U.S. Flexible Plastics Industry Gets Boost from Amazon's Packaging Changes
Amazon’s decision to move toward lightweight flexible plastic mailers over its traditional cardboard boxes will likely set a trend for the rest of the industry, according to Wood Mackenzie Chemicals’ recent Q1 2019 Flexible Packaging Global Market Overview.
“As the market leader in the U.S. e-commerce sector, Amazon is in a particularly powerful position to shape decisions on packaging preferences. The company currently controls just over 49 percent of the U.S. e-commerce market and nearly 5 percent of the total U.S. retail market, generating sales of over $250 billion in 2018. Few other companies have such industry influence to impact large-scale packaging trends and demand. Putting this into context, the U.S. e-commerce market accounts for 12 percent of all retail sales and is expected to grow to around 17% by 2022," said Brendan Connell-French, Wood Mackenzie Chemicals research associate.