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Have you ever heard of the quote: “clothes make the man?”
This phrase may seem quite pretentious to some degree, but it does carry weight when you realize that how you clothe and present yourself actually influences how other people perceive you.
When it comes to product packaging, first impressions also apply. How you ‘clothe’ your products also affects customer perception. Just how premium packaging will suggest a well-made product, poor packaging, regardless of its quality will reduce its value.
Product packaging is about telling a story and creating an emotional connection with your customers. This is why unboxing videos are prevalent these days. Customers crave experience, and it starts from the moment their purchased product reaches their doorstep. And while keeping your products well-packed and safe is important, innovative packaging will enhance your customers’ anticipation and excitement of discovering what’s inside.
1. Understanding the Digital Shopper
The digital age has brought forth numerous changes in the shopping experience. The ease by which you can buy almost anything online has changed buyers’ expectations.
To fully understand your digital shopper and avoid frustrations you need to understand what these expectations are.
Experience
Experience is crucial for digital shoppers because it significantly impacts their satisfaction, loyalty, and overall perception of a brand. A smooth, intuitive, and hassle-free shopping experience keeps customers satisfied.
Positive shopping experiences lead to glowing reviews and recommendations, which are highly influential for new customers considering a purchase.
Convenience
With the advanced technology available nowadays, it is expected that the ordering and delivery process must be easy and hassle-free. It is much more common for carts or shopping bags to be abandoned when a buyer encounters some difficulties in the buying journey.
Having to do your shopping at the convenience of your home is a big factor in why people buy things online. You have to cater to their demands and must curate your e-commerce store for their convenience. A positive shopping experience equals brand loyalty and thus, an increase in sales.
Sustainability
People are giving more thought to the things they buy and consume, especially when it comes to environmental issues.
Shoppers want to know how products are made, where they come from, and if it is sustainably sourced. More of them favor businesses that put on great efforts for sustainability and are adamant about ethically sourced materials.
Personalization
Your customers want to be valued. They must feel special, and unique and to some degree form an emotional connection with the brand. This assures a positive experience for the shopper and will gain you brand loyalty.
Personalization can be achieved through recommendations, visitor history, personalized emails, and newsletters and so much more.
Understanding and taking into consideration your digital shopper’s expectations, you can innovate and create a high-end packaging design.
2. How Innovative Packaging Creates a Memorable Unboxing
Innovative packaging is all about creating a package that goes beyond the standard cardboard box. It is about developing a strategic tool that provides customers with a satisfying and memorable experience of opening a product package. This approach moves away from the traditional methods of protecting and packing products since it explores exciting alternatives that maintain functionality while being visually appealing to customers.
Here’s how innovative packaging achieves a memorable unboxing:
It Establishes an Emotional Connection
With innovative packaging, the customer is always in for a surprise. The hidden compartments, unexpected materials, interactive features, and of course, freebies, will always spark curiosity and excitement. This emotional connection developed during the unboxing elevates the perceived value of the product itself.
Textures, scents, and even sounds also create a multi-sensory experience that instantly sets the mood and heightens anticipation. Creating clever designs and graphics, and even adding printed messages can communicate the brand’s values, history, or the story behind the product. All these create a deeper connection with the customers that fosters a sense of community.
It Increases Engagement
Through gamification or incorporating interactive elements like puzzles, hidden messages, or QR codes that lead to games or contests, you can turn unboxing into a fun and engaging experience. By encouraging your customers to become active participants, you create an experience worthy of being shared on social media. This can expose your brand to a wider audience and bring more loyal customers.
The effort and thoughtfulness you put into innovative packaging demonstrates that the brand cares about the customer experience. This fosters a sense of loyalty and encourages repeat purchases.
It Brings Practical Benefits
Innovative packaging can be a powerful tool for brands to showcase their commitment to environmental responsibility. Using recycled materials, biodegradable options, or minimizing packaging altogether resonates with today’s eco-conscious consumers.
Multifunctional packaging that transforms into something useful adds value to the purchase. Imagine receiving a garment bag that folds out of the shoebox, eliminating the need for additional storage. This not only reduces waste but also provides a practical benefit for the customer.
In a crowded marketplace, innovative packaging can help a brand stand out from the competition. It creates a unique first impression and leaves a lasting positive memory in the customer’s mind.
3. How to Create Innovative, High-End Packaging Design for E-commerce
Various businesses have proven that there is an increase of 30% in customer interest because of packaging. Concurrently, 52% of online shoppers will shop again from businesses that have premium packaging. This is because premium packaging translates to good quality products.
For an e-commerce packaging design, the focus is mainly on the memorable unboxing experience for customers rather than shelf appeal.
