1 simple change that helped Rugs Direct improve delivery costs
Rugs Direct cut delivery costs by switching hand-tufted rugs from rolled to folded packaging, reducing box dimensions and shipping fees. The change required overcoming vendor resistance but causes no product damage.
As carrier surcharges and last-mile costs compress margins industrywide, packaging optimization is becoming a front-line profitability lever, not an afterthought — especially for oversized or bulky product categories.
Dimensional weight pricing on parcel carriers means package shape directly drives cost — folding vs. rolling can shift a shipment into a cheaper DIM weight tier. Sellers of bulky soft goods on any marketplace should audit their current packaging dimensions against carrier DIM divisors to find hidden savings.
Operational Impact
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Bottom Line
Folding instead of rolling rugs cuts DIM weight fees — soft goods sellers take note.
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Impact Level
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Folding instead of rolling rugs cuts DIM weight fees — soft goods sellers take note.
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Full Coverage
One change to how Rugs Direct boxes its products has saved the retailer money while making delivery easier, according to Sharon Gautschi, chief merchandising officer of Elevated Brands Group. “This is not glamorous, but it’s so glamorous to me,” Gautschi told Digital Commerce 360. “We’ve shifted to folding hand-tufted rugs.”
Rather than rolling all its rugs, she has pushed vendors to fold them when feasible. It was a “very big mental block” for many vendors, though. Hand-tufted rugs are thick and they have a mix of backs, she explained. Some backs are a little bit stiffer, but some are more pliable. Folding them will not cause permanent damage.
Elevated Brands Group owns and operates home decor and furnishings retailers Rugs Direct and Lightopia. Rugs Direct is No. 622 in the Top 1000 Database. The market research tool tracks North America’s largest online retailers, ranking them by annual ecommerce sales and more. Rugs Direct is also No. 492 in Digital Commerce 360’s new AI Rankings.
That set of rankings is available in the Top 1000 Pro with AI Database. News Rugs Direct adds AI assistant Ask Cleo for site search, PDP support Abbas Haleem | Sep 9, 2026
Pull your carrier invoices and calculate DIM weight (L×W×H ÷ 139) for your top 10 SKUs — if DIM weight exceeds actual weight, you're overpaying and a packaging redesign pays immediately.
In the next 30 days, contact your top 3 vendors and request sample shipments using folded vs. rolled configurations to test dimensional weight impact before committing to a packaging change.
Original Source
This briefing is based on reporting from Digital Commerce 360. Use the original post for full primary-source context.
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