“Handle with care—or pay the price.”
You might be familiar with this warning when you walk through a physical store selling fragile goods. These goods also pose a considerable challenge to the eCommerce sector while delivering breakable goods to customers.
Even with the most secure packing and protective measures, fragile items might break during transit while fulfilling an eCommerce order. According to Packaging Digest, nearly 11% of all items reach distribution centers with some level of case damage. Most inbound goods get damaged on compression during out-of-country shipping, as the lowest tier on a caseload is the most vulnerable, with the second tier being the next most susceptible to damage.
When customers frequently receive damaged goods, your business incurs a direct loss of inventory and profit, and can also tarnish your reputation.
While it may be impossible to completely solve the risk of damage, this blog will inform you about some effective strategies to ship fragile items out of the country with utmost caution.
Know What are Fragile Goods
Items that are vulnerable to breakage and damage fall under the category of fragile goods, such as glassware, electronic devices, antiques, mirrors, etc. You require extra care and special handling to ship out-of-country fragile items. The packaging of these delicate products needs layering for better protection.
Thus, before you think of transporting fragile items internationally, it is important to understand the packaging requirements of your shipment. To do that, you will have to check if you require extra cushioning and will need to stick a special handling label on your fragile goods shipment to protect it during transit.
There are many regulated goods that may ask for other added features in the packaging as well. The nature of your fragile items will help you decide which elements are most required in your packaging.
Guide to Packing and Shipping Fragile Items
Let’s explore what you need to consider to safely ship fragile items abroad.
Select the Right Box
Avoid using excessively spacious boxes that may allow space for products to move around inside the box. The idea is to have concise and true-to-size boxes to ship fragile items. Opting for a slightly bigger box than the item enables you to fill the remaining empty space with dunnage to keep the goods intact.
You may find poly mailers to be a cheaper option to ship fragile items out-of-country, but they’re unsuitable for breakable goods as they’ll squash easily inside poly mailers. Even poly mailers with bubble wrap padding would be insufficient to protect fragile goods from destruction during long shipping journeys.
Use the Perfect Internal Packaging Material
Various packaging materials are available for external and internal packaging to ship fragile items out-of-country. But, finding an appropriate one that fits the fragile product’s nature is a challenge. Here’s some insight into it:
a) External packaging
You may choose from a variety of boxes, flyers, and envelopes to suit your shipment’s external packaging requirements. However, it is advisable to always go for high-quality corrugated boxes for parcels. The double-wall or tri-wall make is best for fragile goods.
Choose a box with appropriate proportions, as underfilled boxes can collapse, and overfilled ones might burst. Also, you must avoid reusing old boxes since they may not have the same rigidity as before. So, using them again will compromise the sturdiness and quality required to protect fragile products.
Moreover, when you pick a manufacturer to source this packaging material, look for a proper stamp that informs you about the strength and construction type of the box. If you have more questions regarding the durability or quality of that box, ask your box supplier for more information.
b) Internal packaging
In cases where your fragile products may lack strong packaging, you will have to wrap them under a lot of dunnage. Use foam to cover these products and solidify the box walls and protect them with corrugated inserts.
There are many commonly used packaging materials, like airbags, bubble wraps, cardboard, and foam pellets/peanuts. However, they have different features, and this list will help you understand which material is ideal for the internal packaging of fragile items:
- Bubble wrap: It is perfect for cushioning, filling the void, and protecting the products. It has two types:
- Small Cell ¼ inch, which is suitable for lightweight items and also offers interleaving with other functions of a bubble wrap.
- Large Cell ½ inch, suitable for medium-weight items and apt for blocking purposes.
- Foam Wrap: This is also good for cushioning, filing void, and protecting fragile items.
- Foam Peanuts/Pellets: This serves great for cushioning, dividing, and filling the void.
- Air Bags: They are excellent for filling a void in internal packaging.
- Crumpled Paper: This material is great for filling the void and protecting.
- Corrugated Inserts: They make an excellent divider and void-filling material, and give ample protection to fragile items.
- Shredded Cardboard: These boxes act as dividers, fill the void, and protect and provide shock absorption in internal packaging.
Employ The Right packing Technique
Once you know the packaging material to use, you must zero in on the right packing technique to ship fragile items out of the country. Take a look at the right approach to safeguard such products during transit:
a) Keep All Available Space Filled
Stuff in some void fillers at the base to fill any gaps within the box. The items can move around from their place due to these gaps, which may damage the product or the box during transit.
