It's maybe cheaper for them to buy millions of the same size of container than to buy smaller quantities of various more suitably sized ones. Could be that for some medications/patient requirements those same tubs do get mostly filled up, and it's easier just to have the same size for all. Probably makes boxing and shipping simpler too.
this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2025
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Also, smaller sizes would get less exposure space on the shelves. They need them big enough for the brand and type to be legible and not disappear among other brand products on the shelves.
Source: temped in βhealthβ stores.
Good point.
Correct. Same reason why most products in cans or bottles come in similar sizes. The cost for packaging and shipping has been minimized over time. There will be outliers, usually to try and stand out on the shelf. For unseen online shipping, the cheaper mass production is best, even if they're shipping air and it's wasted space. It cost them less.
This makes sense
The scale the bottles are produced at makes it so the cosy between a tall bottle or half size would be negligible. The actually material difference is fractions of a penny
Big package gives the feeling/illusion of getting more for your money.
I think I've mentioned that the pills are numbered. It's not potato chips or cookies
Yes, you did. Pills have different sizes, people have no clear image of a pile of x pills. A big package is very obvious. β¬10 for a big box with 60 pills feels like better deal than β¬10 for a small box with 60 pills.
Consumers are also unbelievably stupid. Even for stuff like candy bars, which people have a good idea of the size, they often pull tricks like carton inserts between bars to increase total package size. They still claim the correct amount of candy bars on the package, but consumers will see the larger package and go "ah yes, clearly bigger is better"
I think this works better for items like confectionery because most people aren't mindful of units when shopping. Most people don't stop to read the label for confectionery. But most people do for meds, vitamins and supplements
I understand that you believe that, but you seem to be severalty overestimating consumer's ability to read in the first place.
Anything sold in stores basically has to compete with physical eye appeal. This means small things are prone to being packaged bigger so they catch people's eyes. You can see this with a bag of chips- sure the air helps prevent chips from breaking but have you ever wondered why some bags are 50% air? It's just to make the package bigger so it stands out more.
It makes shipping easier. Packing a bunch of different sized bottles into a single carton is a mess.