How Essential Is Custom designed Product Packaging to Your Trade?

Never underestimate the impact of custom product packaging. While it may seem expensive for a small business budget, a premium box with personalized marketing materials is a smart investment, especially for an e-commerce or retail company. Your item’s package can help convince a customer to choose your brand or encourage them to share their delivery on social media.

Product packaging design also distinguishes your brand from resellers like Amazon. Forbes reports that 89% of consumers are “more likely to buy products from Amazon than other e-commerce sites.” Retail reporter Kiri Master emphasizes that “brands need to find new ways to connect with customers who prefer to shop on marketplaces.”

Stats on the Subscription Box Industry

Product packaging design matters the most in the subscription box industry.

According to Mckinsey and Company’s “Thinking inside the subscription box: New research on e-commerce consumers,” subscription boxes appeal to “young, affluent urbanites” for the “convenient, personalized, and often lower-cost way to buy what they want and need.”

Subscribers are likely to be 25 to 44 years old and residing in northeastern US urban areas. Their incomes range from $50,000 to $100,000.

We have Birchbox to thank for this phenomenon, with its affordable delivery of beauty samples at just $10. Big companies like Amazon, Walmart, Sephora, and Lancome have also joined the subscription box game.

As a result, the subscription e-commerce market has grown above 100% in the past five years. The industry’s biggest retailers’ sales went up from $57.0M in 2011 to $2.6B in 2016.

How Custom Product Packaging Sparks a Customer’s Joy

The impact of your custom product packaging practically determines the next step the consumer takes on your brand. The following numbers prove that giving your product the best appearance possible will increase and sustain customer engagement:

• The 2013 E-commerce Packaging Survey reports that 40% of consumers are more likely to share a photo of distinct product packaging on social media.
• A sloppy or plain-looking box is likely to reduce your sales: 78% of consumers are more likely to trust a brand that takes the time to create custom content compared to those that don’t.
• We also ran a poll of our Facebook users that found: premium packaging encourages 84% of our customers to buy a product, versus the 16% who said it didn’t really matter.

Keeping Up With Your Customer in Custom Packaging

Customers are always right and many business owners are convinced of custom packaging’s relevance in their industries:

• According to the Flexible Packaging Association’s 2015 Brand Value Study, 80% of brand owners agree that packaging influences brand value.
• Businesses also see a 30% increase in consumer interest when they use premium packaging, as the e-commerce Packaging Survey reports.
• MidAtlantic Packaging states that 59% of shoppers under 45 see chic packaging as the number one selling point.

Ensuring a Sustainable Package

Your package needs to do more than just shine and stand out. How its material affects the environment matters to many consumers:

• According to the 2018 State of the Packaging Industry Report, 57% of customers “cited sustainability and recyclability as the top packaging trend. The same report also shows that 60% of the respondent companies have projects with sustainability efforts.
• Dotcom Distribution’s 2015 Survey confirmed the eco-conscious mindset of consumers: 57% of them indicated the importance of eco-friendly packaging, while 61% will include a product’s use of eco-friendly packaging as a purchase consideration.
• The 2014 Contract Packaging Association and The Paper Worker’s research shows that 63% of shoppers actively reuse the packaging of the products they buy.

How to Create Packaging for Your Products

To start planning your product’s custom box, you need to have the right dimensions, a suitable material, and an on-brand design. Create a product box today with your desired specs and materials.

Need an easy reference for the stats and facts above? Check out the infographic that summarizes all the important information below:

Complete the Custom Packaging Experience

After creating your custom box, add other packaging materials to personalize the orders customers receive from your company. Add labels with your logo or send postcards with exclusive discounts and announcements. Every special message and branded material counts in strengthening their impression of your brand.

What are your thoughts on custom product packaging? Start a conversation in the comments below.