Why did my Amazon order arrive in a giant box?

Managing shipping operations often requires trade-offs, and right-sized packaging is easy to dismiss

Have you ever opened an e-commerce package that is filled with packing materials for one small item? The box is 5 or 6 times bigger than the item and filled with paper wadding or bubble wrap. Did you wonder why the shipper used such a large box?

Most shipping operations use standard-size boxes—small-medium-large—and if the product doesn’t fit the box, packing materials such as paper wadding, bubble wrap, or Styrofoam peanuts are added. This is not the most efficient way, nor the most sustainable way to ship products. The receiving customer is left with an oversized box and a mound of packing materials which may end up in a landfill.

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