Are you tossing your products in a cardboard box, stuffing some packing peanuts or paper around it, and sending them off to your customers? While this will get your product to your buyers fairly fast, it doesn't add to the overall product experience. It also creates a significant amount of waste. If you're looking for ways to improve your branding efforts, improve your customer's experience with your product, and protect your product well from shipping damage, all while potentially saving money, then consider custom packaging solutions. Here is a closer look at why custom packaging solutions make sense and the ways they can benefit your brand and your overall efforts to serve your customers well.
Customized packaging solutions are packaging options that cater to the needs and requirements of the product while also improving the customer experience and overall branding efforts for the seller. These product packaging solutions include any container or material used to package or ship a product. This includes everything from the container that holds the product to the labels on the shipping boxes.
To create a custom packaging option, your team will need to work with engineers and designers to ensure your goals are aligned and what solutions will best achieve those goals. Collaboration between different teams can uncover insight from different perspectives on what design will work well for the product. Once a final design is ready, the product will need to be tested in the product packaging to ensure compatibility. The final packaging design can have printed logos, shapes, images, and artwork to help the packaged product stand out. Custom packaging can also make your brand easily recognizable and stand out from competitors on retail shelves. A well-designed package instantly connects with customers while also providing a safe storage option for the product.
If you've been using generic packaging for your products, considering new product packaging can be a good step toward improving your brand's reach. New packaging can often help with new branding goals, giving the product better visibility in a crowded market. Custom packaging gives you a place to show off the creativity of your branding and design team. It also works to protect your product and can lower costs for your team. The package is your customers' first impression of their order with you, and this makes it an important part of your overall sales process.
As you consider the design and implementation of the custom packaging solutions your team needs for your product, consider these options:
The right box to pack and ship your products to your customers is an essential part of your business model. When considering custom packaging design, it's important to think outside of the proverbial cardboard box. While cardboard has its place as a packaging solution, you want to imagine something beyond the simple brown shipping box. Consider labeling your packaging boxes with branded artwork or printing your logo on the side. You can also customize the dimensions of your box to fit your product properly.
Containers can include bottles, jars, or distinct primary packaging for your product. The goal of primary packaging is to keep the product protected until the customer is ready to use it. This is a component where brands have a range of abilities to customize their product packaging, from simple branding with labels to complex custom shapes and systems designed uniquely to enhance the product’s user experience. Shapes, colors, and decoration can all work together to make containers promote your product and keep your brand top of mind.
For items sold in bags, customization is also possible. Bags are a low-cost packaging option, but they can still be customized. Consider printed bags that have your logo on them or bags with cutout windows to make your product visible. Handles help your customers more easily handle their products while closing mechanisms help keep products secure. A matte or glossy coating on the bag makes it look more polished. These types of details can make even a simple bag stand out.
You may be wondering why you should invest in custom packaging solutions when you can use regular boxes or bags to store, display, and ship your products. Custom packaging has multiple benefits for your company. These include:
If you want your customers to remember your brand and your products, you’ll want to focus on brand awareness. Custom packaging will help your brand identity through recognizable packaging and also create a sense of value in your company and its products.
When a customer enters a store selling your product, they can see the packaging and instantly equate it with your company. This increased visibility often leads to better sales. If you are shipping your product to your customer, they'll know instantly what it is and who it came from. In addition, you can use your customized packaging to deliver targeted messaging to your core audience, further supporting your branding goals.
When customers recognize your product easily, they develop a sense of connection with your brand. In this way, custom packaging can create a lasting impression on consumers to innately recognize your brand over time.
Not only that, but custom product packaging can enhance the customer experience. It provides the "wow" factor by elevating your product as upscale and desirable. For example, you can design a box that cradles your product and makes it instantly visible from the first moment the customer opens the box. This adds to that positive first impression.
Finally, it makes accessing the product simpler for the customer. You can tailor your packaging to the needs of the customer, creating a package that protects the product while making it easier to get the product out once someone has purchased it.
One of your primary goals as a business owner is differentiation. You need to stand out from your competition, and custom packaging helps you do this. Products that are housed in custom packages tell buyers they're getting a higher quality, premium product. This, in turn, allows you to charge premium pricing or improve your product’s positioning at your retailer. Overall, the product and experience with that product become more memorable for everyone involved with the right packaging.
Custom packaging is often more durable than standard boxes and bags. If your product is delicate, you can create packaging that has reinforcement and closures to help protect the item inside. The material and size of your packaging can also add protection. Custom product labeling can also add a layer of protection, notifying people that the items inside are fragile or need to be handled in a certain direction.
