Amazon Moving To Frustration-Free Packaging(amazon.com)
amazon.com
Amazon Moving To Frustration-Free Packaging
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200285450
46 comments
It's not just Amazon size it's also mail order shopping. They don't need to display the product so a lot of the presentation related stuff can just be skipped. And they are not concerned about shoplifters so they don't need to protect a tiny USB stick that easily fit's inside a pocket inside a large hard to open box.
Walmart has a similar initiative to reduce packaging from its vendors. This has a couple effects - increases shelf space and reduces waste. Size does have its advantages.
Not only that... Amazon no longer has to expend ANY packing material or effort (material + labor savings) when shipping these items. Slap a label on it and ship 'er out.
I also appreciated Patri Friedman's take on this:
http://distributedrepublic.net/archives/2008/11/03/concentra...
http://distributedrepublic.net/archives/2008/11/03/concentra...
I think this is brilliant on Amazon's part. The frustration factor in opening some items (children's toys, for instance) shouldn't be underestimated.
Not just the frustration factor, but the recycling factor is key too - especially in areas (such as mine) where trash is heavily limited (3 sacks for 2 weeks max) but recycling paper/cardboard is easy.
I think Amazon might have taken some influence from Sennheiser who have been trying out the whole "eco" packaging thing lately: http://is.gd/6dHl : It's worked out well - I believe the eco packaged headphones outsold the regular packaged ones on Amazon.co.uk for quite a while, so it might have helped them go with the idea.
I think Amazon might have taken some influence from Sennheiser who have been trying out the whole "eco" packaging thing lately: http://is.gd/6dHl : It's worked out well - I believe the eco packaged headphones outsold the regular packaged ones on Amazon.co.uk for quite a while, so it might have helped them go with the idea.
How long have they (Sennheiser) been doing this? I bought a pair of CX300's this past summer and they didn't come like that.
I bought mine just over a year ago with the eco packaging. This was in the UK though. Both options were available.
Where is that?
United Kingdom. Our council is quite progressive on the recycling front. Despite the inconvenience at first, I'm in support of it. I think we recycle about 60% of our household waste now. Large families and those with babies get special allowance to have more trash, so it's reasonably fair.
The only downside, and one many are complaining about, is that they alternative trash pickup with recycling pickup, so you have to leave some trash sitting around for 2 weeks.. not pleasant to drag through the house on pickup day.
The only downside, and one many are complaining about, is that they alternative trash pickup with recycling pickup, so you have to leave some trash sitting around for 2 weeks.. not pleasant to drag through the house on pickup day.
The more stuff one composts or puts in a food bin (provided by the council in some places, such as Richmond), the less smelly stuff one has to endure in the bin proper.
Pretty much anywhere in northern California. It's like that where I live in Sonoma County.
Well, if you believe this is really about frustration you've been duped. This will significantly reduce Amazon's costs since things won't have to be boxed separately for warehousing, then again for shipment, not to mention, they won't have to pay for the packing materials.
Still, I'm all for it, mostly because it means less waste. I'd love to see this spread even to stores and such, where you had a display item and then a boring, recyclable package.
Still, I'm all for it, mostly because it means less waste. I'd love to see this spread even to stores and such, where you had a display item and then a boring, recyclable package.
Just because they benefit doesn't mean we don't too. Perhaps if reducing waste created more frustration for the user you could attack Amazon's motives, but it actually helps everyone. There is not a single reason for Amazon not to go forward with this, and I'm sure they're happy it helps their customers even as it helps their bottom line.
This is totally excellent. If nothing else, it'll make kids happier since they will be able to open their own presents.
Lots of kids toys have thick binding, thick clear plastic etc., that is very difficult even for adults to open, and often requires sharp scissors.
Great move, and congratulations to Amazon.
Lots of kids toys have thick binding, thick clear plastic etc., that is very difficult even for adults to open, and often requires sharp scissors.
Great move, and congratulations to Amazon.
it'll make kids happier since they will be able to open their own presents
That makes me smile. Excellent point and better holidays for all.
That makes me smile. Excellent point and better holidays for all.
A lot of these packages are designed to attract customers in stores - something that is not required online.
I hope this one catches on.
I hope this one catches on.
Amazon is one of the companies that took a very unsexy thing (book selling), and is just revolutionizing business processes. Amazon is quite an impressive company.
It will probably also lower the total costs for returned items. You cannot re-ship an item when the plastic packaging has been damaged, even if the item itself has not been touched.
