If you run a business which creates products, you need to carefully consider the packaging that you create for it, as well as the products themselves. You might have the most fantastic item in the world, but consumers are not likely to pick it up unless they are enticed by the way that it looks. Not only this, good packaging can provide your products with the protection that they require to stay in good condition while they are being transported around. Here is some more detail about why you need to take your time over packaging design decisions.
Customer Decision-Making is Often Based on Packaging
The strength of your product packaging can make a huge difference to your customers’ decision-making. In fact, it is estimated that around a third of customer choices are based on the packaging alone. As well as this, the vast majority of purchasing decisions are still made in-store rather than beforehand. This means that you have a great opportunity to influence consumers which you could be missing out on with poor packaging.
Marketing and Promotional Tool
With the explosion in the popularity of social media over the past few years, your packaging has become an even more important marketing tool. If consumers see a product that they like the look of, they are likely to snap a photo of it to share with their network. On the other hand, if they see some major flaw in it, you could find your product going viral for all the wrong reasons. Ultimately, you want your business to be talked about in a positive context as much as possible. And there are also the more traditional forms of promotion such as TV and print. If your product is instantly recognisable through the packaging alone, this will help to provide a major marketing boost to it.
Product Protection
Whether your product is wrapped in paper, cardboard or plastic, quality packaging can deliver good savings thanks to the protection that it provides to your products. The last thing that you want is to have to pay for damages which were easily avoidable. Not only this, packaging innovations can enhance your product as a whole. For example, just think about all of the food products which are stored in resealable plastic bags to help lock in their freshness. Your packaging can end up playing a big role in the overall enjoyment which your product provides to your consumers.
How to Pick the Right Packaging
Ensure that it Reflects the Product
The most effective types of packaging are the ones that properly reflect the product, communicating both its values and market position. Look at what your competitors are doing as a guideline. Of course, you don’t want to be too similar to them, but you can at least use these for ideas. After all, a lot of packaging is quite samey when the products inside are similar. If you are going to completely buck the trend, you need to be 100 percent confident that what you are doing is the right thing.
Focus on Target Market
One of the major issues that companies have when they are creating packaging is that they try to be too broad in their appeal, and end up not appealing to anyone. The best way you are going to find out what your target market is interested in is by appealing to them directly. Remember, even though the outer packaging is what they will notice first, you still need to make the inner packaging attractive as well. This contributes to the overall ‘experience’ of buying and unwrapping an item.
Get Your Products Ready to Travel
You also need to think about the practical elements of your packaging as well as the visual appeal. After all, you don’t want it to get damaged when it is being distributed. If you run an online store, you need everything to look the same in the pictures as it does when it arrives through the customer’s letterbox. Stand up pouches are great for space-saving and protection. You should also consider uline custom boxes. After all, it costs an awful lot more to have to replace products due to poor packaging than paying for them to be properly packaged from the outset.
Use Standard Sizes Where Possible
When you are designing packages, it tends to be much easier to use standard sizes. Though it may be tempting to try something that is a little more ‘out there’, the standard sizes help to reduce production costs and give you much greater flexibility on pallets.
