CleanTac® Technology Enables Reusable Packaging, Label Removal | E-Commerce
4/9/2025
RRD’s proprietary label technology helps e-commerce giant reduce duplicate packaging and optimize return packaging
CHALLENGE
A leading global e-commerce company sought to reduce costs through an overall reduction in duplicate packaging. Ideally, they wanted to ship decorative boxes directly to consumers without additional outer shipping cartons.
One of the barriers the company faced was their current use of permanent adhesive shipping labels. The labels were difficult to remove from packaging — and would often tear or otherwise deface printed material on the high-value decorative packaging. This potentially reduced the item's perceived value and hindered the company’s returns management process. Furthermore, the permanent labels frustrated consumers, especially in gift-giving scenarios, and prevented the company from reusing defaced return packaging.
SOLUTION
RRD’s e-commerce labels experts were entrusted to help solve these challenges. A cross-functional RRD technical team was deployed to work with the company’s internal technical team to develop a higher tack, long-term removable shipping label to enable a “ships in own container” (SIOC) solution. The teams met bi-weekly to review sample submissions, testing protocols, and results from the company’s third-party testing service.
Through significant in-house testing, company discussions, and field testing, RRD's proprietary CleanTac® label technology — a repositionable adhesive that enables labels to be securely affixed, removed, and reapplied to most surfaces — was selected as the final label material. RRD was the only supplier able to develop a material functional within the client's multi-site network, gaining client approval and ultimate deployment.
RESULTS
The selected label material effectively achieved the company’s objectives of creating SIOC packaging, enabling return packaging redeployment, and replacing ineffective permanent labels. The long-term clean removability of RRD’s CleanTac technology also allows the company to maintain brand value by enabling consumers to remove labels from original decorative packaging.