Moreover, when using void fillers, you must keep in mind that some materials have a tendency to sink or deflate, which creates empty space in the box. Thus, place void fillers that are capable of bearing the weight of your shipment’s contents.
b) Maintain a 6 cm Distance
The ideal spot for placing your fragile goods is in the middle of the box while maintaining a 6 cm distance from any external walls. Consider this important factor when finalising the size of the box you need for your products.
c) Wrap Individual Items Separately and Place Dividers
You may want to ship multiple products inside a single package. To avoid breakage in such scenarios, pack every item individually and separate it from the other items using corrugated inserts or any other divider materials.
These dividers can help prevent damage due to the clashing of fragile items stacked or piled together during travel. Moreover, loose objects can split during transit, so put them in an inner container within the box to avoid it.
d) Use a Sturdy Second Outer Box
Fragile items need more layering than a normal product. This is possible with the box-in-box packaging method. In this technique, you use a second outer box to give your items extra protection. The precise and ideal measurement of an outer box is 14 cm larger than the inner box, which offers adequate protection.
Put the inner box at the center of the outer box to restrict the goods from moving around. It will also fill the void or remaining space in all the corners of the outer box.
A double-walled box is the most appropriate choice here. However, if you want to use a single-walled box, ensure that it can bear the weight of the items.
e) Stick Special Handling labels
You need spot-on labelling to get your fragile items through international ports hassle-free. With these specific labels on your fragile shipment, you can ensure its appropriate handling, transfer, and storage during international shipping. These are the ways to get this labelling right:
Stick on a “fragile” item label or sticker to alert the carriers that your package needs cautious handling. The shipment will then move smoothly throughout the shipping journey. However, you must add this label on the top of the box to avoid any confusion and for easy reference.
You may also add a “handle with care” label on top of the box to indicate that the items inside are susceptible to breakage. Additionally, paste a sticker with upward arrows that clarify the direction in which the shipment is supposed to be moved, handled, and stored. Make sure you add any special handling label before the courier collection.
4. Obtain Insurance
Cargo insurance is mandatory while shipping any kind of item internationally. Therefore, it is no exception when you want to ship fragile items out-of-country. Insuring your goods is valuable in protecting you against any potential damage or loss of products during transit. You get compensated for the damage or loss with such an insurance policy in place, providing you peace of mind and saving your losses.
5. Hand Over the Shipment to a Reliable Shipping Service
It can be a real challenge to ship fragile items out-of-country, which calls for thorough research into picking a shipping partner. Tie up with a reliable and experienced shipping company. Such efficient shipping firms have proper protocols for carefully handling delicate goods.
Look for shipping firms that have positive reviews from people and a proven track record of delivering fragile items safely. These carriers often provide specialised services like appropriate packaging, insurance options, and real-time tracking systems. All these facilities ensure that your fragile items reach their destinations damage-free.
6. Track The Package in Real Time
It is important to check on your shipment throughout the shipping journey. To do that, you must hire a shipping company that provides you with adept tracking abilities. With constant monitoring, you can know the location of your shipment at any time, which allows you to fix any probable issues immediately.
However, the shipping service may charge you for this facility, and different courier companies can charge you at different prices. So, it is best to enquire before you plunge in.
ShiprocketX: Ensuring Safe and Secure Fulfillment of Fragile Orders
Looking for a reliable partner to ship fragile items out-of-country? You are in the right place! We at ShiprocketX, a product of Shiprocket, have 11+ years of experience in logistics. More than 2.5 lakh Indian sellers trust our brand for their shipping needs.
We handle over 2.2 lakh shipments per day, and ship to almost all countries and territories. You can access transparent door-to-door B2B deliveries by air from India to anywhere for your fragile items, with zero weight restrictions.
Get your hands on our special services like shipment tracking and stay closer to your buyers by informing them with real-time updates using Email and WhatsApp.
Moreover, protect your shipments against any in-transit risks. Claim up to INR 5000 in case of any unfortunate event of damage or loss on the way.
Conclusion
It is not a complicated process to ship fragile items out-of-country as you imagine. If you take the appropriate measures and follow essential steps, you can land your fragile shipments safely to their destinations. However, you must keep tabs on the services that shipping companies offer for international couriers and judge their ability to handle delicate shipments to choose the right logistics partner.
