Everyone knows that the product is the most important thing. That is abundantly clear.
However, the power of a brand is not solely focused on that, but rather involves a series of factors that give it more authority and recognition over others.
A clear example of this can be seen in one of Adidas’ latest launches.
Its futuristic Ozculent sneaker, designed by Mr. Bailey, includes unique biodegradable packaging developed from fungi that allows the shoe to be preserved for up to 30 years.
What’s my point?
Today’s brands are not simply focused on the product, but rather on a holistic concept in which the sum of the parts is much more important than the individual item.
To get a real picture of what packaging means for the ecommerce industry and the sale of products in general, just look at the graph of the report prepared by the American site Grand View Research on this topic.
You can clearly see there that by 2030 the packaging industry, which has reached the sum of 12.2 billion dollars in 2021, is estimated to triple its turnover.
For that reason, in this article we are going to review the best packaging companies in Spain, with the aim of helping you to give a boost in quality to your ecommerce business and jump on the bandwagon of this new holistic concept of how to sell a product online.
| Sustainability | Delivery | Customer support | Innovation | Experience in the sector | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rajapack | Eco-responsible: Reduces empty space in packages. Reuses and recycles packaging. Uses organic bags. | 24/48h in mainland Spain and 72h to Balearic Islands. | Support Monday to Friday from 8am to 7pm by chat, phone and email. | Personalization for all types of packaging such as tapes, boxes, bags, etc. | Founded in France in 1954. |
| Bolsalea | All their products are manufactured with environmentally friendly materials causing, as they put it, a "Positive Impact". | 24/72h for non-printed stock models and 10-15 working days for printed stock models. Personalization between 30 and 40 days. | Monday to Thursday 8am to 7pm and Friday 8am to 6pm by WhatsApp, Phone. Their portal includes a video call option. | They make custom-made products adapted to the needs of each client. | Founded in 2009. |
| Packhelp | 100% ecological products with FSC certification available. | Delivery in 3 days. | Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm via email, chat or contact form. | In addition to offering product customization, includes proprietary software to manage orders to the company. | |
| Smurfit Kappa | As they clarify in their report, among other points, they have reduced waste to landfill since 2013 by 29.2%. In addition, they have reduced CO2 emissions since 2005 by 41.3% and COD emissions by 38.5%. | The contact method is through a form on its web portal. | It has 4 state-of-the-art facilities where new products are developed and new printing techniques are researched. | Founded in 1934. | |
| Caja de Cartón | They define themselves as an eco-responsible company, working with suppliers with an eco-social conscience. | 3 to 5 working days. | Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm by email, WhatsApp, phone or chat on the web. | Includes a custom and personalized box manufacturing service. | Founded in 1993. |
What are ecommerce packaging companies?
Ecommerce packaging companies are the ones who design and offer a package that gives visibility and security to your product.
Their main mission is to fulfill the objective of avoiding the wear and tear or mistreatment that an item may suffer during its stay in the warehouse or, in other cases, during the transfer to the buyer’s home.
In the ecommerce industry, this point is much more important, since it will be the first contact that the customer will have not only with the product they have purchased, but also with your brand.
Although even today many companies give little importance to this point in the chain of sale of a product, it is important to clarify that a packaging company that does its job well can provide your customers with a superior shopping experience that generates trust and loyalty.
In short, it can convince customers to return to the company again.
In this regard, and taking as a reference this article from the Inprofit portal, the functions of packaging can be divided into two main groups:
The main objective is to provide protection during the journey from the manufacturer to the consumer. In addition, according to the company, the packaging is the only thing that ensures that the product arrives with the quality of origin.
Good packaging can become the only differentiator within a group of similar products. In other words, it should be the best possible way to present your company to the customer.
Selection criteria
Selecting the company that will handle the packaging for your ecommerce business can be a difficult task due to the large number of options you will have at your disposal.
Therefore, I have decided to list and analyze the criteria that I consider fundamental and on which I have relied to develop, below, a list of the best options of packaging companies that are available to you in Spain today.
