Peak season packaging planning starts in autumn, well before Black Friday, because running out of a core box size in late November costs more in lost orders than the box ever did. This checklist walks an online seller or small warehouse through forecasting, stocking and setting up for the busiest weeks of the year. Pack Solution supplies the boxes, bags, labels, tape and protection mentioned here.
It is written for sellers who already know their products. Every number you plan with should come from your own order history.
In This Guide
- Quick Picks: Peak Season Packaging Essentials
- Forecast Peak Season Packaging From Last Year
- Raise Reorder Points Before Black Friday
- Stock Your Core Box and Bag Sizes First
- Labels, Tape and Void Fill
- Set Up an Extra Packing Station
- Write a One-Page Packing Guide for Staff
- Plan Packaging for January Returns
- Peak Season Packaging Checklist
- Getting Peak Season Packaging in Place
- Frequently Asked Questions
Quick Picks: Peak Season Packaging Essentials
These three cover the bulk of most sellers' peak orders: boxes, bags and labels.
Best for core box sizes in volume
Single Wall Cardboard Boxes
Lightweight corrugated boxes for everyday e-commerce orders, supplied flat so peak stock fits on a shelf.
- 15 sizes, 5 x 5 x 5" (127 x 127 x 127mm) to 24 x 18 x 18"
- Includes a 450 x 350 x 160mm Royal Mail Small Parcel Max size
- Minimum 5 per size
From £0.35 ex VAT (£0.42 inc VAT)
Choose sizeView product
Best for clothing and soft goods at volume
Grey Mailing Bags
Opaque self-seal polythene bags that need no tape and add little weight.
- 16 sizes, 4 x 6" (100 x 150mm) to 34 x 42" (850 x 1050mm)
- Water resistant outer
- Packs of 100, 50 or 25 depending on size
From £2.90 ex VAT (£3.48 inc VAT)
Choose sizeView product
Best for printing courier labels all day
Fanfold Thermal Labels 4 x 6"
Direct thermal 4 x 6" labels in a folded stack of 1000, so you reload less often than with small rolls.
- 4 x 6" (101.6 x 152.4mm)
- Stack of 1000 labels
- No ink, toner or ribbon
£12.00 ex VAT (£14.40 inc VAT)
Buy nowView product- Single Wall Cardboard Boxes come in 15 sizes, with a minimum of 5 per size.
- Grey Mailing Bags run from 4 x 6" (100 x 150mm) to 34 x 42" (850 x 1050mm).
- Fanfold Thermal Labels are 4 x 6" (101.6 x 152.4mm), 1000 to a stack.
- Brown Packing Tape comes in packs of 6, from 48mm x 66m to BigTape 48mm x 150m.
- Small Bubble Wrap has 10mm bubbles on 100m rolls, 300mm or 500mm wide.
- Orders placed by 2pm Monday to Friday are dispatched the same working day.
Forecast Peak Season Packaging From Last Year
Start with last year's orders for the same weeks, split by the box or bag each order used, then adjust for this year's growth and product changes.
Pull your order export for the period from mid-November to Christmas last year. Group the orders by week and by packaging size. In most shops a few sizes carry the bulk of orders, and those are the ones to secure first. If you did not record the packaging size, match each product to the box or bag you use for it now.
- Export last year's orders for the peak weeks.
- Count orders per week, and find the busiest single week.
- Assign each order to a box or bag size.
- Add your expected growth for this year as a percentage.
- Adjust for new products and anything you have stopped selling.
- Total each size for the whole period and for the busiest week.
The busiest week figure matters as much as the total. It tells you how much stock needs to be on the shelf at once, and how much packing capacity you need. Our guide to ecommerce packaging by business size has more on matching packaging to order volume.
Raise Reorder Points Before Black Friday
A reorder point set for a normal month leaves you short in peak, so raise each one to cover peak weekly usage plus the time it takes to restock.
