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Many businesses, especially those in retail, take significant time and effort to ensure the quality of their products. However, the market is already saturated with similar items. The competition is no longer just about selling products or services, but the packaging, too. The packaging of your products is a reflection of your brand.
Going the extra mile to make your packaging unique and purposeful may help positively impact your business, and may help increase sales. Of course, there are endless branding style guide templates to help you perfect your brand. If you’re still not convinced, here are some ways proper packaging impacts your brand.
It Protects Your Products
The chief purpose of packaging is to protect whatever’s inside. Often, companies aren’t liable when goods get damaged during transit. When customers receive faulty or damaged products, they’ll blame you. And that’s one massive blow to your business’ reputation. Quality packaging lets customers know that the state of their orders matters to you. Deliveries can get bumpy due to weather conditions or careless couriers. You can avoid the most common delivery mishaps by using the correct packaging for your products.
First, understand what your goods are. If you’re delivering pharmaceutical or food-grade products in bulk, you might want to consider using different kinds of FIBC bag. These bags will protect the items from the elements and protect the environment from any possible chemicals inside. Fragile items must have protective packaging like double-corrugated boxes and bubble wrap. Liquid products also need to be sealed correctly to avoid spilling. Second, ensure your packaging is the proper size to contain the products. Forcing your product into a small box will damage it before it’s even shipped out. The same will also happen with a larger container. So, always consider the size of your packaging to secure whatever you’ll put in it.
It Advertises Your Brand
Companies invest a lot in advertising their goods. In fact, some even hire branding management teams. You might also spend money on attractive physical or online ads and even a TV commercial. But if your packaging doesn’t match the standards you have for your marketing and products, people may brush you aside.
Creative packaging can leave a positive and lasting impression on customers. Some brands even sell more because of their packaging. Take, for example, McDonald’s Happy Meal boxes. Even from a distance, most people know what it is and where it’s from. The business even made it part of their usual marketing strategy, especially for kids, because of its iconic shape and colors.
You want your packaging to be both memorable and customer-friendly. Choose fonts that are readable and colors that match your brand’s purpose. Warm colors fit food businesses, while green shades work well with organic products. You can read up on these packaging design tips to make a good impression and attract more customers in the future.
It Gives Customers Information
You may think not everyone reads the text on the packaging, but you’ll be surprised how much the info there has saved other people’s time. Customers appreciate honest businesses. One way to know if a business is honest is by looking at their product information on the package. Details must be factual and informative. If your packaging provides the wrong data, you could face unsatisfied customers or, worse, lawsuits.
Great packaging includes valuable information, instructions, and ingredients or materials about the product inside. You’ll have fewer people asking the same questions repeatedly if everything they need to know is already written on the packaging.
In other cases, the information provided is about the packaging itself. Consumers nowadays consider what the packaging is made of along with the product. Plastic is sturdy and protects items well. But it’s also a significant pollutant, which many people avoid. Letting your customers know that they’re purchasing items in clean packaging also lets them know that your business is environmentally-conscious. And you can do that by including that info on the packaging for as long as it’s factual.
It Reflects The Product
As mentioned previously, the packaging reflects your brand, but it also reflects the products you sell. How do you inform your customers that your goods are valuable? You do that by keeping them in packages that match their quality.
People are less likely to purchase something they’ve never used before if it’s packaged in a plain paper bag. They’ll look for alternatives and buy the one in the best packaging they see. Unfortunately, in retail, people do judge books by their covers. By packing your products in quality packages, you can start to grab attention, attract more customers to and slowly gain their loyalty.
Packaging may also reflect your business’ vision, such as saving the environment. It would make more sense if eco-friendly products also had eco-friendly packaging. Even if companies sell non-organic products, customers appreciate it when they’re lessening their carbon footprint, too. If you’d like to do your part as well, you can check out these unique and sustainable packaging ideas to get you started.
It Helps Your Brand Stand Out
Businesses in the same niche may use similar packaging to market and deliver their goods. While this is mostly done to fit standards, sometimes customers can’t tell one product from the other. By personalizing your packaging, you can stand out from the rest and help people remember your brand and product. There are hundreds of packaging brand building ideas to separate you from the competition.
Personalized packaging is an effective bait to lure customers to your products. It can be in the form of incorporating designs, patterns, or colors your competitors aren’t using. Instead of buying pre-made packaging from a known supplier, try ordering custom-made ones in bulk. But if you’re on a budget, putting your brand name on your bags or boxes can turn your packaging from basic to professional. It may even add to its visual appeal.
Take an example from Tiffany and Co., who’ve made a simple blue box as luxurious as their jewelry. All they did was use a consistent and specific shade of blue and print their name on the cover. You could do the same for your packaging, and you’ll have people recognizing your brand by its design in no time.
Packaging has become so important in how people purchase a product. Consumer culture is also quite different now. Customers make unboxing videos to showcase both the product they ordered and the box it came in, too. Many companies have taken notice of this trend and leveled up their packaging game in unique ways.
As a business owner, you should put your packaging in the same level of importance as the product you’re selling. That way, you’ll not only ensure your customers receive their orders intact but also assure them that your business cares about quality as much as quantity.
