Guide to Retail Bags, Boxes and Cartons

Discover the best shopping bags for your biz

There are hundreds of retail shopping bag styles available. The right choice depends on several factors: your industry, your image and your merchandise size and weight. For instance, restaurants need plastic bags with handles for take-out orders (for this polypropylene bags are ideal). Upscale boutiques often select flat-bottom shopping bags with handles.

I recommend: PaperMart.com touts itself as the most complete packaging store on the Web with hundreds of retail bag styles in stock. Uline offers dozens of paper shopping, merchandise, food and specialty shopping bags as well as plastic handle bags, frosty bags, food bags and special polypropylene bags. Upscale shopping gift boxes and bags can be found at ActionBag.com.

Retail gift boxes can offer distinction, or basic protection

Retail boxes can give your products an air of distinction and can provide protection, too. A retail box life-span and walking billboard aspects can be extended when it is elegant enough to be used as a gift box.

I recommend: Find dozens of box styles at BoxDepot.com. Uline.com offers retail gift boxes, display boxes, apparel boxes, food boxes and specialty boxes. KC Store Fixtures offers basic retail store supplies, including gift boxes and bags.

Select retail cartons for more specialized needs

Cartons are a must-have if you ship items to customers. The type you choose depends on the weight and size of the merchandise.

I recommend: For standard cartons, visit PaperMart.com. They stock hundreds of cartons large and small and sell in quantities as low as 10 per bundle.

Look into packaging extras

If your budget only allows for the most basic shopping bags or boxes, add some flair with decorative tissue paper, ribbons or fills.

I recommend: Find the basics for all your packaging needs, including tissue in every color of the rainbow, ribbons and bows from Iowa Retail Packaging. For unique ribbons, ties, tissue, warp and fills, visit CreativeBag.com.

Creative options

If you really want to make a statement with your retail packages, choose a shopping bag or box in a unique shape or color that reflects your company image. Baskets can also make a statement.

I recommend: CreativeBag.com offers unique shopping bags and boxes in a variety of shapes, colors and materials, including felt, leather and tin containers. VeriPack offers a number of unique retail packaging supplies, including baskets.

Get printing on your shopping bags

Most retail packaging suppliers also offer shopping bag printing options. Budget-conscious business owners may want to look into pre-printed shopping bags and boxes. Custom printing options, such as ink and hot stamping, can reinforce your brand and turn your bags and boxes into ads.

I recommend: For custom printing on boxes, bags, ribbons or tissue, try NashvilleWraps.com. Smurfit-Stone's custom graphics group offers pre-printed boxes and direct-print boxes, which are ideal for short runs. Iowa Retail Packaging offers hot stamping so you can have your logo foil placed on each shopping bag and box.

Gift boxes and bags

Create an upscale ambience by offering free wrapping using gift boxes and bags. Keep it simple by offering one or two papers and a few choices of ribbon.

I recommend: Among its full line of retail packaging offerings, Bag & Bows carries 100-foot rolls of gift wrap and ribbons in many different patterns and styles.