A reorder point is the stock level that triggers your next order. Work it out per item as weekly usage at peak multiplied by the weeks it takes to order, receive and put stock away, plus a buffer. Packaging is cheap to hold compared with the cost of a missed dispatch, so set a generous buffer for your core sizes.
| Item | How to count usage | Pack size from stock |
|---|---|---|
| Boxes | One per boxed order, by size | Single Wall Cardboard Boxes, minimum 5 per size |
| Mailing bags | One per bagged order, by size | Grey Mailing Bags, packs of 100, 50 or 25 |
| Shipping labels | One per parcel, plus reprints | Fanfold Thermal Labels, stack of 1000 |
| Packing tape | Rolls used per week at the bench | Brown Packing Tape, packs of 6 rolls |
| Bubble wrap | Rolls used per week on fragile orders | Small Bubble Wrap, 100m rolls |
Check your reorder points weekly through peak. If a size is moving faster than forecast, order straight away instead of waiting for the trigger.
Good to know: orders placed by 2pm Monday to Friday are dispatched the same working day, and Royal Mail Tracked 48 is free on every order with no minimum, usually 2 to 3 working days after dispatch. Pallet orders of 100 or more boxes placed before 1pm can get next-day pallet delivery to the UK mainland. See the shipping policy for the full options.
Stock Your Core Box and Bag Sizes First
Secure the handful of sizes that carry most of your orders before anything else, then add the occasional sizes.
Single Wall Cardboard Boxes come in sizes from 5 x 5 x 5" (127 x 127 x 127mm) to 24 x 18 x 18" (610 x 457 x 457mm), sold individually with a minimum of 5 per size. The 17.7 x 13.7 x 6" (450 x 350 x 160mm) size is listed as Royal Mail Small Parcel Max, which suits sellers who keep parcels within that band. Boxes arrive flat, so peak stock takes up less room than you might expect. The 24 x 18 x 18" size goes on 2-day delivery only, so order it earlier than smaller sizes.
For clothing and soft goods, Grey Mailing Bags are faster to pack than a box. They are opaque grey polythene with a self-seal strip and a water resistant outer. The 10 x 14" to 14 x 21" sizes take folded clothing, and 17 x 24" and above take bulky soft goods. Sizes up to 17 x 24" come in packs of 100.
Christmas gift orders often need a few extra formats, such as Large Letter boxes or small gift-style boxes. The guide to Christmas postal boxes and mailers covers those.
Labels, Tape and Void Fill
Labels, tape and void fill run out quietly because nobody counts them, so give each one its own reorder point like a box size.
Fanfold Thermal Labels are 4 x 6" (101.6 x 152.4mm) direct thermal labels in a folded stack of 1000. A direct thermal printer needs no ink, toner or ribbon. The stack sits behind or under the printer, so you reload less often than with small rolls. Check your printer is a direct thermal model set up for 4 x 6" labels before you order. Count one label per parcel plus a margin for reprints and misprints.
Brown Packing Tape matches brown boxes. The 48mm x 66m roll is the standard. For a busy bench, 48mm x 132m or BigTape 48mm x 150m Low Noise need changing less often, and the low noise rolls help on a shared floor. Proloc 72mm x 66m gives a wider band on bigger cartons.
Best for sealing brown boxes on a busy bench
Brown Packing Tape
Buff polypropylene tape that matches brown cartons, with long and low noise rolls for high volume.
- 48mm x 66m up to BigTape 48mm x 150m Low Noise
- Proloc 72mm x 66m for bigger cartons
- Packs of 6 rolls
From £4.50 ex VAT (£5.40 inc VAT)
Choose sizeView productFor fragile orders, Small Bubble Wrap has 10mm bubbles that hug small and awkward items. It comes on 100m rolls in 300mm and 500mm widths: 300mm for jewellery and small electronics, 500mm for glassware, ceramics and ornaments. If you also use paper for void fill or gift wrap, the guide to brown kraft paper for Christmas wrapping covers kraft rolls.
Best for wrapping fragile orders quickly
Small Bubble Wrap
10mm bubbles on 100m rolls that hug small and awkward items.
- 500mm x 100m or 300mm x 100m
- 10mm bubbles
- Sold per roll
From £9.00 ex VAT (£10.80 inc VAT)
Choose sizeView productSet Up an Extra Packing Station
An extra packing station only helps if it is fully kitted, with its own tools and stock.
Sharing a tape gun or label printer between two people halves the speed of both. Each station needs its own set of the following, laid out in the same order so anyone can step in and work.
- Flat boxes and bags in your core sizes, within arm's reach.
- A tape gun with two spare rolls.
- A label printer, or a shared printer close enough to reach without walking.
- Bubble wrap or void fill on a holder.
- A safety knife, a pen and a bin for offcuts.
