One of the biggest ways that club stores are able to save money, therefore, passing the savings on to their customers, is by having specially designed product packaging and food packaging. How can custom packaging options allow a company to offer discounted prices? When there is less excess packaging material, waste and handling costs cause the price of the product to go down. When the price to the store goes down, they are then able to pass those savings on to the consumer. As a result, club stores have stricter guidelines when it comes to their packaging than most other retail stores.

Each store has their own set of unique rules and requirements that must be met when designing packaging. If your products don’t make the cut, you might have to rethink your packaging so that you can get your products on to club store shelves. A quick summary of Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s packaging requirements are outlined below.

Costco: all packaging for Costco must be durable, and withstand the fast-paced shipping model that Costco runs on. All items are shipped directly from one of their depots to their stores the same day that the products arrive at the depot. Due to this fast pace, all packaging must be durable. If your product or food packing uses trays in any way, the trays must be designed to be practical and beneficial, meaning they will need to factor into the display some way. Costco will ultimately have the final say over the “look and feel” of the packaging, but they do still allow for you to have a significate amount of control over the overall design.

Sam’s Club: one of the biggest requirements that Sam’s Club has for their products, is that every item must be covered by liability insurance. Another big component of packaging for Sam’s Club is that they are focused on sustainable packaging. Similar to that of Costco, Sam’s Club also requires that all packaging be durable and withstand the rigorous shipping process, and work to display the product out on the store’s floor.

BJ’s: similar to that of Costco and Sam’s Club, BJ’s is especially strict on blister and clamshell packaging. It is important to remember that the FDA requires that all packaging and individual units of food be clearly labeled with the products expiration date.

Don’t be worried by the seemingly daunting rules put in place by club stores, you’re afforded more creative leeway that you might think! Here are three tips to help make your products stand out and make it to the shelves!

At Die Vac Plastics we take the guess out of Club Store Packaging, with over 35 years of Experience we can custom design your your Club Store Packaging solution.

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