8 Tips for Shipping Candles in the Summer
As temperatures rise, it becomes more difficult to get candles; especially soy and coconut-based candles; to your customers safely. We share 8 tips for shipping candles in the summer heat that may help you keep your customers happy.
While there’s not a reasonable way to guarantee that candles arrive the way you want them to, there are some measures you (and your customers) can take to reduce the risk.
- Start with good packing materials – corrugated boxes that meet or exceed your shippers standards. A strong box will allow you to pack more effectively so that things stay in place during transit. The corrugation also provides air channels with help to slow down heat transfer.
- Develop a “Summer Shipping Policy”…which you can share with your customers up front. Most will understand that there is an additional cost to ship temperature-sensitive items in the heat of the summer. Depending on where you ship from, you may want to use a different carrier during the summer.
- Consider using frozen gel packs that will help to buffer the heat. Be sure that your gel packs are in a sealed bag so that as they melt/sweat, the moisture won’t soften any of your packaging or labeling.
- Use foil bubble wrap, thermal mailers, or insulating panels with foil and/or additional corrugation.
- Double box your order with filler between the inner and outer box to act as an insulator.
- Limit your ship days to early in the week, so that orders do not sit on a trailer over the weekend.
- Offer/suggest expedited/priority shipping for longer transit locations.
- Remind your customers about the importance of paying attention to tracking so that their package doesn’t set on their doorstep in the sun. They may consider having it delivered to a work address or providing a cooler for packages upon delivery. Tools like UPS My Choice are helpful in providing control/flexibility with deliveries.
We hope a few of these tips will help you on your way to shipping confidently and maintaining happy customers! While using more packaging doesn’t feel environmentally friendly, you can be mindful of the way you use it. You can encourage your customers to reuse packaging or donate it to a local business that could use it.
Find more resources and tips on our Candle Making Resource Page under our Commercial Business Resources tab.
Check out all of our candle supplies, including wholesale mason jars, other candle vessels, wicks, TruScent fragrance oils for candles & personal care products, soy and coconut wax and so much more.
this is a great article thank you so much, most people dont think about how hot it gets in the summer in those delivery trucks.