- A tray for finished parcels, sorted by carrier.
Pistol Grip Tape Gun Dispensers are sold individually, so you can add one per station. The HPG50B Pacplus and Big Tape 2in1 Core are made for all-day use with 50mm tape. The PG50B is a plain 50mm gun, and the PG75B takes 75mm tape. If you are unsure which gun fits your rolls, ask before you order.
Best for kitting out an extra packing station
Pistol Grip Tape Gun Dispensers
One-handed tape guns with a built-in blade, in four models for 50mm and 75mm tape.
- HPG50B Pacplus and Big Tape 2in1 Core for all-day use
- PG50B for 50mm tape, PG75B for 75mm tape
- Sold individually
From £5.00 ex VAT (£6.00 inc VAT)
Choose sizeView productWrite a One-Page Packing Guide for Staff
A one-page guide lets temporary staff pack to your standard from their first shift without asking at every order.
Keep it to one side of paper and pin a copy at every station. It should cover which box or bag each best seller goes in, how much padding fragile items need, how to seal a box, where the label goes and what to do when an item does not fit. Photos of a correctly packed order help more than long text.
- List your top products with the box or bag size for each.
- Show how fragile items are wrapped and padded.
- Show the tape pattern: an H across the top seams for boxes.
- Mark where the shipping label goes, flat and clear of seams.
- Say who to ask when a product does not fit its usual size.
Walk each new starter through one order before they pack alone, and check the first few parcels they finish.
Plan Packaging for January Returns
Returns and exchanges arrive in January, so keep some packaging back after Christmas.
Exchanges and replacement orders need the same boxes and bags as the original orders. Hold back a share of your core sizes, plus tape and labels, so January replacements can go out the same day. Check returned items and their packaging before you reuse any customer packaging, and replace damaged boxes.
January is also a good time to review the whole season. Note which sizes ran low, which were overstocked and how long restocking actually took. Those notes make next year's forecast far quicker. For buying in larger quantities, see our guide to wholesale packaging supplies.
Peak Season Packaging Checklist
- Export last year's peak orders and group them by packaging size.
- Find your busiest week and your top sizes.
- Raise reorder points for boxes, bags, labels, tape and void fill.
- Order core sizes first, and large boxes earlier than small ones.
- Set up a fully kitted extra packing station.
- Pin a one-page packing guide at every station.
- Check stock levels weekly through peak.
- Check last posting dates with Royal Mail and your couriers.
- Hold back packaging for January returns and exchanges.
- Review the season in January and record what ran short.
Getting Peak Season Packaging in Place
Peak season packaging works when the numbers come from your own order history and the stock is on the shelf before the rush. Start from last year's orders, secure your core sizes, then fill in labels, tape and protection. The boxes, bags and labels collections have every item in this checklist.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I order peak season packaging?
Order your core sizes before your busiest weeks start. Use last year's order numbers to set quantities, and allow for your own receiving and storage time. Boxes and bags arrive flat. Orders placed by 2pm Monday to Friday are dispatched the same working day.
How do I work out how much packaging I need for Black Friday?
Take last year's orders for the same weeks, split them by the box or bag size each order used, and add your expected growth. Then count tape and labels: one 4 x 6" label per parcel, so a Fanfold Thermal Labels stack of 1000 covers 1000 parcels.
What are reorder points and why raise them for peak?
A reorder point is the stock level that tells you to order again. In peak you use stock faster, so the same reorder point leaves you short. Raise it to cover your peak weekly usage plus the time it takes to order, receive and put stock away.
What should an extra packing station have?
Its own flat boxes and bags in your core sizes, a tape gun with spare rolls, a label printer with labels, bubble wrap or void fill, a knife and a bin. Pistol Grip Tape Gun Dispensers are sold individually, so you can add one per station.
Can I get next-day delivery on large packaging orders?
Pallet orders of 100 or more boxes placed before 1pm can get next-day pallet delivery to the UK mainland. The largest box sizes, including the single wall 24 x 18 x 18", go on 2-day delivery only. Smaller orders ship free on Royal Mail Tracked 48.
What packaging do I need for January returns?
Keep back some of your core box and bag sizes, plus tape and labels, for exchanges and replacement orders. Grey Mailing Bags have a self-seal strip and suit most clothing returns and exchanges. Check returned stock before reusing any customer packaging.