🌍 Sustainability
Caring for the environment is one of the premises that you should take into account when selecting your packaging company.
Today, technology makes it possible to manufacture each packaging product with biodegradable and recycled materials that do not directly affect the functioning of the ecosystem and that also allow us to contribute to the cleanliness of our planet’s air.
📦 Delivery
The vortex of the online world means that every day the demands with delivery times by end customers are greater and greater.
That is why it is key that the packaging company has a fast delivery service to avoid inconveniences and delays that directly affect your business.
🙍🏻♀️ Customer support
It is normal that in the packaging world there are solutions that are unfamiliar to us but that fit perfectly to a specific type of product.
That is when the added value of customer support becomes a key pillar with the objective of not only satisfying the needs of our ecommerce business, but also those of the end customer.
💡 Innovation
Related to the previous point, innovation is another fundamental aspect when talking about packaging.
Several of the companies mentioned below have a package customization service with which you can establish different work and design guidelines so that the final product is the best for your brand.
⭐ Experience in the sector
Experience and specialization are two unavoidable characteristics in the packaging world.
Each of the companies selected represent and supply nationally and globally recognized brands that give them an additional vote of confidence.
Some of them have almost 100 years of experience in the packaging sector and that is why we consider it essential to mention them as industry leaders.
List of companies
To help you make the right decision and, above all, the one that best suits the needs of your store, here is a list of the top 5 packaging companies for ecommerce in Spain.
Rajapack
Rajapack, a French company belonging to the RAJA Group, has more than 2 million customers in Spain and 15 other European countries in which it operates.
Its range of products is varied and, given its high production capacity, it is perfectly suited to SMEs, the self-employed and even multinationals.
Its Spanish subsidiary is located in Ripollet, Barcelona.
Moreover, its ecommerce packaging range includes everything from the best-selling products for stores, to others aimed at reducing transport costs, protecting merchandise, improving the customer experience or the so-called eco-responsible packaging made from recycled raw materials.
Bolsalea
“The first online store in Spain specialized in paper and fabric bags”.
This is how Bolsalea is described by its creators, Alberto and Marina, two young entrepreneurs who, in 2009, started this venture without knowing all the success they would have more than 10 years later.
Located in Alicante, its main distinguishing feature is that all packaging products, such as cloth and paper bags, bags and sacks, are made with sustainable materials.
That is, recyclable, reusable, biodegradable and compostable products.
In addition, its store has a video call option, which gives the customer a feeling of warmth and confidence different from that offered by other similar companies.
Among the options for ecommerce, the compostable, biodegradable and recyclable envelopes and boxes prepared to facilitate logistics and with the aim of replacing traditional plastic envelopes stand out.
Packhelp
Packhelp is not just a supplier to brands such as Google, H&M, L’OREAL, Wrangler and Uber, but also one of the companies you should pay attention to if you are looking for a distinctive product.
It has more than 30 packaging options for ecommerce, among which the “Full Color” box and the packaging tape made from fully recycled products stand out.
Headquartered in Poland and with offices also in Spain, France and the Netherlands, it has an innovative affiliate program in which you can earn commissions ranging from 35€ to 65€ depending on the number of people you have recommended.
In addition, it offers a series of products that can be customized, which means a leap in quality and an important differential with respect to other competitors in the sector.
Smurfit Kappa
Jefferson Smurfit was a visionary who, in 1938, created Smurfit Kappa in Ireland, the company that would later become one of the world’s packaging powerhouses.
Established in 1998 in Chicago, USA, the company has grown steadily and today has 241 packaging production plants around the world and more than 7 billion tons of recovered paper per year.
It has 26 sites across Spain, including its “Bag-in-Box” plant in Alicante and its forestry plant in Vizcaya.
From the point of view of ecommerce solutions, the company focuses on its success stories, such as the redesign of the box for Adidas or its exclusive eSmart system, in which its experts examine the performance of packaging in 12 different areas of the business.