Global waste is on the rise, and if companies do not put a stop to it, by 2050, the amount of waste produced will increase by 70%. If your brand is concerned about being eco-friendly, you can choose recycled or sustainable materials for your product packaging. This helps to reduce waste and can improve your sustainable branding efforts. The packaging itself tells buyers that your company is invested in protecting the environment.
Not only can you choose the materials for the product from eco-friendly options, but the overall process of custom packaging reduces waste. Because the box is perfectly fit for the product, you are not using extra materials to fill up unnecessary space and consuming resources to ship the excess, which results in reducing overall waste.
When your packaging perfectly fits your product, you won't pay extra for shipping boxes that are too large or bulky for the items inside. Your packaging process also becomes streamlined because it's easier to fit items in a custom box. This works together to reduce the cost of your inventory management.
The brand awareness that comes from custom packaging helps develop customer loyalty. When customers can recognize the product they love and want to buy, they're more likely to be loyal to your brand, sometimes even for life. In addition, when the packaging makes the product feel more upscale, customers are more likely to return to purchase it again in the future. This adds to the customer loyalty you receive when you invest in custom product packaging solutions.
Customized packaging can be tailored to the product's needs. You can work with engineers and product packaging designers to create a custom design that presents your product in the best possible way to the buyer. You can then add items like child locks, easy-tear openings, or locking tabs to cater to the specific needs of the product. Protection, presentation, and ease of access are all part of this tailoring as you work to create good packaging that will stand out.
With so many benefits, the need for custom packaging solutions is clear. If you want a product that will stand out and impress your customers every time they purchase it, you want custom packaging. Paramount Global offers custom packaging solutions that can suit your product’s needs best. Our team of experts will partner with you to help navigate identifying the best fit for your product and help achieve your packaging goals. From the initial idea to the delivery of your final customized packaging, you will have the expertise of our team on your side. Contact us today to learn more about our custom packaging solutions and how they can help your brand impress your customers, protect your products, and stand out from the competition.
Think back to the time where you met your current partner’s (or a former partner’s) parents.
Chances are good that you put a lot of effort into the way you presented yourself. It’s important to make a good first impression, and the way we look or dress often has a great impact on how that first impression is formed.
Here’s the thing: First impressions may seem trivial and insignificant, but they last. It takes less than 15 seconds for a person to form an opinion about a person they’ve just met, and as little as 3 seconds to form an opinion of a product.
Now consider your customer as the parent and your product as yourself – and you’re trying to leave a good first impression.
Are you going to deliver your product to your customer in a beautifully designed custom package that speaks to the unique style of your brand… or in a plain, cardboard box?
If you want to make a great first impression with your customers, you can’t neglect the packaging. In this Insight, we’ll be focusing on customized product packaging and how it plays a key role in establishing a memorable, consistent brand experience.
Here’s what we’ll be covering:
Every sustainable business is built off of repeat customers.
“Customer retention is the only profitable way for ecommerce brands to grow because repeat sales mean making money repeatedly on a one-time acquisition cost paid”, Says Dimira Teneva, Head of Content at the ecommerce growth platform, Metrilo.
And your product packaging is a great place to start telling your customer that they should buy from you again. You can do that by bringing your unique selling proposition onto your packaging.
Oftentimes the packaging for your product is the first touchpoint that customers have with your brand outside of your website. The packaging sets the stage for your customer’s experience, while also reaffirming the reasons why they chose to purchase from you in the first place.
If you’ve put plenty of time and resources into creating a stunning and frictionless user experience on your website, but then deliver your product in a plain, unbranded box, what does that say about your brand? Not delivering a consistent experience throughout the entire customer journey is a surefire way to disappoint your customers.
Nice website, but poorly presented product? While deceitful isn’t the right word, you can be sure that your customer will be left feeling extremely underwhelmed.
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Nothing says “great value for the money” like giving your customers a little more than what they’re expecting.
And no, that doesn’t mean throwing in movie tickets or an Amazon voucher. It simply means showing your customer that you’ve gone the extra mile to give them more than they bargained for.
That may be as simple as a little thank you note or wrapping your product in some custom branded tissue paper. Quality product packaging can also be a selling point that you list in your product descriptions (more on that later).
German-based apparel brand, Malimo, is a great example of how you can level up your packaging without having to put in too much effort. Every one of their packages includes a handful of unique items: a handwritten thank-you note, a card explaining their commitment to sustainability, and a sticker. It’s simple, but it goes the extra mile in delivering a personalized experience to the customer.
Everyone’s familiar with the excitement of coming home to see a package waiting for them on their front porch. Even if you know what you’re getting, there’s still an excitement when it comes to the reveal, if time and care have been taken to make the reveal part of what you already liked about the brand. Unboxing builds on our desire and enjoyment around the unknown.
