Retail is the king of the modern business world. Whether you’re operating solely online, or you’re working in a brick-and-mortar shop on mainstreet, there is a ton of money to be made selling goods to consumers. Retail businesses need to ensure their paper bags are sourced from sustainable sources and manufacturing processes.
However, there’s a little detail that often gets pushed to the side. Making sure you can supply your customers with a way to get those goods home.
In the modern world, as people have shifted to a more eco-friendly approach to life, it’s not enough to just get the cheapest plastic bags possible and stash them at the checkout counter. It’s far more appreciated when companies leverage eco-friendly options such as paper bags.
Sourcing those at an affordable rate that prevents you from passing extra costs onto customers can seem difficult, though.
Here are a few tips to help you source paper bags cost-effectively and in an environmentally friendly manner.
1: Buy Large Numbers in Wholesale Agreements
You probably already know that wholesale purchasing is cheaper per unit than buying things individually. However, “wholesale” is a broad term. Some companies let you buy small amounts as “wholesale” purchases. A limit as low as 100 paper bags might even be part of a wholesale package. Those are meant for consumers.
To really enjoy savings, you need to make a larger investment up front and purchase thousands, if not tens of thousands, of paper bags at once. You’ll get even better deals, and you’ll be stocked up for far longer.
2: Get the Right Supplier
The supplier you use is key. Wholesale paper bags do tend to all fall into the same general price range, but even a difference of a fraction of a cent adds up when you’re buying tens of thousands of units.
You want a supplier that offers a lower price than average WITHOUT sacrificing quality. Even if you can get remarkably low prices, it doesn’t mean much if the bags disappoint your customers and simply don’t work.
3: Ensure the Bags are Eco-Friendly
Not all paper bags are actually eco-friendly. This is the problem that initially led to the mass switch to plastic bags. Some paper bags are manufactured in a way that directly contributes to deforestation, heightened emissions, habitat removal, and more.
You want a supplier who takes advantage of modern paper sources such as seaweed, and you want to make sure that your supplier vets their sources to ensure that all manufacturing methods have positive impacts on the environment.
Failing to do this ruins the whole point of switching to paper bags, and when consumers find out, the brand alignment boost you gain is lost, as well.
