Retinol cream, vitamin C serum, peptide ampoules - all these products require storage and transport at the appropriate temperature. Other cosmetics often have formulations based on natural essential oils or plant extracts that are highly sensitive to temperature changes.

To preserve the caring, protective and moisturising properties of products, the cosmetics industry must ensure their transport and storage at a controlled temperature. Most online shops take care of storage conditions. The question is: what happens to the product after the parcel has been dispatched? They do not always have control over that, but they should. Consumers shopping in e-commerce also want to be sure that their cosmetics not only work, but also arrive at the right temperature.

Cosmetics sensitive to temperature

Most cosmetics should be stored at room temperature up to max  +25°C. Products with active ingredients such as vitamin C, retinol, peptides, AHA/BHA acids may degrade under temperature fluctuations before they even reach the customer. 

Natural cosmetics without synthetic preservatives are particularly susceptible to such processes. The problem concerns a broad category of products shipped every day by e-commerce shops in the beauty and health segment. Their shelf life can be shortened as a result of a lack of knowledge about storage conditions.

Traditional courier: temperature changes at every stage

In a standard logistics chain, a parcel passes through many thermal environments: a sorting facility, a local branch, a parcel locker or another pick-up point. The temperature in each of these places is different and uncontrolled - in winter it can drop below zero as in the last season, in summer it can exceed +35°C, and a heated car without refrigeration can heat up to +50°C. Every transhipment is a potential thermal shock for the product.

Time is also a factor. Next day delivery, i.e. the following day, often means at least 24 hours in variable temperature conditions. If the delivery fails, there can be another few hours, sometimes even 24 hours. In a parcel locker, the product may wait for collection for 48-72 hours - in a temperature over which neither the shop nor the customer has any control.

Temperature is not only a problem for fresh products. Cosmetics with active ingredients can lose their properties before they reach the customer if the supply chain does not ensure a controlled temperature. The length of exposure to unstable temperature conditions is just as important as uncontrolled storage temperature
  - says Rafał Szcześniewski, head of sales at Goodspeed.

Up to 12 hours at a stable temperature - Goodspeed's advantage

Goodspeed delivers parcels at night, directly to the door, and the customer receives the shipment before 8:00 a.m. The average time between dispatch and delivery to the door is about 12 hours. We ensure a constant temperature throughout the entire cold chain, whereas in traditional transport and with couriers the temperature is different in branches or sorting centres, different in cars, and still different in parcel lockers. 

Night-time delivery at a controlled temperature is not just faster delivery. It is a guarantee that a sensitive product arrives in the same condition as when it left the warehouse. Goodspeed draws on its experience and position as a market leader in meal-kit delivery in Poland, and today it also carries out deliveries of other e-commerce products, including cosmetics.

Temperature conditions of delivery - a point of difference for an online shop

A customer buying a cream for PLN 50 or 200, or a monthly ampoule treatment, has the right to know under what conditions their order will arrive. Transparent communication about delivery at a controlled temperature, directly to the door, before 8:00 a.m. - is an argument that builds trust and sets the shop apart from the competition. This is especially true in the natural cosmetics and dermocosmetics segments, where product quality is directly linked to the conditions of the entire supply chain.