A shirt maker sells each shirt folded inside a thin plastic cover. The buyer removes the cover and throws it away before wearing the shirt for the first time. The shirts reach the shops in large corrugated boxes.
Which of the following correctly names the levels of packaging of the plastic cover and of the corrugated box?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Plastic cover: primary package; corrugated box: transportation packaging
Option (1) Plastic cover: secondary packaging; corrugated box: transportation packaging — Incorrect. The plastic cover holds the shirt directly, so it is the shirt’s immediate container. Such a container is the primary package even when it is thrown away before use, like the plastic packet for socks. Secondary packaging is an extra layer kept outside the primary package.
Option (2) Plastic cover: primary package; corrugated box: secondary packaging — Incorrect. The plastic cover is rightly the primary package. But the corrugated box carries many shirts to the shops. It is used for storage and transport, so it is transportation packaging. A secondary package is an extra layer kept till use, like the cardboard box of a shaving cream tube.
Option (3) Plastic cover: secondary packaging; corrugated box: secondary packaging — Incorrect. Neither layer is secondary. The cover is the immediate container of the shirt, and the box is used to send many shirts to retailers.
Option (4) Plastic cover: primary package; corrugated box: transportation packaging — Correct. The plastic cover is the immediate container of each shirt, so it is the primary package. It is kept only till the buyer is ready to use the shirt, as with socks. The corrugated box holds many shirts for sending to the shops. This is transportation packaging, like a toothpaste maker’s boxes of 10, 20 or 100 units.
NCERT (2026-27 Edition): “Levels of Packaging There can be three different levels of packaging. These are as below: |