The days of throwing your products in an unmarked box and shipping them out to your customers are long gone.
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Whether people choose to admit it or not, the truth is, first impressions matter. A lot. And you&#;ll never get a second chance to make a great first impression.
Custom packaging is an incredible and cost-efficient way to not only impress your customers, but to leave a long lasting impact for your brand that leads to increased word of mouth, social sharing, brand loyalty and revenue.
What is Custom Packaging?Custom packaging is packaging that is uniquely tailored from scratch around a company&#;s specific needs, instead of using a standard or pre-made box or package that a product might fit inside. The custom packaging process includes modifying a package&#;s shape, size, style, colors, material, varnish and other specifications.
Now, that&#;s the definition of custom packaging, but it really doesn&#;t describe why so many companies make the switch to go custom with their retail packaging.
Custom packaging is so much more than printed cardboard or other material for your product. It&#;s a statement for your brand. A chance to build a physical connection with your customers. An opportunity to engage and delight people, while educating them about your company&#;s mission, values and product benefits.
Now let&#;s jump into the top 6 benefits that branded packaging can give your growing company.
1. Custom Packaging Is Your First ImpressionImagine it&#;s the first time you&#;re buying a product from a new company.
The packaging arrives, and it&#;s like nothing you&#;ve ever seen before. It might be a custom box with the company logo, but it&#;s also somehow deeper than that.
The packaging itself doesn&#;t feel like corrugated cardboard. It feels soft. Elegant. Refined. You can tell that it&#;s an upper tier product &#; before you even open the box.
That&#;s the kind of first impression that brands want to make, and can make, when they have full control over the elements that go into their packaging.
If you want to present your product as high-end, all-natural, mysterious or cheerful, you can do all that and more with custom packaging.
Through a combination of the right colors and materials, as well as the positioning of different elements and different printing processes, the pieces all come together perfectly. Like a fantastic puzzle where the real prize is inside, but half of the fun is opening the package itself.
Your brand has a story to tell. Every brand wants to be meaningful and to connect with its customers in a way that makes the brand relevant and interesting to them.
Custom packaging boxes are part of your brand&#;s personality. And in many cases, it&#;s as much a part of the branding itself as the product within.
3. Custom Packaging Boxes Are An ExperienceIf you&#;ve ever watched an unboxing video on Youtube or Facebook, you already know how much of a role custom packaging with your logo plays as part of the user experience.
It&#;s not just one user opening a package in front of their fans, friends or family. It&#;s also a social experience. Especially for ecommerce packaging, where your package is often the only physical item your customer touches and feels throughout the purchasing process.
The person familiar with the brand is also introducing that brand, often for the first time, to others who are watching. This becomes their first experience with the brand as well.
This social component plants the seed that if the people watching these unboxing videos want to experience something incredible, they should consider purchasing the item.
Who knew that a package could carry those kinds of exciting feelings and that kind of sensation? Packaging design and printing teams understand this, and work with you to get it right, so that your consumers can enjoy such an experience, time and time again.
4. Custom Packaging Sets Your Products ApartFor some companies, their custom packaging boxes are as much a part of them as their logo or name, and it would be unthinkable not to include it.
Everyone has likely seen or heard of the small blue Tiffany&#;s boxes, with their tell-tale color. Anyone around knows at a glance that it&#;s a Tiffany&#;s box. They&#;ve put so much into their packaging, it&#;s unmistakable.
If you can imagine, their box and its coloring have become so iconic, they&#;ve nearly transformed their packaging design itself into a piece of jewelry. That&#;s right, you can buy a &#;Tiffany blue&#; box necklace.
But this is just one of many examples. For instance, if you wanted to project your brand&#;s emphasis on being environmentally-friendly, you might incorporate packaging items that are recyclable or biodegradable.
Custom packaging boxes can make that happen through a combination of color, print material, printing process and of course the packaging design itself.
5. Custom Packaging With Your Logo Is MemorableIn a world of standard, bland boxes, custom packaging design stands out.
Whether through the use of spot UV printing to make colors pop, or through specialized debossing or embossing that grabs attention, there are lots of options that can be included with your packaging to make it look unique and different from all the &#;same&#; styles of products on shelves.
It&#;s worth noting that if your product will be positioned under direct lighting, that certain types of printing can take advantage of this and create a very attractive and unique display that catches the eye and gets noticed.
