Retailers also use these barcodes in order to keep stock of the inventory that they have. 

They also make shipping so much better.  If you’re a store that sends out packages, or a warehouse that constantly has packages, labels are vital for making sure that the shipping process is all the more efficient. 

Thermal transfer types of labels are vital for receiving and shipping, since they can withstand the weather and elements. You can also print out QR and barcodes this way, making scanning much more effective. This is great as well for UPC codes as well, especially if they’re on the label. 

Finally, you need these on everything, so make sure you add them to your packaging now! 

Ways Small businesses can Save Money 

A lot of businesses are struggling because of many challenges they now have, including inflation, and a whole lot more.How can you prevent the rising inflation costs from destroying the business? Here are a few ways for you to do this, and also fight against the ever-rising cost of such.,

Consolidate your Suppliers 

You’re probably spending way too much on the packaging partners. Having someone who can handle all of the aspects that packaging creates will save you a boatload of money. That way, you’re not paying a ton of people to get the job done. It also takes a lot less time, and exposes a lot of great things. 

Process and Audit Packaging 

If you’re having issues with packaging, consider auditing the packaging and the processes to get the best kind there. This includes how the packages get handled with the supply chain, moving faster with a lot less touches, and getting the products to the market much sooner. You may also want to look at places where the packaging might be done off site, or through third-party suppliers that are there improving the efficiency of this. 

A lot of times, doing this as well will help to identify the opportunities to save costs, and a lot of times, this can be revamped to make it a lot better. You also might want to see if there is a LEAN type of operation going on there, helping to make sure that the processes that are used are ideal, and so they’re saving you a boatload of money. 

Redesign the packaging to evaluate this 

You also might want to look at how you’re packaging the products. There are times when you may have packaging that’s too over packaged, which is a fancy name for way too much filler or something else that’s not making it necessary.

You can redesign this, saving you a lot of costs and also reducing the costs of shipping due to eliminating the weight. There is also the possibility of SKU  consolidations, which actually save you some money because you’re not leaving the items all over the floor, preventing it from possibly getting harmed as well.

Sometimes, there are also types of packaging that get run on different equipment, offering a leaner packaging process that’s automated to save on the labor and the materials.  There are definitely benefits to this, especially since labor costs are rising, and if you can, automating the packaging process will save you a ton of money. You should also look at product samples, offering better labor costs, rates for shipping, and lowers the returns that are there too.

Sometimes as well, “tweaking” your product dimensions of some cartons, or even changing the flaps will change the costs that are there, and even eliminate the unnecessary costs that sit there too. 

Review It 

Finally, review the techniques for printing. This is something that a lot of ecommerce brands will realize, especially as they start to make this work. You should look at the printing and cutting and see if there is a way to possibly get digital printing. You also want to make sure that you’re not using too much of this, but instead, you want to make sure that you send them out with the right kind of printing that looks good.

At the end of the day, getting a packaging partner can help with this, and if you’re someone who is struggling to hit the margins with the product packaging, consider these techniques, and use them today to improve your packaging experience as well too