Packaging is grouped into three levels: primary packaging touches the product, secondary packaging groups or presents units, and tertiary packaging is what lets you move them, like a master case or a stretch-wrapped pallet. E-commerce adds a layer traditional retail barely needed: the box or mailer each order travels in, on its own, through a parcel carrier's network.
Packaging vs. shipping protection
In Spanish there are two words for this, empaque and embalaje, and Mexican suppliers and documents use both. In English it's all "packaging," but the distinction is still useful:
- Product packaging holds and presents the product. It's what the customer sees on the shelf or when they open the order.
- Protective or transport packaging keeps the product safe while it's stored, handled and shipped. It's the part that takes the hits.
That's how a product can have beautiful packaging and terrible protection, and still arrive broken.
The 3 levels, using an online store as the example
Take a supplement sold in a bottle:
| Level | What it is | In the example | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | Whatever is in direct contact with the product | The bottle, cap and seal | Contain, preserve, inform (label) |
| Secondary | Whatever groups or presents units | The printed carton for the bottle, or a 12-pack | Presentation, protects the primary, makes counting easier |
| Tertiary | Whatever lets you move and ship the load | A 48-bottle master case on a stretch-wrapped pallet; for an online order, the shipping box | Survive handling, stacking and transit |
In e-commerce, the tertiary level splits in two. Inventory arrives at the warehouse in master cases on pallets, the same tertiary packaging as always. But it leaves order by order, in a box or mailer that travels alone, gets stacked with other shippers' parcels and runs through conveyors and scanners. That shipping container is what most decides whether the order arrives intact and how much it costs to send.
Common materials and what each is for
| Material | Best for | Avoid when |
|---|---|---|
| Single-wall corrugated box | Most parcel shipments: light and mid-weight products | Heavy products, or cases stacked many layers high |
| Double-wall corrugated box | Heavy or fragile products, master cases that carry weight on top | Light products: it adds weight and cost for nothing |
| Poly mailer | Apparel, textiles and anything that won't break | Anything fragile or with corners that can puncture it |
| Padded mailer or bubble wrap | Wrapping fragile items, protecting small products from impact | As the only support for a heavy product |
| Paper void fill | Keeping the product from moving and hitting the box walls | Filling a box that was too big to begin with |
| Stretch wrap (the plastic film wound around a pallet) | Holding cases to the pallet so they don't shift in transit | Fixing a badly built load: wrap holds, it doesn't correct |
| Pallet | A base for moving freight with a forklift or pallet jack | Individual parcel shipments |
Pallet dimensions matter more than they seem; see pallet sizes in Mexico. And if the pallet is wood and the load crosses a border, it has to meet phytosanitary requirements and carry the official mark. In Mexico that's set by NOM-144-SEMARNAT-2017, which is based on the international standard ISPM 15.
How to choose your shipping packaging
Three questions settle almost every case:
- How fragile is it? A product that can break needs a rigid box and fill that locks it in place. One that can't (a T-shirt, a pair of socks) ships better in a mailer: lighter and smaller.
- How much air am I paying for? Carriers bill the greater of actual weight and dimensional weight, a weight calculated from the box's measurements. A big box with a light product gets billed as if it weighed much more. The full math is in volumetric weight; the practical rule is to stock three or four box sizes instead of one that "fits everything."
- What happens if it comes back? If your category sees a lot of returns (apparel, footwear), use packaging the customer can reseal without scissors or tape, or a mailer with a second adhesive strip.
Which box and which fill go into each order is decided at the packing station, the last step of pick and pack.
Common mistakes
- One box for everything. That's how you end up paying for air: the small product ships in the big product's box.
- Reusing boxes with old labels. A previous shipping label or barcode that's still visible can be read by the carrier's scanner and send the parcel the wrong way. Crossing it out isn't enough: remove or fully cover every old label.
- Using fill as a patch. If a box needs a lot of fill, the problem is the box size, not the amount of paper.
What about the "packaging type" field in Mexico's Carta Porte?
If you ship within Mexico, you may run into a packaging field on the Carta Porte, the waybill supplement to the electronic invoice (CFDI). The SAT's filling instructions for the Carta Porte 3.1 supplement for road freight include a packaging field filled with a code from the c_TipoEmbalaje catalog, but that field is only recorded when the goods are hazardous materials. What the Carta Porte is and when it's issued is covered in Carta Porte explained.
Frequently asked questions
What are the types of packaging?
Primary (in contact with the product, like a bottle), secondary (groups or presents units, like a printed carton) and tertiary (lets you move the load, like a master case, a stretch-wrapped pallet or an order's shipping box).
Is secondary packaging enough to ship an online order?
Usually not. A printed product carton is designed to look good, not to survive a parcel network. Most orders need an outer shipping box or mailer, unless the product's own box was designed to ship as is.
What packaging does an e-commerce shipment need?
Packaging that protects the product according to how fragile it is and fits its size: a corrugated box with fill for fragile items, a mailer for things that won't break. The closer the box is to the product's size, the less dimensional weight you pay.
In our operation, every order is packed with your brand's materials (boxes, fill and inserts) and ships with the carrier that fits its destination. If you want to review how your orders travel, see our shipping service.