How to Package Multipacks for Club Stores Without Cardboard Waste

Selling in warehouse clubs like Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s Wholesale opens the door to massive volume, but it also comes with strict packaging requirements. Your products must be shelf-ready, durable for transport, and visually appealing to customers.

Traditionally, brands have relied on trays, boxes, and paperboard wraps to stabilize and brand their multi-packs. But there’s a smarter way forward: printed shrink film with bull’s-eye or total enclosure wrapping.

Here’s how manufacturers are replacing cardboard with shrink packaging, while saving money and improving shelf performance.

1. Replace Trays and Sleeves with Printed Shrink Film

Cardboard trays and paperboard sleeves add weight, waste, and complexity to your packaging process. Printed shrink film, on the other hand, lets you combine protection and branding into a single step.

Polypack’s printed film wrappers allow full-color graphics directly on the bundle, eliminating the need for trays or carton sleeves.

Benefits include:

• Lower material and freight costs

• Fewer SKUs to manage

• Shelf-ready appearance that meets club store standards

  
  

2. Use Bull’s-Eye Shrink Wrap for Strength and Ventilation

Many club store packs use bull’s-eye shrink wrapping, which secures the product with film openings on the sides. This method is ideal for:

• Bottled water

• Juice and soda packs

• Pet food containers

• Household cleaning multipacks

Polypack’s shrink bundlers are designed to handle these formats at high speeds, ensuring stability and consistent film tension for safe handling and stacking.

3. Switch to Total Enclosure for Added Protection

For more delicate items or higher-end retail products, total enclosure shrink wrap provides full product coverage, great for:

• Personal care sets

• Cosmetics

• Nutraceutical products

Polypack’s pharmaceutical shrink wrappers have a small footprintoffer high speed packaging solutions.

4. Eliminate Cardboard Waste, Boost Sustainability

Shrink film uses significantly less material than cardboard trays or boxes. According to industry estimates, switching to shrink film can reduce packaging weight by 25–50%, lowering transportation emissions and material waste.

Plus, Polypack's sister company Film Source offers post-consumer recycled film options to support your brand’s environmental goals.

5. Ready for Club Store Compliance

Retailers like Costco require packaging that:

• Is easy to shelve and display

• Can be palletized and transported securely

• Clearly shows branding, pricing, and barcodes

With Polypack’s printed shrink film systems, manufacturers can meet these expectations without the added cost of cartons or trays.

Multipack Packaging That Sells—Without the Waste

Shrink film packaging isn’t just a cost-saving move, it’s a strategic advantage for high-volume retail. Whether you’re selling beverages, pet food, or personal care kits, Polypack’s U.S.-built systems help you reduce materials, speed up production, and stay retail-compliant.

Ready to modernize your club store packaging?

Request a quote or explore Polypack’s shrink bundling and printed film solutions.