The bubble wrap revolution

Bubble wrap is perhaps the world’s best known type of packaging. It is used by millions of retailers and consumers around the globe to protect everything from books and collectables through to consumer electronics. It is a packaging solution that epitomises evolution, having withstood the test of time since it was invented over 50 years ago to remain a staple part of todays’ off and online retail sectors. 

The packaging we love to pop has an unlikely beginning. In 1957, two engineers, Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes decided they wanted to create a new type of textured wallpaper. Although the wallpaper never took off, it inspired the creation of bubble wrap, under the brand name AirCap, which is still used by Sealed Air.

As we entered into the digital age, AirCap’s flexible and cost-effective protective packaging solution has continued to prevail. According to PwC, growth within the online retail market is moving at a rapid pace of 15% annually, signalling that protective packaging solutions are more important than ever. AirCap is still proving to be an integral part of packaging solutions for the increasing online retail presence, helping retailers to avoid unnecessary costs eating into margins largely due to product returns incurred through product damage during transit.

With AirCap being such a trustworthy and cost effective packaging solution, there have of course been imitations of the original design. This could be seen as one of Sealed Air’s biggest threat to AirCap’s popularity; the market is teeming with manufacturers and suppliers of similar products. Price elasticity means that new manufacturers have entered the market with cheaper alternatives, with cheaper production costs that produce lower quality bubbles. This has led to market commoditisation, with retailers sometimes selecting bubble based purely on the lowest available price. While this can initially look good on balance sheets, it can cost retailers in the long-term as the bubbles offer lesser protection, meaning retailers over-compensate during packing by using higher volumes of packaging. This increases material and transportation costs.

Inferior quality bubbles will go flat overtime, heightening the risk of product damage during shipping. This leads to further costs for retailers as they have to ship replacement products and can also create an assumption that bubble is not the right protective packaging solution for them, causing them to look at alternatives.

Although the competition within the market is present, AirCap has created a superior position within the market, boasting an unmatched track record. This comes from its unique and patented technology, Barrier Bubble.  Unlike other bubble wraps, this technology offers higher fullness and thickness of each bubble and also maintains better consistency of air retention across each bubble. This reduces the potential for bubbles to pop during storage and handling, and provides much longer lasting cushioning that allows, in some cases, for multiple uses of AirCap sheets. These technological advancements allow Sealed Air to retain its global marketplace lead for bubble packaging.

Re-usability is one of the factors that put AirCap at the top of the market. Retailers are increasingly looking for ways to satisfy consumer demand for lower carbon ways of working and realise that the ability to re-use packaging materials can help achieve this. The design of AirCap also has positive environmental impact.  AirCap has been engineered to use less film, while still offering the same, or increased, levels of protection. Sealed Air constantly innovates to increase protection while reducing the amount of material used in the construction of packaging. As well as contributing to source reduction, this generates efficiencies during transportation as more AirCap per square metre can be transported – it can save up to 21% in volume – reducing transportation costs as well as carbon emissions. 

From wall-paper beginnings to a household name, AirCap has had, and will continue to have, a successful and innovative journey. As markets change and enter into different trends, AirCap will continue moving forward simultaneously, matching demand with a commitment to providing the solution to safe, quick and cost-effective movement of products.