Gusseted bags are a great alternative to drab flat bags. If you are looking for a packaging that should form-fit your product, gusseted bags provide a great option. There are many uses of gusseted pouch bags. They can be used to package industrial box liners on one end and high-end retail display packaging on the other - and everything in between.
Stand up pouch bags with gussets are not a uniform, monolithic entity. They are further divided into two primary categories -
(a) Side gusset bags
(b) Bottom gusset bags
Side gussets and bottom gussets are mutually exclusive - a stand up bag can have only one of them. No, there are no strict rules that forbid both gussets in a single pouch. Manufacturers run into technical problems when they try to do this. The design of both the gussets is such that the existence of one does not permit the comfortable existence of the other.
Both gusset types have some unique features. In other words these are many differences. The most important of these differences are:
Location in a bag
This is the most obvious difference. As the names indicate, bottom gussets are found at the bottom of flexible pouches while side gussets are located along the sides of pouches.
Storage efficiency
Storage efficiency means how efficiently filled gusseted bags can fit inside a fridge. The Triangle Packaging Machinery Company has done a case study to measure the storage efficiency of both gussets. The results show that side gusseted bags take less room than bottom gusseted bags.
Aesthetics
We are not aware of any studies done on the aesthetics of both gusset types. But anecdotal evidence shows that people prefer bottom gussets for better aesthetics. There are more size and shape options to customize bottom gusseted pouches.
Sealing
Side gusseted bags have a single seal that spans the entire width of the bag and runs through the bottom.
Bottom gussets are further divided into plow bottom, K-seal, and round bottom gussets. The plow bottom gusset does not have a seal. The K-seal and round bottom gussets have seals along the walls.
Volume
Two bags featuring the two gusset-types of the same size do not have the same volume. A pouch with a four-inch bottom gusset has lesser volume than a pouch with a four-inch side gusset. Alternatively, a bottom gusset pouch will be larger than a side gusset pouch of the same volume.