Think Outside the Box: How Beauty Brands Reduce Costs by Switching to Mailers

Behind every trending serum, cult-favorite lipstick, and personalized haircare kit, the true beauty starts in an unexpected place: shipping and logistics. Strategic decisions here can make or break a beauty brand’s success. Boxes have long been the backbone of beauty eCommerce fulfillment, reliably protecting fragile or multi-item orders. But in a category centered around what’s inside the bottle, the smartest players are starting to think outside the box. Literally.

For brands looking to stand out and scale up, it’s time to unpack how fulfillment can deliver more than just a package.

The Real Cost of One-Size-Fits-All Packaging

In today’s climate, cost cutting is a business imperative. That’s where a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) mindset comes in, spotlighting the full impact of packaging decisions across operations. Which brings us to the box. Boxes remain critical for shipments that require robust protection. At the same time, many beauty products can be shipped just as effectively–and often more efficiently–in mailers that are tailored to fit the order.

Every unneeded box brings not only its own cost, but also expenses for tape, extra storage, labor, and assembly, costs that quietly erode margins across thousands of shipments.

A shift to mailers can eliminate multiple points of friction:

• Materials: Mailers reduce tape and use less raw material overall
• Labor: Packing mailers is quicker than assembling, packing and closing boxes 
• Ergonomic: Helps reduce wrist fatigue by cutting down on repetitive packing motions
• Storage: Slim mailers take up less valuable warehouse space
• Shipping: Lighter, right-sized packaging improves DIM-weight and can reduce freight costs
• Custom branding: Mailers offer a canvas for custom branding, helping beauty brands create a memorable, high-impact unpacking moment
• Customer Experience: Mailers offer added convenience for customers who want less bulk piling up at home

Growth at the Speed of Beauty

In beauty eCommerce and beyond, mailers are quickly gaining traction for their ability to streamline fulfillment and elevate the customer experience. Industry forecasts predict mailers will grow at an impressive 15% CAGR through 2033, reflecting a shift in how leading brands are optimizing operations.

Mailers help reduce the footprint of each order, free up space at the pack station, and deliver a sleeker, more memorable unpacking moment — something beauty shoppers increasingly expect. Brands focused on growth and operational efficiency are integrating mailers into their packaging strategy now, staying ahead of rising customer expectations and evolving industry standards. The data makes it clear: for beauty, scaling with mailers is quickly becoming a best practice.

The Takeaway: Evolving Beyond the Box

Boxes remain essential in the world of beauty — especially when protection and presentation matter. The boldest beauty brands, however, are evolving how they use packaging, matching every order to the right format instead of relying on a single default. For distributors, now’s the time to help your customers see the bigger picture through a TCO lens, offering the flexibility of today's market demands. And for beauty brands, the true differentiator is the experience customers have when they receive it. Packaging that is thoughtfully chosen and beautifully branded does more than protect your product; it turns every package opening into a moment your customer will remember. 

Optimizing the mix of boxes and mailers by matching each shipment to the right packaging can help brands reduce costs, speed up fulfillment, and delight customers in a rapidly evolving market. Contact a Pregis representative to help you explore how smarter packaging strategies can unlock new performance gains.