Most people are shopping online for at least some of their holiday presents, and this year they may notice the packages arriving on their doorsteps are getting smaller.
It's not 'shrinkflation' — it's increased sustainability in shipping.
Amazon, the nation's largest online retailer, said it has reduced per-package shipping weight by 41%, on average, since 2015.
To see the changes, ABC15 visited Amazon's GYR1 fulfillment center in Goodyear earlier this month. On a typical week, four million packages are sent from this facility, but during the holiday season, it can be even busier.
"During the holidays, it's a little bit like our Super Bowl," said Amazon spokeswoman Zoe Richmond. She added, "We definitely want to ensure that our customers are happy."
Richmond said one thing customers don't like is getting small items in big boxes, so Amazon has changed processes to eliminate extra packaging when possible.
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"Amazon has a bunch of A.I. back-end logic, and it determines which product is best suitable for shipping in its own packaging," said Amazon GYR1 Operations Manager Donald Fulton.
Amazon said at least 11% of items are part of its Ships In Product Packaging program, which means Amazon adds no additional boxing or packaging. SIPP items arrive on doorsteps in the manufacturer's box or even in a clear plastic bag. If you are trying to help Santa keep a secret, you'll want to double-check before hitting the buy-now button.
"There's a way where, when you check out of Amazon, you can choose to 'add Amazon packaging' at no cost at all, so ultimately, it's all about customer preference," Richmond said.
The GYR1 facility also has machines that make custom bubble mailers.
"Instead of using standardized sizes, which is where you end up with the waste, we work backward and make sure that the package is specific to the size of the product our customer ordered," Richmond said.
Customers can also contribute to sustainable shipping by ordering multiple items to come on one day of the week. Items going to the same household are collected in a cubby shelving unit to be boxed together.
Even when your items are shipped in an iconic Amazon smile box, "it's been engineered with a thinner design," Fulton said. Each box is made with less material and is 30% lighter, according to the company.
"When you're talking about transportation costs, we fit about 10,000 boxes in a tractor-trailer, so every little bit of weight reduces carbon emissions," Fulton said.
Amazon officials told ABC15 that some Amazon facilities also have boxing machines that create custom-sized boxes for items being shipped. They hope to add the machines to GYR1 in the near future.
