Make a sale? It’s time to celebrate — but just for a moment, because your customers want their order as soon as possible. One way to streamline the phase before shipping is to decide how to box up their order. That’s where custom packaging options can come in handy.
Your packaging serves several essential purposes — it protects your customers’ purchases during shipping and supports your brand image. And it may even play a role in whether customers buy from you again.
Customizing this piece of the shipping puzzle can benefit your brand in a number of ways. Here are seven opportunities to improve the customer experience just by adding some subtle nuances to your packaging.
1. Create a unique unboxing experience
Anyone can spot an Amazon package a mile away. Amazon has done such a great job of branding its basic cardboard boxes that you never have to guess where those packages came from.
But because those packages are so plain and predictable, there’s not much of a wow factor to them. They’re made for efficiency and not much else.
This is a huge opportunity for smaller eCommerce brands to make a difference. By using custom packaging, you can create unique unboxing experiences that surprise and delight your customers. Everything from the box to the filler to the arrangement of the items can be customized in some way.
When your customers open their packages, they can see how you’ve packaged their items with care.
2. Stand out from other brands.
In a world where businesses are constantly vying for attention, custom packaging can help you stand out from the rest. By tailoring your packaging to fit your brand identity, you can create a unique look that will make your products more memorable. And since first impressions are everything, custom packaging can be the key to winning over new customers.
Of course, custom packaging comes with a higher price tag than standard options. But if you consider the benefits – increased sales, better brand recognition, and improved customer loyalty – it’s worth the investment. Plus, with so many ways to customize your packaging (from material and print to shape and size), there’s no need to break the bank.
3. Increase your brand value.
First impressions are everything for eCommerce brands. Since customers don’t have the option to physically shop in your store, you need to rely on other ways to build your brand image.
Custom packaging can help you increase your brand value by creating a strong first impression. Packaging can offer a luxury look and feel, allowing your customers to set high expectations for the quality of your products.
4. Create a more professional appearance.
When it comes to product packaging, the old adage “you get what you pay for” definitely applies. Cheap, flimsy packaging not only looks bad, but can also damage your product.
Custom packaging, on the other hand, gives your product a professional appearance and can help to protect it from damage. It also looks like you took the extra mile to secure your customers’ purchases, which automatically makes you look more professional and trustworthy.
5. Protect your products during transport.
We’ve touched on this a little already, but it bears repeating. When you try to go the cheap route and not protect your items during transport, you risk having those items come back to you broken or damaged. And there’s nothing like product damage to sour a customer and make them hesitant to order from you again.
Adding custom packaging to your eCommerce shipments doesn’t cost much. In fact, it’s more like an investment in your products’ protection to make your customers happy and avoid costly returns.
6.Use only what you really need.
When you rely on basic packaging options, you’re at the mercy of pre-defined sizes that might or might not suit the items you sell. Custom packaging gives you more flexibility over how you protect your products in the shipping box. You can avoid wasting packing material by using only what you really need, which can also help you keep your costs low.
7. Give your brand more staying power.
Giving your customers an unboxing experience beyond the basics can help them remember your brand when they’re ready to shop again. Things like unexpected colors, materials, textures, and arrangements stand out more than you might realize. All of these elements combine to create unique experiences that give your brand a little je nais se quois your customers will remember.
How can you customize your packaging for your eCommerce business? Let’s look at some options.
Custom boxes can transform an ecommerce experience from feeling ordinary to feeling like a bespoke experience. Would you ever admire your package if it was wrapped in air bubble packs inside a plain brown Styrofoam loaded box, with a copy of your invoice attached by the side? Or, would you prefer a lovely and colorful box with eye-catching concepts and a hand-written appreciation note to go along? That’s where custom boxes come in.
Packaging boxes are almost a requirement these days, especially with the rise of e-commerce and online shopping. Statistics have it that about 75% of people shop online at least once every month, thanks to platforms like Amazon.
Premium packaging is one way to boost marketing, loyalty, and sales. And one way to achieve that is by using custom boxes.
Custom boxes are packaging boxes or shipping boxes with customized dimensions, shapes, designs, and printing. This initiative helps to make such a product stand out from the crowd, while subtly helping to market and promote it.
In the Journal of Marketing, Brand Experience was defined as the “sensations, feelings, cognitions, and behavioral responses evoked by brand-related stimuli that are a part of a brand’s design and identity, packaging, communications, and environments.”
