For the last two years online retailer Amazon.com has been on a mission to persuade manufacturers to produce product packages that are easier for consumers to open. The results so far have been less than stellar.
According to The New York Times, Amazon has only been able to persuade manufacturers to make easier-to-open packages for about 600 of the millions of products Amazon sells. Traditional retailers like products in large cases and multiple layers of plastic because its believed to deter theft. Amazon says someone ordering online shouldn't have to deal with the frustration required to get access to their purchase.
Amazon rolled out its campaign against 'wrap rage' two years ago as a growing number of consumers questioned why products have to come sealed in impenetrable plastic. Amazon responded by launching what it called "Frustration-Free Packaging," a new initiative designed to make it easier for customers to liberate products from their packages.
"I think we've all experienced the frustration that sometimes occurs when you try to get a new toy or electronics product out of its package," Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, said at the time. "It will take many years, but our vision is to offer our entire catalog of products in Frustration-Free Packaging."
Clamshells and wire ties
Amazon focused first on two kinds of items: those enclosed in hard plastic cases known as "clamshells" and those secured with plastic-coated wire ties, commonly used in toy packaging.
Frustration-Free Packaging got an early boost when 19 best-selling products from leading manufacturers including Fisher-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and electronics manufacturer Transcend, signed onto the program.
In addition to making packages easier to open, Amazon said a major goal of the Frustration-Free Packaging initiative is to be more environmentally friendly by using less packaging material.
But after initial interest, the program has been slow to catch on with other manufacturers. Now, Amazon says it plans to step up the pressure.
One way the company plans to do that is by harnessing the power of consumers. The retailer has begun collecting angry consumer feedback about impossible to open packages and delivering it directly to the manufacturers. Amazon points out that Frustration-Free products have -- on average -- a 73 percent reduction in negative feedback when consumers post product reviews on the site.
