Almost two out of three Spaniards (62%) would not care receive your orders online without additional packagingAccording to a recent study commissioned by Amazon. More and more products are being shipped by Amazon without additional packaging to customers in Spain. These include items such as kitchen utensils, diapers, or laundry detergent. Packages without additional packaging weigh less and take up less space in delivery vehicles. This contributes to reduce emissions in deliveries, while generating less material for recycling. Since 2015, Amazon has reduced packaging weight per shipment by an average of 38% and eliminated more than 1.5 million tons of packaging material.
According to the study, among the items that Spaniards agree to receive without additional packaging, simply with a label with the delivery address, are pet food, diapers, toilet paper, household detergents, canned food, garden products and DIY items. The study also reveals that there are items that Spaniards would not so much like to receive without additional packaging, such as hair removal products or condoms. These product categories, as well as high-value items such as laptops, are excluded from the packaging reduction program Amazon.
“Like us, customers really care about reducing packaging. We’ve been doing this for years and we’ve seen significant progress“, said Justine Mahler, Amazon’s director of packaging innovation. “That being said, we are not satisfied with reducing. We want to eliminate packaging entirely”, he added.
“One of the ways we are moving towards this goal is by working with manufacturers to design packaging that can be shipped securely, without the need for us to add paper bags, envelopes or boxes. We have already made great strides, increasing the number of orders we ship without additional packaging to customers in Spain by more than 50% since 2021. We continue working to increase this type of shipments,” explained Mahler.
The damage of packages, the main concern for 54% of Spaniards
Customers who wish to hide the contents of their orders can use a dropdown menu (available for many items certified for shipment without additional packaging) and click on “Hide what’s inside, ship in Amazon packaging«. Products that are selected for shipment without additional packaging have previously passed rigorous drop tests, ensuring that they can reach customers safely in their original packaging. This would reassure more than half of the Spanish participants in the study (54%), who commented that their main concern about deliveries without additional packaging is that the packages will be damaged.
In addition, more than one in three (35%) Spaniards surveyed say that knowing that they will get a refund or replacement in the event of a missing product gives them confidence in receiving orders in this way. In the event of any issues with an Amazon order, customers can always contact customer support to request a replacement or refund. Finally, the study reveals that more than three out of four Spaniards (77%) would entrust the receipt of online orders to their neighbors if they were not at home at the time of delivery.
Amazon works closely with manufacturers like Procter & Gamble to design and test packaging for their products, including brands Pampers, Swiffer, and Ariel, so they can ship without additional packaging. In cases where packaging needs to be added, Amazon uses machine learning algorithms to make intelligent packaging decisions so packaging fits well, uses the least amount of material possible, and protects customer orders. All the paper bags, cardboard envelopes and boxes that Amazon uses in Spain are 100% recyclable.
