Think back to the last time you picked up a product in a store. Maybe it was a box of pasta, maybe a bottle of shampoo. You probably gave no more thought to the packaging than to simply open it, use it, and toss it. But behind that everyday moment is an entire system that suppliers wrestle with every day.
Packaging isn’t just “the box.” It’s what keeps products from leaking all over a truck, what helps warehouse staff stock shelves faster, and what makes a shopper pause long enough to actually grab something off the aisle. For suppliers, it’s both a cost and a chance to get it right—or to get fined when it goes wrong.
In this section, we will discuss the three layers suppliers deal with most often: primary packaging, secondary packaging, and shipping (also referred to as tertiary) packaging.
They all serve distinct purposes, and every one is essential for moving your product through retail successfully.
The Different Types of Packaging
What is Primary Packaging?
Primary packaging is the closest layer to the product—the can, the bottle, the wrapper, etc. It’s the part a customer actually sees and touches, so it ultimately works double duty. On one hand, it protects the product. On the other, it communicates the brand’s identity.
With that being said, primary packaging has four main purposes:
Protection: Keeping the product sealed and safe from leaking or contamination.
Marketing: Attracts customers with visual appeal and branding.
Preservation: Makes sure that the product remains fresh or functional until it reaches the consumer.
What is Secondary Packaging?
Secondary packaging is the layer that groups multiple primary packages together—cases, trays, or shrink-wrapped bundles. A shopper may never notice it, but retailers, warehouse staff, and store associates depend on it to move products smoothly from truck to shelf.
Secondary packaging is responsible for:
Containment: Consolidates products into manageable groups that are easier to handle.
Compliance: Meets retailer requirements for case weight, barcode placement, and shelf ready design, otherwise known as shelf ready packaging (SRP).
Efficiency: Reduces stocking and replenishment time by taking less time as it is easier to get products on the shelf.
Sustainability: Being intelligently designed to reduce void space, reduce plastic, and use recyclable materials.
What is Shipping (Tertiary) Packaging?
Finally, we get to the outer layer: shipping packaging. In packaging science, this is called tertiary packaging, but in retail, you’ll almost always hear it described as “shipping.” It is the outermost layer that consolidates everything for logistics. It includes pallets, stretch wrap, master cartons, corner boards, sometimes reuseable crates, and more.
Protection: Prevents cartons from collapsing, shifting, or being damaged during a long haul shipment.
Standardization: Retailers may require their suppliers to comply with specific pallet and packaging standards so that their shipments are consistent across their entire network. These parameters may include pallet size, weight limits, and labeling—which help ensure that every truck can be loaded and unloaded efficiently.
Stability: Pallets, as well as appropriate stretch wrap, corner supports, and height limits, keep loads stable and secure during transport and storage.
Logistics Efficiency: Maximizes cube utilization in trucks and containers, cutting transportation costs, and reducing waste.
Why Packaging Matters
The shampoo bottle provides a useful example. If the cap seal on the primary packaging isn’t tight enough, you could end up with leaks before it even leaves the truck. If the corrugated case holding those bottles (i.e., the secondary packaging) uses weak materials, it may collapse under weight in the distribution center. And if the pallet configuration (i.e., the tertiary packaging) isn’t wrapped or stacked correctly, the entire load can shift in transit. No matter the scenario, the outcome is always the same: deductions, damaged product, and unhappy retailers.
Conversely, when each layer of packaging does its job, products can flow smoothly through the supply chain. This means compliance with the retailer, low costs, and the customer ends up with a product that looks good and works as intended.
Retailer Compliance vs Brand Experience
With 70% of consumers buying products based off packaging alone, finding the balance between retailer compliance and brand experience is where packaging gets a little bit tricky. Retailers prioritize logistics, looking at stackability, scannability, and pallet efficiency whereas brands prioritize storytelling, looking at shapes, finishes, colors and moment of "magic" when a shopper picks up the product.
In some instances, those priorities actually align and are mutually beneficial to both parties; however, in other instances, they may be relative and are not mutually beneficial at all. For instance, while a perfume bottle shaped like a rose is obviously beautiful, it wastes carton space and drives up freight costs. The winners are the suppliers who engineer for both. They involve packaging engineers early, test against retailer compliance standards, and still leave room for brand flair.
