ecommerce firms could become the largest recruiter for packaging professionals in the coming years and the packaging industry too may see innovations with the growth in ecommerce.the indian ecommerce industry currently employs about 25,000 people for packaging and delivery. with the sector growing, the need for manpower too is increasing as packaging is the sum total of the brand experience of the customer.there could be an additional demand of around 75,000 people in these two functions by 20172020, representing an increase in employment by almost three times, according to a recent report by pricewaterhousecoopers.indian institute of packaging iip, an autonomous body under the ministry of commerce, has started seeing demand from ecommerce as flipkart recently approached it for hiring.so far iip has placed its packaging management students into fmcg, pharma and retail. ecommerce firms are potentially our greatest recruiters. i am happy that flipkart found the skills of our students relevant in a changing world, said n c saha, director of iip.ecommerce companies at present have their priorities elsewhere like in technology upgradation, customer acquisition, marketing and social media. there is little time for innovation in logistics, but plenty of potential for innovation. i believe the rest of the industry will follow flipkart, which has identified and taken the leap, said ashish jhalani, founder of indias leading ecommerce advisory, knowledge and events firm, etailing india.the packaging industry too is seeing innovations with this new demand from ecommerce. when the customer orders a product, it is delivered home. all he gets to see of the brand is the packaging it comes in. there is no store experience or trial. hence, packaging is the sum total of the brand experience of the customer, he said.among the innovations, dualpurpose packaging can be used later at home as trays, storage boxes and photoframes with the brand logo subdued in the background. firms are also using ecofriendly packaging that use recyclable and biodegradable materials to underline their brand philosophysource httpwww.mydigitalfc.comnewsecommercefirmshire75000packagingstaff547
