DS Smith predicts Black Friday “comfort buying” to cost £124M in damaged and lost goods

24 Nov 2022 --- The “comfort buying” trend could cost the UK £124 million (US$149 million) this Black Friday season, according to research by DS Smith. “Comfort buys” are purchases consumers make themselves to feel emotionally better and more relaxed in their spaces. 

The report also says “comfort buys” are more likely to be made from fragile materials. DS Smith states these items are twice as likely to break compared to other e-commerce products, resulting in spending £124 million (US$149 million) on damaged goods a year. 

The findings demonstrate the significant financial impact these damaged deliveries have on product producers and the packaging industry. The research also reveals that online shoppers plan to buy more fragile homeware goods over the festive season, including candles, wine and glassware. 

These home-centered items are predicted to boom in sales since 48% of British people say they plan to spend more time at home due to the cost-of-living crisis. 

 “Comfort purchases” for Black Friday revealed as a new trend in e-commerce according to DS Smith.“This Black Friday’s trend for comfort buying shows just how important it is for packaging to withstand the demands of modern shopping so that when people buy fragile things, they’re not left disappointed on delivery, and businesses are not left footing the bill for replacements,” Gavin Mounce, e-commerce design manager at DS Smith tells PackagingInsights.

Fragility frustrations
Thirty-eight percent of consumers say that instead of going out, they will spend on small luxuries rather than more considerable expenses over the holidays. The same percentage of the surveyed received an average of four fragile deliveries that arrived damaged – twice as many as other e-commerce deliveries. 

Last year, shoppers in the UK were expected to spend almost £9.2 billion (US$11 billion) on the weekend due to Black Friday deals – 15% more than in 2020, according to The Guardian. This year the number is anticipated to decline to £3.95 billion (US$4.7 billion), according to research.

Thirty-one percent of consumers who received damaged goods reported annoyance, 29% reported disappointment and 24% reported frustration.

From conducting similar research last year, DS Smith coined the term “Black Friday Frustration,” being consumers’ negative responses to damaged parcels, with more than 43% saying products arriving broken or damaged is the most frustrating consequence of receiving delivery. 

Forty percent of consumers claim they would be hesitant to shop with a retailer again if a product arrived damaged – while 18% said they would never do so again.

DS Smith’s solutionBlack Friday comfort buying trend leads to more breakable items and creates issues for shipping in the packaging industry. 
Mounce tells us that “in order to stay on top of trends and ensure packaging is fit for purpose, [DS Smith] works collaboratively with customers to understand the challenges they face.” 

In this case, the key issue is fragility with comfort purchases, he comments that “we are constantly creating new sustainable products which are in tune with the latest industry trends, whether it be testing a parcel’s durability or sustainability.”

DS Smith warned that faulty and insufficient packaging designs would result in over €1.3 billion (US$1.31 billion) damage during Black Friday sales last year. 

As a means to combat the delicate nature of these “comfort” items, DS Smith has DISCS technology, named after the types of testing it performs – drop, impact, shock, crush and shake. It replicates a product’s journey to ensure packaging is fit for its purpose so that the product is safe while in transit and avoids excess packaging.

“We find that the answer is not in more packaging but in more clever packaging. That’s the innovation our designers are focused on, as well as finding ways to make every item as circular as possible – designing our waste and pollution from the start and keeping materials in use for longer,” concludes Mounce. 

By Sabine Waldeck