In a post-pandemic world, the message is clear: consumers love convenience. Ordering alcohol online to be delivered straight to your doorstep has proven to be popular with a wide variety of customers. This offering can create an enjoyable, stress-free experience for consumers but can be difficult and complex for companies looking to fulfill these orders.
At Coasters, we take the stress out of selling alcohol online with our seamless, integrative platform that allows you to easily add spirits, wine, beer to your eCommerce shop. As masters of shipping alcohol and want to share with you the best practices for shipping wine, liquor, and cans.
In general, shipping glass bottles and cans full of liquid is a challenge due to their weight and delicate nature. You need specialized packaging materials to ensure that products arrive undamaged to the customer and ready to enjoy. With these specifications in mind, let’s break down the best options for shipping wine bottles, liquor bottles and cans.
Shipping Wine Bottles
Wine has been shipped through carriers for a while and the process is straightforward. You want to make sure to include enough material so that the bottles do not move around and get damaged throughout the shipping process.
All wine packaging consists of a box and molded pulp trays. Wine shipments are sent in increments of 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12 bottles, with special boxes and inserts for each type. The molded pulp tray ensures that the bottle is protected from all angles and fits perfectly in the box with no room for movement. The box is included as an additional layer of protection against the normal handling and movement that packages go through.
Shipping Liquor Bottles
Although not as straightforward as wine shipping, with a little thoughtfulness it can be easy to ship these products as well.
If the liquor bottles that you’re shipping are similar in size to standard wine bottles, they should be shipped in pulp shippers like the ones mentioned above. However, with today’s current trends in alcohol packaging, we know that liquor bottles can come in all different shapes and sizes. From a classic square Jack Daniels bottle to a rounded Woodford Reserve bottle, there are so many different types of bottles even within liquor categories.
If the liquor bottles you are shipping are not shaped like standard wine bottles and don’t easily fit into the pulp shippers, it’s best not to use them as it can result in serious damage for your bottles. Improperly fitting inserts only leads to broken bottles and a negative customer experience.
We’ve spent a lot of time testing out different shipping materials and methods to meet this challenge. Our solution to this problem is to use airbags that fit perfectly around the bottles to provide protection against the handling process. We were able to reduce our breakage to virtually zero with these packaging improvements, allowing for the best customer experience.
Shipping Canned Beverages
Cans have only grown in popularity thanks to canned wine, non-alcoholic beers, and other ‘ready-to-drink’ beverage options. The growth in this segment has tasked us with developing packaging that would provide adequate protection for the handling process and make it easy for our teams to ship.
The canned beverage shipments we typically see come in 8,16, and 24-pack quantities. Our team of packaging engineers has designed a special box to maximize packing efficiency and protection while reducing waste. Customers don’t like to see dented cans and we don’t want to waste bubble wrap.
With the right packaging, shipping alcoholic beverages like wine, liquor and canned drinks can be easy and efficient. Choosing the right protection for your products ensures that they arrive without dents or damage, ready to be enjoyed. Customers are thrilled to have a convenient option for ordering alcohol online and our clients are enthusiastic about the seamless service we provide at Coasters to facilitate this transaction. That’s something to toast about!