When it’s wrapped in plastic it can be individually picked. In a warehouse large quantities of stuff is stored away in bulk, sometimes palletized. A picker goes around and picks out the items from the larger bulk of items to put together a shipping order. If they were individually wrapped, whether by the warehouse or their distributor, it is for general protection(so that it feels new) and ease of handling.
Source: worked many of the lower positions at different warehouses for some years.
They are shipped on shrink wrapped pallets in boxes. The thing is, your local Walmart/target/airport shop doesn’t need 1500 copies of the latest Patterson novel, they stock a few of each current book in store. Meaning that pallet gets opened up at a hub warehouse and 2-3 books are going to 2-300 different stores along with whatever else has been purchased that week to restock the shelf. That book passes though a lot of hands before you buy it at the register
Aren’t books shipped in boxes though? I guess maybe a printer might palletize the books and find it cheaper to not wrap the whole pallet?
It still seems like the individual book is the wrong place to focus on protecting it from damage it might incur in transit.
When it’s wrapped in plastic it can be individually picked. In a warehouse large quantities of stuff is stored away in bulk, sometimes palletized. A picker goes around and picks out the items from the larger bulk of items to put together a shipping order. If they were individually wrapped, whether by the warehouse or their distributor, it is for general protection(so that it feels new) and ease of handling.
Source: worked many of the lower positions at different warehouses for some years.
They are shipped on shrink wrapped pallets in boxes. The thing is, your local Walmart/target/airport shop doesn’t need 1500 copies of the latest Patterson novel, they stock a few of each current book in store. Meaning that pallet gets opened up at a hub warehouse and 2-3 books are going to 2-300 different stores along with whatever else has been purchased that week to restock the shelf. That book passes though a lot of hands before you buy it at the register