The 6 essentials of ISTA ecommerce testing

Global ecommerce sales are forecast to triple between 2014 and 2021. With consumer expectations increasing for seamless ecommerce experiences, the right packaging – its resilience, style and sustainability credentials – is going to be essential for brands who want to maximize the ecommerce opportunity.

With the launch of our new ISTA-certified testing labs and new line of pre-approved ecommerce-ready packaging solutions, Amcor is sharing some of the key points to know as you get ready to make the most of ecommerce.

1. What is ISTA testing and why is it important for ecommerce retailers?

Brands need packaging that is convenient, attractive and more sustainable, while robust enough to get products to consumers without leaking or breaking.

ISTA (International Safe Transit Association) is a non-profit organization which develops testing standards for packaging. The tests simulate the conditions a package will encounter on land, on sea and by air, to determine if it prevents product damage or failure. ISTA testing with Amcor’s ecommerce laboratories helps our customers to address all of these points.

One of the most comprehensive testing standards for ecommerce sales is ISTA 6A, which has been developed by Amazon in partnership with ISTA. Under the Amazon three-tiered Frustration-Free Packaging certification program, packaging can be qualified as Frustration Free Packaging (FFP), Ships in its Own Container (SIOC) and Prep-Free Packaging (PFP). As a requirement of all three certifications, packaging must ensure that the product can move through the Amazon distribution network and arrive to the end customer undamaged.

Amcor is a member of Amazon’s Packaging Support and Supplier Network (APASS) and our labs are ISTA-certified, meaning we can help our customers make sure their packaging meets Amazon’s packaging standards.

2. ISTA testing can help you grow your ecommerce business

ISTA testing helps brands to plan packaging that will adequately protect against shock, vibration, compression and/or atmospheric hazards in the distribution environment. This means that you can reduce or eliminate the need for multiple trial shipments and get new products to market faster while ensuring their survival. It can also strengthen your company's position in claims around product protection and safe delivery, as well as helping you with negotiations for lower freight and cargo insurance rates, due to a lower risk of damage in shipment.

Crucially, it can improve customer satisfaction. Thirty-nine percent of online consumers will not repeat their purchase if they receive a defective package and 41% of retailers believe there is a negative impact to their brand’s image when a shipment is lost, delayed or arrives damaged. The best way to minimize reputational risk from damaged packaging and goods is to ensure that the damage does not happen in the first place.

With our new labs available to test your packaging, as well as pre-approved ecommerce-ready solutions, Amcor is ready to help our customers harness significant online sales growth; particularly in pet food, sauces, ready meals, beauty and personal care, and home cleaning products.

Discover how Amcor’s solutions and services can help you win at ecommerce.

3. Amazon is leading the way with new ISTA standards

As one of the world’s largest online retailers, Amazon is encouraging more robust primary packaging with its ISTA 6 Amazon certification. Developed with ISTA, the certification requires packaging to pass tests that simulate the journey from manufacturer to doorstep to ensure products arrive undamaged and intact.

Amazon has not only developed the tiered certification program but is also beginning to enforce its implementation for FFP and SIOC tiers. The vendor incentive program, active in the U.S. and five European countries, initially provided an early adopter credit of $1.00/unit to aid transition costs if vendors certified packaging by August 1st 2019.

Since then, there’s been an ongoing chargeback of $1.99 per unit for every uncertified package. This indicates how brands are being encouraged to optimize their packaging for the online channel.

Amcor’s new ecommerce-testing laboratories are certified to test packaged products for ISTA 6A and, with other online retailers developing their own requirements, we are also offering a range of other tests.

In China, players across the value chain also started taking actions to overcome the challenges of the booming ecommerce channel. JD.com, China’s largest online retailer and its biggest Internet company by revenue, initiated China Ecommerce and Logistics Packaging Standard Alliance. Amcor, the only packaging company among the founding members, joined forces with leaders in FMCG and online retail to co-create, validate and deploy ecommerce-ready product packaging standards for the booming Chinese ecommerce market.

4. ISTA testing is extremely comprehensive

ISTA testing covers everything from drop tests, vibrations, compression tests and possible leakage (liquids only). The certification is product specific and each format requires a separate test.

Amcor’s ecommerce laboratories in Ghent and Michigan physically test the ecommerce readiness of existing products against the most common ecommerce test protocol – ISTA 6 Amazon – and then proceed to ISTA and/or Amazon certification as needed, as well as testing against other transportation standards as required (e.g. ASTM).

As a result, brands can have confidence that their product will withstand ecommerce logistics. The results will be reduced product damages (breakages/leakages), and with that protection of the brand reputation and potentially improved consumer relationships, as well as tangible savings, such as reduce fees from Amazon (where applicable).

5. The value of ISTA testing is greater than you realize

Ensuring your goods always arrive in perfect condition will differentiate you from many of your competitors, by ensuring your consumers have the on-brand experience you expect.

However, the brand reputational cost is of course only one part. The literal cost of using packaging which risks damage to your product can also be extremely high. Amazon lost $7.2 billion from shipping problems in 2016, while according to PMMI (the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies) replacing a damaged product can cost an ecommerce vendor up to 17 times more than the original cost to ship.

Even when your product arrives safely, there is still the chance that consumers will want to return it to you. Ecommerce return rates are between 20% and 30%, which is more than double the 9% traditional retail return rate. To ensure the safe return of your products it is in your interests to provide packaging which will withstand a return journey.

6. Amcor has a range of ISTA 6A pre-approved packaging available now

For brands that want to move quickly, Amcor offers a range of ecommerce-ready stand up pouches, single lip bags and PET containers, that are available now. All have passed ISTA 6A tests under specific conditions and allow our customers to switch with confidence, knowing that your pack is strong and robust enough to withstand the general damage-producing motions, forces, conditions, and sequences of ecommerce transit.

To find out more about the ways Amcor can help you win with ecommerce, get in touch with one of our ecommerce experts at ecommerce@amcor.com.