SGS Leads the Way with New Comprehensive Testing Protocol for Footwear Packaging

SGS, the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, has launched new comprehensive testing protocol for footwear packaging – a first for the footwear industry.

The innovative testing protocol is reportedly designed to support brand owners and retailers, including e-commerce, to have confidence that their packaging will perform well, meet environmental and sustainability standards and ensure consumers receive footwear in the best possible condition.

“Brand owners and retailers need the assurance that their packaging will be robust enough to meet all the demands of storage, transit and display and that, ultimately, their customers will enjoy the box-opening experience exactly as they intended,” John O’Connell, global packaging director, SGS. “Our new, testing protocol supports the industry to deliver just that, whilst helping organizations to protect their brands and gain competitive advantage.”

SGS’s first comprehensive testing method for footwear packaging addresses the huge demands placed on packaging to withstand the physical rigors of transportation and the retail environment, including e-commerce.

Testing covers the following areas:

• Physical performance;
• Appearance, color fastness, color/print transfer;
• Sustainability;
• Chemical and regulatory requirements;
• Consumer and ‘shopability’; and
• ISTA transit testing.

Transit testing, including ISTA 6-Amazon and the Amazon FFP certification process, is carried out against across SGS’s global network of ISTA accredited laboratories. ISTA’s Transit Certification mark demonstrates to carriers that packaging provides the correct level of protection and services.

Testing includes:

• Environmental (temperature extremes, UV etc.) ;
• Shock;
• Vibration;
• Compression;
• Impact;
• Moisture; and
• Forklift and clamping testing.

Protocols also cover manufacturing quality, which organizations can demonstrate through a Certificate of Analysis (COA) from SGS. This ensures the quality and consistency of packaging components and validates the manufacturing process from raw materials through finishing and testing of the final package against performance specifications.

The comprehensive protocols also provide consumer and ‘shopability’ testing using consumer panels to evaluate whether packaging will meet expectations. Additional insight can be provided regarding a product’s positioning against competitors and consumers’ reactions to the box-opening-experience.

For more information, visit https://www.sgs.com.