Great idea. It says the manufacturers do the package "out of the assembly line!" That's very clever, I'm sure Amazon is saving on packaging things for shipping.
The "frustration-free packaging" is incidental. The whole point is that Amazon will be saving a lot of money by not shipping empty air around. If you can send the same thing in a smaller package, this means you can fit more packages in a singe shipment to the warehouse, ship more things from a warehose to the distributor, and also send more things in a delivery truck at the end of the delivery process. Everyone saves along the way, meanwhile the customer gets a "furstration free" package, which truthfully, is probably easier to open, incidentally.
I'm sure it's cheaper for the manufacturer to package too. More efficient all around and no reason not to do it if it's already mail order.
[edit: clarification~]
[edit: clarification~]
I guess I'm confused. The video doesn't help:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=1234279011
Why are they trying to pretend that traditional boxes are difficult to open? They aren't. Also, how exactly are they going to protect the product from shipping damage? It seems like packing foam or similar materials can't be used with the new boxes.
Do they not realize that...especially with toys, but lots of things...the packaging is part of the charm? To me, an item in a cardboard box is a factory reject or OEM. A child would likely reject a toy that didn't have the packaging of a store item.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=1234279011
Why are they trying to pretend that traditional boxes are difficult to open? They aren't. Also, how exactly are they going to protect the product from shipping damage? It seems like packing foam or similar materials can't be used with the new boxes.
Do they not realize that...especially with toys, but lots of things...the packaging is part of the charm? To me, an item in a cardboard box is a factory reject or OEM. A child would likely reject a toy that didn't have the packaging of a store item.
To me, an item in a cardboard box is a factory reject or OEM. A child would likely reject a toy that didn't have the packaging of a store item.
And that's an attitude worth changing in order to cut down on the ridiculous amount of packaging many products use (including non-recyclable plastics, etc). If it takes someone as big as Amazon to do it, bravo.
The whole glitzy packaging thing is a reasonably new invention anyway. When I was a kid things tended to come in cardboard boxes (though printed on). Playing with boxes was as fun as the toy often times!
And that's an attitude worth changing in order to cut down on the ridiculous amount of packaging many products use (including non-recyclable plastics, etc). If it takes someone as big as Amazon to do it, bravo.
The whole glitzy packaging thing is a reasonably new invention anyway. When I was a kid things tended to come in cardboard boxes (though printed on). Playing with boxes was as fun as the toy often times!
There's exactly zero chance that store shelves will contain boxes similar to ones that Amazon is using here. Therefore, there will always be two kinds: 1) The displayable kind, and 2) The shipping kind.
Listen: I'm the last person in the whole world who cares what packaging looks like. But the fact is, lots of people do, and these boxes' success will be correspondingly limited.
This whole thread is insane though. They're really doing nothing more than 10,000,000 ebay sellers have been all along. Getting manufacturers to do it is just a way of shifting costs, as Walmart is doing with RFID tags (though the total costs probably go down some, which is good).
Listen: I'm the last person in the whole world who cares what packaging looks like. But the fact is, lots of people do, and these boxes' success will be correspondingly limited.
This whole thread is insane though. They're really doing nothing more than 10,000,000 ebay sellers have been all along. Getting manufacturers to do it is just a way of shifting costs, as Walmart is doing with RFID tags (though the total costs probably go down some, which is good).
There's exactly zero chance that store shelves will contain boxes similar to ones that Amazon is using here. Therefore, there will always be two kinds: 1) The displayable kind, and 2) The shipping kind.
In the short term, sure. But the world changes a lot more than we think, over time. The Walmart shopping experience, as it is today, would be unfathomable to someone from even the 1970s.
Consider the success of "no frills" groceries over the last 10 years (a success that is increasing due to the credit crunch). Many who wouldn't leave their chosen brands for certain products are migrating to cheaper alternatives with incredibly dull packaging. It's a bit of a conceptual jump for toys to be the same, but I suspect it'll happen when we realize how superficial the 90s and 00s "were" (speaking from a, say, 2020s perspective).
In the short term, sure. But the world changes a lot more than we think, over time. The Walmart shopping experience, as it is today, would be unfathomable to someone from even the 1970s.
Consider the success of "no frills" groceries over the last 10 years (a success that is increasing due to the credit crunch). Many who wouldn't leave their chosen brands for certain products are migrating to cheaper alternatives with incredibly dull packaging. It's a bit of a conceptual jump for toys to be the same, but I suspect it'll happen when we realize how superficial the 90s and 00s "were" (speaking from a, say, 2020s perspective).
