Impact of E-commerce on North American Paper Packaging Markets

Will paper packaging demand keep booming along with online retail growth, or will the "e-commerce boost" weaken in coming years? This study – the first of its kind available from any source – is an exhaustive analysis of how North American e-commerce shapes the corrugated packaging space.

The e-commerce/mail order retail sector uses 7 times as many boxes per dollar spent, compared to traditional brick-and-mortar retail logistics. But even as e-commerce spending keeps rising, containerboard demand growth slowed in the first half of 2019. Should the containerboard industry prepare for a weaker “e-commerce boost” going forward?

Prepare for any contingency with the Impact of E-commerce on North American Paper Packaging Markets. This first-ever study of this timely topic provides:

Essentials about e-commerce’s impact on corrugated packaging
  • Detailed breakouts of spending by merchandise type
  • Historical data showing impact on North American containerboard and corrugated box markets, broken out into retail and wholesale
  • E-commerce market statistics that are most relevant for packaging
27 risk scenarios to help model the future of the market
  • Forecasts of e-commerce for both the US and Canada, modeling three different scenarios for the evolution of three key variables:
    • Economic conditions
    • E-commerce/mail order share of relevant retail spending
    • Correlation of e-commerce and packaging demand
      • Along with presenting three different scenarios for each of these factors, the Impact of E-commerce on North American Paper Packaging Markets supports comparative analysis among them. This enables the analysis of 27 different risk scenarios for the future of the containerboard market in North America – a powerful analytical tool that can’t be found anywhere else.
E-commerce giants are working to use less corrugatedThe intensity of box usage per dollar of retail spending has increased in recent years, mostly due to the growth of e-commerce. However, this relationship – of growing online sales supporting growing box-usage intensity – is likely to deteriorate going forward.

Slowing growth, alternative packaging materials, and other threatsCurrent trends that threaten containerboard demand growth include:

  • Overbox reduction
  • Primary packaging redesign
  • On-site custom box conversion
  • Corrugated alternatives such as plastic mailers
  • Retail store fulfillment
The Impact of E-commerce on North American Paper Packaging Markets provides expert evaluation of these trends – backed by the most exhaustive data and analysis available from any source.


Request more information


What’s happening in the forest products market today?

Get the latest market insights from our team of forest products experts

Explore Fastmarkets’ new pallet pricing series, bringing clarity to softwood GMA Grade A markets for manufacturers, traders and related industries.

This consultation, which is open until December 19, 2024, seeks to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under indexation, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for Price Reporting Agencies (PRAs). This includes all elements of our pricing process, our price specifications and publication frequency. You can […]

Fastmarkets is inviting feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for Latin America Recovered Paper, as part of its announced annual methodology review process. This consultation, which is open until December 31, 2024, seeks to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under indexation, in compliance with the International Organization of […]

This consultation, which is open until December 31, 2024, seeks to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under indexation, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for Price Reporting Agencies (PRAs). This includes all elements of our pricing process, our price specifications and publication frequency. You can […]

This consultation, which is open until December 31, 2024, seeks to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under indexation, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for Price Reporting Agencies (PRAs). This includes all elements of our pricing process, our price specifications and publication frequency. You can […]

You can read a snippet of our weekly lumber report, featuring insights into the trends behind the continued increase in prices.

Watch this interview with Fastmarkets’ in-house expert, Jennifer Coskren, director of wood products and timber, to learn more about the state of the US housing market and a look ahead to 2025.

Fastmarkets has corrected its FP-LBR-0395, LANL, KD SYP (west) 2 2×6 22-foot, which was published incorrectly on November 14, 2024. The error has been corrected. The correct value is below: FP-LBR-0395 LANL           $780 For comments and queries, please send email to: pricing@fastmarkets.com. This price is part of the Fastmarkets softwood products package. For more information […]

The postponement will now be voted on by both the Parliament and the Council.

Our insightful webinar on the recovered paper (RCP) industry in North America includes insights on changing dynamics between producers and developments among suppliers, as well as expert analysis on how these are impacting the market more widely. For those who missed it, here’s a breakdown of the key takeaways.