Amazon tests retail packaging to reduce cardboard shipping boxes

As part of its plan to ship more goods in their original packaging instead of carboard boxes with its familiar smile logo, e-commerce seller Amazon is testing solutions to protect those items from damage threats like vibration, compression, and drops.

About 11% of Amazon shipments globally now arrive in their original packaging, and the company is working on growing that number, Amazon said in a recent statement. The goal is to reduce or eliminate extra packaging in its operations, both to cut costs and to reduce waste.

In support of that initiative, Amazon researchers at the company’s Packaging Innovation Lab located just outside of Seattle are working with brands and partners to develop custom packaging. Together, they are testing products’ original packaging to determine if it can be delivered safely without an Amazon box or bag in a program known as “Ships in Product Packaging.”

“Selling partners can send products to our lab, approved third-party labs, or in some cases conduct the tests themselves to qualify to ship their products without Amazon packaging. If the product qualifies, it will automatically begin to ship in its own packaging as the default, helping us avoid excess packaging when possible,” the company said.

The company designed its laboratory stress-tests in partnership with the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA), a third-party group dedicated to the development, design, and evaluation of cost-effective and protective transport packaging. “ISTA monitored Amazon’s entire fulfillment network—from transporting a package to a fulfillment center to its final arrival at the customer’s doorstep—to determine the most strain a package can potentially experience during fulfillment and delivery process. Their researchers then worked with our team to develop a series of tests to simulate those conditions,” the company said.

As it identifies successful candidates, Amazon also applies machine learning technology to expand those policies by identifying other items in its store with similar qualities.