How to measure packaging marketing return on investment for parcels

What to take away

If you post 2,000 parcels a month from a unit in Leeds, your packaging marketing return on investment is the extra profit those parcels earn.

Inserts, tissue and packing minutes all come out of it, so the return is rarely obvious from a single month's sales figures.

Set your baseline first

You cannot judge a change without knowing what normal looks like. Pull 90 days of orders and record two figures: average order value, and the share of customers who order again within 60 days.

A plain spreadsheet is enough, as long as the reference stays fixed.

Price every element you add

Most teams undercount because they only price the print. Add packing time, any postage rise from a heavier parcel, and the cost of the landing page behind a QR code.

For example, a team paying £400 a month for print might find packing adds 20 seconds per parcel at £12 an hour. Across 2,000 parcels that is about £133 a month in labour, an illustrative figure rather than a market rate.

Our packaging marketing cost guide in England lists the line items worth collecting before you compare suppliers, which makes the next quote easier to read.

Hourly rates move. Check the Office for National Statistics employment and earnings data when you set your labour figure rather than reusing last year's number.

Forecast demand before you commit

Print runs reward volume and punish guessing. If you order 20,000 inserts and then ship 6,000 parcels, the unit price was never the real cost.

Look at your own despatch history first, then at seasonal patterns. Forecasts built on past demand beat a supplier's minimum order quantity as a planning tool.

Predictive methods can help: BSI's insights on predictive analytics explain how demand forecasting is applied to print volumes.

Run the test so the result means something

Split your parcels into two groups: the test group gets the new pack, the control group keeps the current one. Keep the split random and give it enough volume to survive a quiet week.

Run it across one full reorder cycle, not a fortnight. A fortnight measures first orders only, which is the least interesting part of the picture.

If budget lines are still contested, the packaging marketing costs and budget guide for England explains how to ring-fence test spending so it does not disappear into general overheads.

Pick one measurable action

Choose a single call to action per test: a QR code to a reorder page, a code for money off, or a request for a review. Two actions in one parcel make the result unreadable.

Decide what a win looks like

Write the pass mark before the test starts. For example, a test parcel costs 35p more and lifts repeat orders by two percentage points. On an average order value of £45, that is about 90p back per parcel, which clears the cost. These figures are illustrative.

Check the claims you print

Words on a box are advertising. The Committee of Advertising Practice's non-broadcast advertising code covers claims made on packaging and in related marketing, and it applies across the UK. Recyclable, compostable and plastic-free claims all sit inside it.

Keep evidence for anything you print. A supplier certificate is easier to produce before a complaint than after one.

Glossary

Common questions

How long before a packaging change pays back?

For most small English brands, one reorder cycle. Judge the test at eight weeks if that is when customers typically reorder. Anything faster measures novelty.

Do I need a control group if my volumes are small?

Yes, even a rough one. Splitting 500 parcels into two groups of 250 still beats comparing one month with the next.

What counts as a fair return?

There is no universal figure. Set the pass mark against your own gross margin and added cost per parcel.