Caja de Carton
This ecommerce company located in Tarragona is a family business created under three non-negotiable values:
- Service, quality and price.
- Customer satisfaction
- Technical support
One of the differentiating characteristics of the brand is its exclusive technical support, in which they recommend the best product according to the needs of your store.
In addition, it has a free shipping service from 50€ and even with factory pick-up.
As for its packaging for ecommerce, the store has six categories to ensure all possible solutions such as:
- Die-cut boxes.
- Automatic boxes.
- Cardboard boxes with lid.
- Case boxes.
- Packaging material.
- Boxes with adjustable height and size.
Services offered by ecommerce packaging companies
Although each packaging company offers different types of products, it is important to describe some of them so that you can be aware of which one will best match your product or brand style.
Box customization
One of the most interesting services offered by ecommerce packaging companies is product customization.
In other words, adding a representative design of your store that includes the branding with the logo and corresponding colors.
What can you add to the packaging of the box?
With regard to customization, it is interesting to note that some companies add on the product box itself some special features such as a QR code for subscription to the store or a one-time use discount code that expires within 10 days after the package is delivered.
Different types of products
In order to cover the different areas involved in the ecommerce business, packaging companies have different types of products for packaging everything from food, liquids, fashion, toys and jewelry to palletizing large quantities.
Cardboard box: one of the most requested products by stores and available in different dimensions from 12cm to 28cm.
Envelopes: another ecommerce classic and available in different styles such as padded, plastic, cardboard or paper.
Tubes: shipping tubes are another great solution for products such as wine or beverage containers, posters, plans or images in different sizes.
Bags: Bags are another variant available on the market. The most commonly used are those with bubble wrap, anti-static bags or paper bags with handles.
Personalized support
Earlier in this article we briefly touched on the importance of personalized support.
There is no one better than an expert in the sector to provide the best solutions on the market according to the needs of your store and your products.
Trends in ecommerce packaging
2023 will undoubtedly mark a turning point in the world of packaging.
Why?
The trend started during the pandemic of 2020, in which the demands regarding the indiscriminate use of non-recyclable materials precipitated a change of plan for most of the companies in the sector.
That is why many of them have had to adapt their products to the new laws that have come into force, as well as to those that are still pending and are expected to be made official before 2025.
For example, as confirmed by Embalajes Terra, on January 1, 2023 the plastic tax came into force in Spain. This means that “any plastic or plastic product of non-recycled origin or imported into Spain will have a charge of 0.045 euros per kg”.
If current trends continue, this tax will generate a total of more than 700 million euros per year.
Faced with this new landscape, companies like Bolsalea or Rajapack will be one step ahead of others that still have obsolete machinery and products made of plastic or non-biodegradable materials.
Sales in the ecommerce sector continue to grow (11.7% more than in 2021) and the trend is towards responsible environmental management.
For this reason, the packaging industry must take this into account and offer online stores the necessary solutions so that 100% recycled or biodegradable products become commonplace and not an exception to the rule.
Conclusion
So far we have reviewed the importance of packaging and how companies that offer this service for ecommerce operate.
You should be clear about the three fundamental factors about the importance of product packaging, as well as what each of the benefits it will bring to your brand.
We have focused on selection criteria such as sustainability, delivery, innovation and industry expertise.
In addition, with the five examples of packaging companies, we want to give you the green light to choose the one that best suits the needs of your ecommerce business.
Take into account the services offered by each of them and try to be creative to stand out from the competition in an increasingly demanding sector such as ecommerce.
You must understand that just as companies are adapting to this new trend of caring for the planet and the environment through ecological packaging, you will have to do your bit so that your ecommerce can make that leap in quality by offering professional packaging that is adapted to the image of your brand and your product.
2 thoughts on “Top 5 ecommerce packaging companies in Spain”
thank you for the recommendations. do you have a preference por any of the options that you mentioned?
Hi Edward. I can’t pick one in particular, but, in case you want to take it into account when selecting one, customers highly value elaborate packaging, and if it is eco-sustainable, even more so.