This obviously sounds too technical. So, in simple terms, brand experience is a series of activities and circumstances that spark emotions and positive feelings from customers.
From the definition, we can say that every interaction that builds up to building a positive brand experience in the minds of the customers is worth the shot. According to Chris Cavanaugh, “it is about designing a sensory experience that brings a person into a lasting and meaningful relationship with a brand.”
A customized packaging box is one way to sell your brand’s story and leave your brand’s identity and message resonating with customers. It makes you intentional and gives you an edge over a host of competitors.
There are a thousand and one reasons why custom packaging is beneficial to you and your business. Asides from clearly distinguishing you from your competitors, these are some other reasons to subscribe to using custom boxes:
First, you must understand that your brand identity is everything your packaging is. Your brand and what it stands for lies in the visual representation of your product’s packaging. It speaks volumes about what you represent as a business.
According to Liam Curley in Business 2 Community, the customer’s perception and feeling of your packaging are always transferred to the product. If your packaging is poor and drab, it also indirectly says the same for your brand.
Also, upon initial contact and without any prior information, the first difference a buyer notices when two products are placed side by side is the brand packaging. And surely, as a business, you need all the positive attention you can get.
Custom boxes also provide you the option of printing your logo, slogan, and any other thing that identifies with your business. That alone promotes your brand, gives it more visibility, and helps it to be easily recognized.
These days packaging isn’t only for functionality; it’s also about making your customers’ purchase experience memorable. With custom boxes, you can stand out from a sea of other brown boxes- or brands, if you may.
Custom boxes also offer you the option of selecting the type of material that would be best for your product. Unlike with ready-made boxes, there’s usually the option of choosing between cardboard or Kraft.
Unlike plastics, these other options can be reused; they are easily recyclable, they decompose with ease and are totally eco-friendly.
Another reason custom boxes are a definite “yes” is that; you can always be flexible in your designs. This means it provides you with the option of alternating for shapes, patterns and colors, themes, and messages.
Custom boxes allow you to wrap the products in boxes that reflect special seasons- such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or even a birthday. This add-on gives you a competitive edge over other sellers.
When a brand appeals positively to consumers, they tend to associate with it; this, in turn, triggers loyalty and keeps them as ‘repeat-customers.’
Design elements such as the imagery used, color, or fonts can evoke strong emotions and memories in the minds of the consumer. When this happens, such a product resonates and appeals to the customers not only mentally, but also emotionally. And usually, emotions sponsor behavior.
Packaging has a direct effect on sales as well, and custom boxes are also an excellent way to achieve this. Humans are generally attracted to good visuals. If people are attracted to your packaging, they’ll most likely buy your product.
This was the case with the MillerCoors beer brand. They witnessed a whopping 5% increase in sales from doing nothing asides changing their beer can.
In a survey recently conducted by DotCom distribution, it was noted that about 52% of consumers are likely to make repeat purchases if an online retailer offers premium packaging experiences.
While some retailers may see exceptional packaging or custom boxes as additional costs– something to be minimized, studies and examples have proved otherwise. So, what kind of ROI should one expect from going ‘custom?’
It’s almost impossible to put a monetary tag on the stream of returns that customer loyalty and exceptional brand identity can give.
In a blog post for Nielsen, Randall Beard, a marketing and consumer packaged goods expert, wrote that “the great thing about packaging is that it’s ‘always on.’ Once the investment has been made, it’s all dividends for years. Indeed, once a brand design or logo ‘takes,’ its value often increases with age.”
According to him, “the ROI is typically much, much higher than almost any episodic marketing activity.” As statistics and numerous examples have shown, just as in the case of MillerCoors beer brand, good packaging has a direct impact on sales, customer loyalty, and retention.
Nielsen went ahead to conduct a research, which showed that optimized package redesigns create at an average, a 5.5% increase in projected sales revenues over previous and existing designs.
For all it’s worth, it’s clear that there’s no telling what the potential returns can be when you go for premium packaging.
Packaging isn’t all there is to selling, but it’s definitely a great way to begin. Upon delivering your customers’ orders, your packaging boxes are the first point of interaction and experience with your brand and what it stands for. Don’t wait till they empty the content. By using a custom box, you can be sure to create a strong and lasting impression on your customers.
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