Page 36 - Plastics News December 2020

Packaging and Cosmetics
Cosmetics companies traditionally have relied on in-
person retail sales to attract new customers and
maintain existing clientele. The pandemic, however,
has upended the cosmetics industry, bringing new
challenges as well as a host of opportunities for
companies that are agile and creative enough to take
advantage. One way that cosmetics companies have
appealed to online customers is by providing
increasingly personalized services.
The cosmetics industry is also being transformed by
new trends in pricing and packaging. Smart pricing
strategies, for instance, are helping companies to
maintain an edge in a competitive e-commerce exterior becomes just as much a part of the product
marketplace. Cosmetics companies are part of the as the internal formula."
lucky minority in the global e-commerce landscape, Packman, the brainchild of Indian entrepreneur
in the sense that they have really high margins. This is Gaurav Jalan, is on a mission to protect against a real-
actually a great opportunity in a growing market E- life, everyday threat: plastic packaging. The Indian
commerce companies can maintain a competitively-
company supplies Amazon India, Flipkart, Samsung,
priced yet profitable position in their market to grow
Bosch, and other clients with eco-friendly and
their top-line and bottom-line at the same time. biodegradable packaging products. In its factory in
Similarly, as consumers are becoming more eco- Greater Noida, Packman Packaging manufactures
conscious, cosmetics companies are changing how
paper-based corrugated boxes (paperboards with air
columns) in various shapes and sizes. These are the
familiar, brown cardboard boxes used to package
electronics, shoes, food items, and clothes, etc.
Packman also makes corrugated rolls, bubble rolls,
bubble pouches, courier bags, POD jackets, duct
tapes, ecommerce shipping bags, and more. Besides
selling these directly to customers, it has an
ecommerce store where these products can be
bought. “The material used to make the packaging
comes from recycled paper, food quality paper, and
biodegradable paper. Today, Packman can
manufacture upto one lakh corrugated boxes and
rolls each day and ship to over 300 Indian cities,”
their products are packaged and sold.
Gaurav claims. Packman, registered in Delhi, makes
The use of recycled plastics is a first step for Rs 20 crore turnover annually, and has 105
environmentally-friendly cosmetics packaging. employees.
Alongside this, recyclable packaging is also needed,
A New Complexion
as well as efforts to educate customers how items
The new world of cosmetics e-commerce is just that -
should be disposed of sustainably -- for instance, with
- a global endeavor, no longer limited to customers
clear labelling on bottles and tubes. Reusable
packaging has become another way that cosmetics within a specific country. COVID-19 has accelerated
the need for retailers to strengthen their online
companies can appeal to environmentally-minded
presence and accessibility to global shoppers. The
consumers. Companies can promote a circular
changes the pandemic has brought to the cosmetics
economy by creating packaging that can be reused
industry will likely remain even after COVID-19 is
For example, perfume bottles or makeup tubes can
be cleaned and displayed as decorative ornaments. over, and those companies that can adapt to the new
However, this requires investment into high-quality realities of online cosmetics sales will be those that
can survive and thrive in the future.
and visually-appealing packaging, whereby the
DECEMBER 2020 36 Plastics News