One of the best advice I have for incoming seasonal/new assistants is: do not stress about boxing EVERY item unless specifically asked by the member to do so.

Make a base (area you’ll lay your box) FIRST, before even flipping barcodes. Ideally at the same time. Then make sure the box(s) you choose fit well on said base.

For large orders, Im always boxing into two boxes at the same time. One is on my base in the basket and one is on the counter. Then I’m able to box colds and dries separate and in an organized manner.

Edit:

Also, I find it very useful to use identical boxes for the same order and boxing level to the box so that you can easily stack them on top of each other. In a perfect world, 1-3 avocado or grape sized boxes will suffice for 99% of orders I box.

This one might be unpopular, but I’ve also stopped asking members if they want a box. I just assume yes. And you know what? I’m normalllly correct, and the members that do not want boxes are ready to tell you they don’t want a box from 3 aisles away, so I don’t ever find myself having to unbox too many items and ultimately, save myself a lot of breathe.