Packaging is a necessity in the modern world. No matter how great your product, people will need to know what it looks like, what it does, and where they can buy it before they’ll make any purchases. You could have the best product ever made, but if you don’t present it well, no one will see your brilliance.
Your product probably comes in a box, even if it is sold online directly from your own website or through other marketplaces. You certainly want to present the best possible image to buyers when they receive their products in a nice package. In other words, you want to change the narrative about what happens between when you make your product and when it gets to the hands of a consumer. Is there anything you can do to make that process go more smoothly, save time, money, or energy? Certainly! Here are some proven ways.
Avoid Making Last-Minute Decision
The longer you have to work on your packaging design, the better. You need more than just a few hours or even days to come up with something good. A rushed project is usually an amateurish one, and people will notice. If you give yourself at least two and preferably three weeks for this, you’ll be able to focus on everything well. It will also allow you to think about packaging in a more holistic way, rather than just trying to figure out what works best for this particular product or batch.
Use Green Packaging
Your packaging needs to hold your product safely, of course. However, you don’t want it to harm the environment during that process, or when it gets thrown out. In fact, recycled materials are often a great choice for your business because they’re cheaper and more environmentally friendly than many other choices on the market. Just make sure that whatever you use is also safe for humans if they need to interact directly with the box.
If you can’t afford recycled materials for all of your packaging, focus on using them whenever possible. Of course, if you are already using recycled materials, be sure to have your product tested for any contaminants that might have been included with it.
Upgrade Your Packaging Materials
Your packaging material options are pretty much endless, from plastics to cardboard to metals to glass. You can also use a combination of materials and the best packaging automation machines when you need to. The only major consideration is how well your product will hold up in each one.
For example, if it’s a food product that needs to be kept cold during shipping, then you’ll probably need to use some type of metal or other conductive material that can hold an icy temperature. You don’t want your product to melt before it gets to the consumer, after all.
Upgrade Your Packaging Designs
People are always looking at new designs for the packaging. If you have a plain box in the shape of an amoeba, you’re not going to knock anyone’s socks off with your product. However, if you make it a scallop box or come up with some other more unique and interesting design, people will be far more likely to notice and consider buying it.
Use tags on your packaging items if they aren’t already attached. While this is an expense, it does pay off when you’re trying to sell your products. People love shopping online, and having to search for what they want in a box full of similar-looking items can be frustrating. When something has a little tag on it that gives all the relevant information, purchasing has an order of magnitude higher success rate.
Minimize Package Labels
Products are not always perfect. Sometimes they need to be sent back to you, or maybe your customers will complain that their item arrived broken or is the wrong color. If it’s a food product, there may be expiration issues as well. Whatever the case might be, you don’t want to make it hard for people who can’t use the product to send it back or get their money.
Do your best to minimize the number of labels that are on each package. If you need a lot of them for more complex products, make sure they are easy to peel off and can be recycled. Also, be sure there is only one label per item, so the customer doesn’t have to struggle with multiple items.
Working with Professionals
While you can manage your own packaging design, it’s much more efficient to use professionals, so you spend less time on this part of your business. If you want to save money, look into hiring someone who is just starting out because their rates will probably be far lower than what more experienced designers would charge. Also, even if it takes a while to find the right designer for you, you are far more likely to get exactly the type of packaging that will best fit your company.
Gather and Analyze Robust Data on your Packaging KPIs
If you want to continue improving, then you’ll need to gather as much data as possible on your current system. Look into the number of returns and complaints about the packaging. Also, tally up the extra costs that come from having poor-fitting boxes or other such mishaps.
From there, make sure you optimize around these areas; if half of your returns are because of damaged packages, then you should work on damage reduction. If you’re still not satisfied with the results after doing this, then just go for a complete overhaul. If it seems too daunting to try and replace your current system, look into implementing one improvement at a time. Eventually, if you implement enough changes, you’ll have a completely different system that will make your life easier.
Take it one step at a time while there are dozens of tips and tricks on how to streamline your packaging process, some things work better with other things while some don’t fit at all. Work with your business partner to come up with a comprehensive strategy that will make your company not only more efficient but also give it the edge it needs in this highly competitive world.
