That Bottom Tray Has A Lot Riding On It

 

That bottom tray has a lot riding on it. Literally.

When planning stacking trays for Costco or Sam’s Club, the structure deserves just as much attention as the graphics. It needs to support the layers above it, protect the product through the supply chain, and hold up on the club floor as shoppers remove items.

That starts with following each retailer’s current packaging guidelines. Costco and Sam’s Club need their own review, with the tray, product, pallet configuration, and shipping protection designed to work together.

Material strength, reinforced corners, stacking alignment, and weight distribution all matter. Especially when the product itself offers little structural support, like bags or pouches.

Then comes testing. A great-looking sample is a starting point. Testing the loaded shipping configuration helps evaluate how the system handles compression, vibration, and other distribution hazards. For Sam’s Club, ISTA 6-SAMSCLUB specifically addresses its distribution environment. We do this inhouse at Bay Cities.

Build time into the calendar to test, make adjustments, and retest when needed. Finding a weak point during development gives you a chance to fix it before product ships.

Think beyond arrival. As the pallet sells down, will the trays remain stable, keep the branding visible, and make the product easy to shop?

The goal is packaging that earns its keep from the warehouse to the last unit sold.

Planning your next club program?

Give me a shout (Joshua Linden). Our team at Bay Cities can help connect structural design, testing, manufacturing, and execution.

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Bay Cities can run the whole chain in one operation, from creative and design through testing, manufacturing, fulfillment, logistics, and delivery to the store. We bring 70 years of U.S. manufacturing experience, are 100% employee-owned, and have had a Bentonville presence since the early 2000s, with a team built specifically to serve Walmart and its suppliers.