Black Friday puts pressure on every part of fulfilment, and packaging is one that’s easy to overlook. When order volume surges, a packaging setup that works well in normal trade can struggle, leading to increased damage items, returns, and customer support tickets.
Three things tend to cause it: material shortages, rushed packing, and busier courier handling. Understanding how some of the risks happen and what you can prepare help minimise operational challenges before Black Friday begins.
Common Risks of High-Volume Peak Packaging
Material shortages
Standard packaging with brown boxes has shorter lead times compared to custom packaging. Custom-printed mailers, branded tissue paper, and custom tape can take longer prior to the sale.
You may have forecast your packaging needs beforehand, but a major sales volume may potentially exceed it. Running out of bespoke packaging mid-sale is the last thing you want, as it forces warehouse staff to substitute oversized generic boxes without appropriate void fill.
Rushed packing
As order queues build, manual packing speed accelerates. Without clear visual controls, rushed packers may forget protective wrapping on fragile items, use insufficient tape seals, or misplace promotional inserts. For ecommerce brands in high-touch categories, such as cosmetics or premium apparel, this risks degrading unboxing quality.
Increased courier handling
Parcels travel through conveyors and sorting hubs, then get stacked on delivery vehicles. During peak season, networks across Australia are handling more than usual, which leaves less room for careful handling. Packaging that holds up in a quiet week needs to hold up in a busy one too.
How to Prepare Packaging Essentials Before Sales
First, assess your current packaging supplies and forecast what you’ll need to meet the expected demand. To maintain product protection and brand presentation, these are what your fulfillment operations can prepare:
Pre-order your packaging
Material shortages mid-Black Friday can lead to delays and disappointed customers. After forecasting, you can start pre-ordering packaging essentials, such as standard postal boxes, packing tapes and void fill.
Bulk ordering can offer cost savings, and the earlier you order, the more you can avoid longer supply lead times that may come as the peak season closes up. You might not want to have all packing materials in one go. Consider taking advantage of a supplier that can hold your stock and release it in scheduled deliveries to help you save space.
Audit box
Ensure your shipping cartons match the actual weight and density of your product combinations. Ask your supplier for the box’s edge crush test. It can tell you whether a standard single-wall box fails when stacked under heavier parcels. Alternatively, upgrade to double-wall corrugate for heavier, multi-item bundles.
Next, optimise box sizing. Empty space inside a carton lets items shift and leaves the box less able to cope with pressure. It’s also worth identifying which products need specific packaging format. If you’re using more than one box size, ensure each fits the product tightly and use void fill to block internal movement.
A few questions to ask yourself when you’re preparing:
- Is the box easy to assemble?
- Is the box too big or small for any products?
- Does the packaging reflect your brand?
- Does the packaging provide enough protection?
An oversized box can raise courier costs as many carriers charge on volumetric weight. If you opt for custom packaging, make sure you also order the supplies early and size it right. You might want to use a hybrid alternative to cut the lead-time risk. Here is the difference between custom packaging and standard packaging lead time.
Pre-stage packaging materials at workstations
Warehouse efficiency drops when packers must leave their stations to collect supplies. To minimise that, a dedicated working station will shorten their walking time.
Equip every packing desk with its own dispensers for tape, pre-cut protective paper, branded stickers, and shipping labels. For high-moving SKUs and promotional bundles, supply pre-fold cartons during pre-sale shifts, so packers can load, seal, and dispatch orders in seconds.
Establish visual packing SOPs
Temporary or seasonal labour is common during peak periods. However, relying on verbal instructions when you train them leads to inconsistent unboxing standards and higher error rates.
Place clear visual diagrams at eye level illustrating how to fold, wrap, and seal the package. The SOP can also include how you handle fragile items, like bottles, liquids, or structured accessories, to ensure protection remains uniform across staff shifts.
If you’re outsourcing your fulfillment, it might be useful to know how to evaluate your fulfillment partner to ensure they can execute your packaging standards.
Peak shopping events put every layer of an ecommerce supply chain to the test. Packaging can influence many things, including product damages and returns spike after Black Friday, even courier fees and your labour costs.
By auditing packaging strength, organizing packing stations, and enforcing clear visual guidelines before sales go live, you can protect product integrity, helps reduce return rates, and deliver a reliable customer experience at the busiest business period.