The personal touches of an unforgettable unboxing experience can provide a great customer experience and grow repeat conversions. Providing your customers with a unique unboxing experience lets them know that not only do you care how the product is delivered but that you go the extra mile to ensure they receive the best possible experience from end-to-end.
Right, so you’re now convinced that good design and quality packaging can make a difference in how your customers perceive your brand. Here’s what you’ll need to know to actually get started designing packaging that satisfies your customers expectations.
First and foremost, your packaging is there to keep the product safe and secure. In the world of packaging, form always follows function.
Yope is a great example of a company using product packaging that: 1) is functional 2) protects the product, and 3) aligns with the aesthetic style of the brand. It’s completely ok to get carried away with intricate, stylized packaging (in fact, we encourage it), just as long as it satisfies its first job of protecting the product.
In a retail store, this would stand out and draw attention. Sold online, it keeps multiple products together to make shipping easier. There’s not much point to using packaging that looks pretty if it doesn’t protect your product from damage in the shipping process.
Once you’ve picked the proper type of packaging for your product, it’s time to start getting branding involved.
Chances are good that you’ve invested a solid amount of time into creating your branding style guide: logo, colors, shapes, textures, messaging, etc. If you want your packaging to leave a memorable impression on customers, make sure it aligns with the branding guidelines you outlined in your style guide. This helps create a feeling of consistency, from the online space into the physical realm.
Also, don’t forget to follow packaging legal requirements in the markets you’re selling to. Different countries have different regulations around how you’re legally allowed to ship products, so make sure you’re in compliance with regional laws before moving forward with any custom packaging.
To really get the most of your packaging design, the material and texture of your packaging need to work with your logo and branding.
If people know the shape of your logo (Apple, for example), you can hot stamp or emboss your logo, as the shape is easily recognized. Alternatively, if colors are most important to you (like Google), then you’ll need a canvas that complements these colors.
Moon Sling opted for packaging design that amplifies the uniqueness of their brand. They ship their products in recyclable corrugated cardboard (which aligns with their commitment to sustainability and ethical business practices) and have a simple cutout of their logo so that customers get a glimpse of the high-quality linen fabric before they even open the package.
If your product is swimming in opulence, then a rigid cardboard box with a subtle black texture is going to compliment your brand experience.
BMW created a sleek custom-designed press kit to help promote the launch of their latest automobile release.As with most creative mediums, packaging design is only limited by your imagination. Materials, shapes, textures – if you can dream it, chances are there’s a way to pull it off (within the limits of shipping regulations that is).
Many online retailers sell products from dozens of different brands. For example, the online clothing retailer, ASOS, has hundreds of different brands that they carry and distribute, so how do they maintain a consistent brand experience through their packaging?
Their solution was to create an eye-catching poly mailer bag. Now their brand is synonymous with the black and white bags their clothing ship in. Every time you see a bag with this pattern on it, you immediately know who it’s from without even needing to see the logo.
Great product packaging speaks directly to the quality standards of your brand. If you can provide your customers with an amazing overall buying experience, it’ll have a positive impact on your perceived brand value and your bottom-line.
As a value-add for your products, consider mentioning custom packaging directly on product detail pages (PDP). If you ship everything in recyclable (or compostable) packaging, that should be called-out as a feature so visitors are fully aware of your company’s commitment to sustainable business practices.
The brand Boxed Water is Better is a great example of how you can carefully highlight specialized packaging throughout the website experience. Notice how they draw attention to their “100% recyclable, refillable & BPA-free” packaging in the product description. This company is revered for their sustainable product packaging, and it’s likely contributed to their rapid growth in the bottled water market over the last several years.
If your business is investing the time and resources into creating a unique packaging experience, make sure you call attention to that throughout the purchase process. You may be surprised by the impact it can have on your website’s conversion rate.
Regardless of what you sell, you’ve got competition. The smallest nuance can either convert a customer or send them to your competitor.
Quality custom packaging, whether in-store or online, can be that little piece of added value that makes your customer think ‘wow, I got a lot more than I bargained for’. It ensures that your brand’s name, along with a quality product, will stay in their mind well after the transaction is complete.
If you want to start using custom packaging for your brand, head over to Packhelp and use the online designer to drag-and-drop your branding onto your ideal packaging.
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Phil is the Content Marketing, SEO & Content Specialist at Packhelp. When he’s not writing articles about fancy packaging, he can be found writing about Polish history and culture, hanging out with his dog or pretending to be a stormtrooper.
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