pune with the ecommerce boom getting bigger in india, packaging has started playing a greater role as companies are not just battling on the price front, but on brand and aesthetic value as well. from giants such as flipkart, amazon and firstcry to more niche sites such as giftease, pretty secrets and limeroad, ecommerce companies have started innovating with packaging.the indian ecommerce market&hellip"all our packaging is taken care of by a combination of inhouse packaging teams along with thirdparty packaging services. quick and easy packaging also helps us to increase the turnaround time which results in operational efficiencies," said ankit nagori, senior vice president, marketplaces, at flipkart. "there are various packaging innovations in pipeline which will focus on converting the packaging into a usable product once customer has received and opened the package." firstcry, which is into online and offline babycare products, has used algorithms to innovate with 25 different preconfigured standardised corrugated packaging boxes to cater to various sizes and weights. "we may cater to anything from a small toy to a heavy baby stroller or car seat. we innovated inhouse with sizes and designs, b e f o r e outsourcing the manufacturing," said supam maheshwari, chief executive of firstcry."since we cater to new mothers, there is a higher sensitivity to packaging from both safety and hygiene point of view." ecommerce companies are also looking to hire more packaging staff for their inhouse design teams. "we continuously focus at hiring and engaging with packaging professionals, who can take our packaging standards to the next level," said nagori of flipkart. firstcry provides weeklong training for packaging staff to keep consumer sensitivity in mind.the indian institute of packaging iip, an autonomous institute under the ministry of commerce, has been training students in packaging, and 200 students graduate from iip&39s five branches every year. the institute, which has so far been experiencing hiring from fmcg and pharma companies, is now seeing increased recruitments by ecommerce companies."the applications for the 2014 batch o f t h e programme saw a 10 increase, as science graduates are realising that they can join the booming ecommerce industry with a packaging degree. flipkart has so far hired five of our students and we have enquiries from other ecommerce companies for the placement season," said nc saha, iip&39s director.the indian ecommerce market is growing at 38 and is set to reach 100 billion in annual sales in the next five years, according to analysts.the industry currently employs about 25,000 people in eretailing warehousing and logistics, including packaging and delivery as per a pricewaterhouse coopers report dated august 2014. the report also estimates that demand for packaging staff would triple by 2017, with an additional demand of close to 75,000 people in packaging and delivery functions in the ecommerce space.smaller ecommerce companies too are giving importance to packaging to lead in aesthetics. "packaging can be a great branding tool when used well. as a result, limeroad innovated on packaging by using colour effectively on very lightweight packaging. the colour reflects the lime in our brand, and is instantaneously recognisable, while meeting safety and quality packaging requirements," said suchi mukherjee, founder and ceo of online apparel portal limeroad. online gifting portal giftease has been innovating on packaging to make it a key differentiator for its products. "regular ecommerce portals are waging price wars with each other, which makes it difficult to add to packaging cost. since we are a niche site, and packaging attractively is an integral part of gifting, we are continuously innovating in this area with multicoloured boxes, different types of wrappings, personalised messages on the packaging, gift boxes that can be used as a multipurpose box, etc." said ashish chandani, cofounder and chief operating officer. "we are seeing a demand for innovating packaging from other ecommerce companies too, so we are working to cater to customers and competitors by next year." 
