Global fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) major P&G has expanded its Eco-Box portfolio to now include more fabric care brands such as Tide Original, Downy, Gain, Tide Purclean, Tide Free & Gentle and Dreft.
The Eco-Box portfolio has been designed for eCommerce. The name Eco-Box is a nod both to eCommerce and the lighter shipping footprint these packages are designed to drive. Products sold online typically need to be packaged with a second or third layer of packagings like cardboard boxing and bubble wrap that’s then discarded by the consumer. To address this, P&G designed the Eco-Box to ship as efficiently as possible on its journey from a manufacturing site to a retailer’s warehouse to a consumer’s front door.
The Eco-Box arrives on a shopper’s doorstep in a sealed, shipping-safe cardboard box. Inside the box is a sealed bag of ultra-compacted liquid fabric care products. To use, a perforated cardboard flap is peeled off to reveal a dosing cup and a no-drip twist tap. To make dosing simpler on flat surfaces, the box includes a pull-out stand to raise the height of the box so the cup fits easily beneath the tap.
The expanded portfolio of Eco-Box products is available to ship directly to consumers, beginning in mid-May. According to P&G, Eco-Box design contains less packaging, 60% less plastic that traditional design; doesn’t require any secondary re-boxing or bubble wrap; is lighter because of its ultra-compacted formula; and takes up less space because of its boxed design, which means more loads of laundry can fit on fewer delivery trucks.
P&G first introduced the Eco-Box design for its Tide brand in November 2018. The Eco-Box design has been well-received and it made it to the finalist list of the 2019 Packaging Innovation Awards.