An electronics pack protects twice
Once in the courier’s van, and once on a shelf under a shop light. Those are two different jobs, and most packaging failures come from solving one and assuming the other follows.
Two jobs, two sets of numbers
Transit
Drop height, unit weight, and where the product is supported. An accessory weighing 40 g and one weighing 400 g do not need the same tray, even at the same box size.
Retail
Whether it hangs on a peg, stands on a shelf, or ships in a mailer. A euro hole punched in the wrong place relative to the centre of gravity makes the pack hang crooked — which reads as cheap.
The format usually resolves to one of four: a printed card blister for hang-sell, a thermoformed tray sitting inside a printed box, a clamshell where the pack itself has to resist being opened in-store, or a slide blister for cables and earbuds where the drawer action is the point.
What we produce
| Carded blister | Printed card glued to a thermoformed cavity. Hang tab and euro hole positioned to the product’s centre of gravity, not to the card’s centre. |
|---|---|
| Tray in box | PET or PVC tray cut to the product outline, inside a printed paperboard box. The retail-ready format for chargers, hubs and small devices. |
| Clamshell | Two thermoformed halves joined at a fold. Higher material use, but the pack resists casual opening — the reason it survives retail. |
| Slide blister | Outer sleeve with an inner drawer. For cables, adapters and earbuds, where the drawer is part of the unboxing. |
| Accessory tray | Multi-cavity tray holding several small parts in fixed positions so the set cannot arrive short. |
Three things worth deciding early
- The window is not the product’s protection. A cavity that merely follows the outline, with no support behind the PCB, will let the device move on impact. The tray has to hold, not just display.
- Static is a material question, not a coating. Standard PET and PVC trays are not anti-static. If the component is sensitive, that is a specific material grade — tell us at the quotation stage rather than assuming any clear tray will do.
- Foam is not always the answer. EVA or EPE inserts add cost and volume. A well-drawn PET tray frequently beats a foam block on both drop performance and packing density.
Send the device, the weight and the channel
Those three determine the format more than the artwork does. Drop test requirements, if you have them, help more still.