Every parent on the earth would rather toys just came in a simple box with no screws, ties, plastic requiring a small army of tools and implements to open. Not to mention the fact that the kids can actually play with their toys immediately, rather than waiting ages for the packaging to be dismantled.
This will take off big time hopefully.
This will take off big time hopefully.
Getting manufacturers to do it is just a way of shifting costs
Probably costs less for them too.
Probably costs less for them too.
It is definitely valid to say that packaging helps sell a product. Think about the experience of receiving a product from Apple and you see the value of packaging.
What is so interesting in this case is that it is a sign of how people's tastes are changing. These new, simple Amazon packages have more 'charm', not less. People are excited by the thought that they're being 'green'. The simple cardboard packaging speaks to the current love of simple, clean and even perhaps DIY design. Simple is charming right now, and Amazon must be keenly aware that this is a smart move both for their bottom line as well as their customer satisfaction ratings.
What is so interesting in this case is that it is a sign of how people's tastes are changing. These new, simple Amazon packages have more 'charm', not less. People are excited by the thought that they're being 'green'. The simple cardboard packaging speaks to the current love of simple, clean and even perhaps DIY design. Simple is charming right now, and Amazon must be keenly aware that this is a smart move both for their bottom line as well as their customer satisfaction ratings.
I have 3 kids. It is not charming to open a toy to them.
Here's what happens...
Open outer box -> scissors required for massive plastic bits -> about 20 twisty wire things holding everything in place -> sometimes screws holding more stuff in place.
It's not fun for a kid to watch his parents struggling for ages to open a toy. That's not fun. They don't care about the box, it goes in the bin. Fantastic idea from Amazon, I've been waiting for this for ages.
Open outer box -> scissors required for massive plastic bits -> about 20 twisty wire things holding everything in place -> sometimes screws holding more stuff in place.
It's not fun for a kid to watch his parents struggling for ages to open a toy. That's not fun. They don't care about the box, it goes in the bin. Fantastic idea from Amazon, I've been waiting for this for ages.
They should start by not sending a packet of page markers the size of a credit card in a box large enough to ship a small child in. And i'm pretty sure paper doesn't really need to have fancy air-pillow wrapping filling the box. A shipping envelope would suffice.
First they should just make their boxes suck less. If I could open them without a box cutter, I'd be ecstatic.
I'm not sure what you mean, I get stuff from Amazon all the time and never need a box cutter. Usually they have this folded-but-not-taped-much box thing going on.
supposedly not needing a box cutter to open these new boxes is part of the plan. From their site "It's designed to be opened without the use of a box cutter or knife..."
Right, but that's only for third party stuff that uses Amazon's boxing system. I just want the normal Amazon packages I've been getting for a decade to not suck, since that's near 100% of them now.
just use a key :/ Not really an issue is it?
I'd actually prefer the frustration-full packaging. + If you are gifting in this box, it just screams re-gifting to me.
It might scream re-gifting, but we need to become happy with re-gifting. In the current economic and ecological climate, throwing away unwanted gifts or toys after mild use is ridiculous. If these boxes become popular, it becomes possible to regift without it looking so obvious and that's a good thing.
You say that now, until you buy a USB flash drive or a CD and while opening it you nearly destroy the product or you cut yourself to the point that you bleed prodigiously all over it.
how do you manage to cut yourself when opening a box?
You must not have encountered the hard, welded plastic envelopes in which they typically sell small electronic goods. (where the hell do you live?) They're effectively impossible to open without a very sturdy set of scissors, and even then it's easy to scratch your hand when you get impatient and try to fish out your device.
Ah thats why. I use a box cutter to open my packages. That way nobody gets hurt.
I'd love to receive a gift in this box as any. It is a GIFT! How can you not be happy, unless someone 'gifts' you a yellow-jacket colony?
Someone recently regifted a 32GB flash drive to me. I could not care less that it wasn't in the original packaging.
After a few years these packages will be recognizable as new mail-ordered items to one and all.
From a frustration standpoint - they look easier to wrap. Now a days I can barely wrap a lot of these squirrelly toy packages.
From a frustration standpoint - they look easier to wrap. Now a days I can barely wrap a lot of these squirrelly toy packages.
Congratulations, Amazon. Way to use your size for good.