So, here are the key elements of an effective e-commerce packaging design.
It Must Be Visually Appealing
We eat with our eyes first.
That is true since in all of the five senses, sight is the most powerful. Visual stimuli can alter the perception of the other senses. This is why the more attractive something is, the more appealing it is to us.
Use different colors, shapes, and sizes. Be not limited to your typography and imagery. Your only deterrent is the limit of your creativity. So, thinking outside the box could help a great deal.
But be mindful of being consistent with your branding. Make sure that your packaging design is consistent with your brand identity. Your brand logos must be clear to be easily identifiable. Or, design your packages with imagery that correlates to your brand. You can use a Removal.AI background remover tool to help you edit and design the pictures or imagery you will use.
It Must Be Functional
Your packaging design must not be all fluff and look pretty. It needs to be functional also.
Consider the durability of the materials used. Will it be able to hold its contents? Does it have ample protection when being transported? Are they labeled correctly? And is all the necessary information about the product provided?
Also on your end, will the packaging design aid you to easily monitor, identify, distribute, and store the products?
It Must Be Eco-Friendly
There is a shift from using traditional packaging materials such as plastic to more environmentally-friendly materials. Consumers are now aware of the damages caused by single-use plastic and are now pushing for eco-friendly alternatives.
You have options such as starch, PLA, cellulose, and plant-based materials from hemp, coconut, cornstarch, and sugarcane, that are readily available for use.
Advances in Technology have contributed greatly to having more innovative packaging.
Increase Engagement with Augmented Reality (AR)
Use Augmented Reality (AR) if you want to add more interaction and engagement for your customers. You can have them scan QR codes to access hidden menus or video games. This gives your customers an immersive unboxing experience.
Consider Using Digital Printing
Digital printing offers a more streamlined process for producing well-crafted product packages. They are more precise in terms of color quality and cutting ornate shapes compared to traditional printing processes.
The precision of digital printing allows a more detailed customization that can target specific customers. You can offer your customers tailor-made packaging which increases personalization.
This technology also helps in decreasing waste from by-products by eliminating redundant steps in the process.
Automate Your Packaging System
The availability of AI-driven packaging systems has enhanced package quality. Not only do automated machines increase output but they can decrease human errors.
Packaging systems are also able to use robotic arms and hands that can handle delicate items. Vision-assistive robots can scan, sort, inspect, and do quality control for your products. This increases operational efficiency.
4. Unboxing the Future of Packaging Design
Emerging Trends
Internet of Packaging
Technology further enhances the interaction of brands with their customers. The use of Augmented Reality (AR) is gaining traction in product packaging. They increase engagement as customers unlock exclusive content of the brand.
Innovative packaging designs integrate QR codes, RFID, and NFC to offer security and connectivity to customers about their products.
Nanotechnology
The use of this technology is clearly shown in food packaging. Food safety concerns are addressed by nanocoatings that are applied on the packaging surface for protection against stains, dust, and dirt. It replaces plastic coatings.
Nanosensors are also placed to ensure food product freshness.
Sustainability
Recyclable packaging
A lot of businesses are changing their packaging materials to be more earth-friendly. An example of this is using post-consumer resins, which are packaging materials used from recycled consumer waste.
Biodegradable packaging
Concerned efforts are being made to invent biodegradable packaging materials. Most are plant-based materials such as cotton, coconut, hemp, and cornstarch.
Next Big Thing
Predictions are that connected packaging will gain popularity in the coming years.
Connected Packaging in simpler terms could be called auto-replenishment. It is made possible by having “smart home” devices that monitor a certain consumable product and automatically order from providers if the product is running low or needs replenishments. You can customize the ‘settings” in a companion app so you can set up and manage your auto-replenishment however you want.
The main positive of connected packaging is sustainability and decreasing global waste. The industry needs to step up because 40% of plastic waste is used in packaging. In connected packaging, there would be less waste since refill packages need not be designed to catch attention and be filled with frills. This further decreases the weight and size of each package for more efficient transportation. And, since most containers will be recyclable, it is a more sustainable packaging solution.
5. Conclusion
Your packaging is your product’s “outside persona”. It offers an introduction to your product and as such must impress your customer. It must not just look appealing but it needs to have “substance”. It needs to be durable and robust. The customers need to see that the packaging is well thought out. Because if the business pays good attention to the packaging, it means the product itself is of high quality.
The unboxing experience is not limited to the buyer himself. With social media, the experience can be shared with a lot of people. This could make or break your brand. Premium packaging can result in more interest in your product and can potentially end in conversion.
As they say, first impressions are the most lasting.