Even if your packaging won&#;t be positioned this way, there are still a number of printing processes that can make it stand out on store shelves and stay protected against things that could detract from its appearance like smudges or scuffs.
6. Custom Packaging Is Worth The Investment For Small BusinessesOf course, custom packaging boxes with your logo are often more expensive than your standard stock packaging, but it&#;s not just for the largest companies in the world.
Small businesses stand to gain from all that custom packaging has to offer, too. After all, custom boxes cost less than you probably think.
From stylish print options to unique packaging textures to shapes and designs that protect as well as create a great impression &#; there are several benefits to choosing custom packaging.
Good packaging truly elevates your brand and your product to another level. That alone makes it worth the incremental investment.
Is Custom Packaging Right for You?Branded packaging and custom boxes have a lot of benefits going for it that truly put your product in a class all its own. But it&#;s worth noting that there are other points to keep in mind, such as the number of custom package prints you want and the cost associated with designing the different plates (for use in the printing process) and so on.
The company is the world’s best Custom Cardboard Packaging supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.
The printing world, for all of the magic and wonder it can create, is still a complex one. And whether this is your first time getting your product packaging printed, or you&#;re looking for alternatives, we want to help.
As one of America&#;s largest wholesale custom packaging vendors, our team at Refine Packaging makes it our business to get to know your business.
Who are your customers? What do they want from your product? What would you like your product to convey when they open the package? What do you want them to experience? All of these things are intertwined and matter just as much as the product itself.
With that being said, it&#;s easy to feel overwhelmed at the sheer number of printing options out there for your custom packaging needs. What is a dieline? What&#;s RGB and CMYK? What is the Pantone Matching System (PMS)? What&#;s aqueous coating? We want to help you understand the many different options available to you while still staying within your budget.
Contact us today for a free estimate on your custom packaging solutions and supplies. Learn more about our prices, packaging definitions, our process and how we can help you. We&#;ll take the time to get to know your unique needs, your product needs, and how we can help.
From artists on-staff that are ready to help bring your artistic vision to life, to printing professionals that are ready to make your box design truly shine, we have the knowledge, experience and expertise to ensure that your custom packaging looks flawless from start to finish.
Think back to the time where you met your current partner&#;s (or a former partner&#;s) parents.
Chances are good that you put a lot of effort into the way you presented yourself. It&#;s important to make a good first impression, and the way we look or dress often has a great impact on how that first impression is formed.
Here&#;s the thing: First impressions may seem trivial and insignificant, but they last. It takes less than 15 seconds for a person to form an opinion about a person they&#;ve just met, and as little as 3 seconds to form an opinion of a product.
Now consider your customer as the parent and your product as yourself &#; and you&#;re trying to leave a good first impression.
Are you going to deliver your product to your customer in a beautifully designed custom package that speaks to the unique style of your brand&#; or in a plain, cardboard box?
If you want to make a great first impression with your customers, you can&#;t neglect the packaging. In this Insight, we&#;ll be focusing on customized product packaging and how it plays a key role in establishing a memorable, consistent brand experience.
Here&#;s what we&#;ll be covering:
Every sustainable business is built off of repeat customers.
&#;Customer retention is the only profitable way for ecommerce brands to grow because repeat sales mean making money repeatedly on a one-time acquisition cost paid&#;, Says Dimira Teneva, Head of Content at the ecommerce growth platform, Metrilo.
And your product packaging is a great place to start telling your customer that they should buy from you again. You can do that by bringing your unique selling proposition onto your packaging.
Oftentimes the packaging for your product is the first touchpoint that customers have with your brand outside of your website. The packaging sets the stage for your customer&#;s experience, while also reaffirming the reasons why they chose to purchase from you in the first place.
If you&#;ve put plenty of time and resources into creating a stunning and frictionless user experience on your website, but then deliver your product in a plain, unbranded box, what does that say about your brand? Not delivering a consistent experience throughout the entire customer journey is a surefire way to disappoint your customers.
Nice website, but poorly presented product? While deceitful isn&#;t the right word, you can be sure that your customer will be left feeling extremely underwhelmed.
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Nothing says &#;great value for the money&#; like giving your customers a little more than what they&#;re expecting.
And no, that doesn&#;t mean throwing in movie tickets or an Amazon voucher. It simply means showing your customer that you&#;ve gone the extra mile to give them more than they bargained for.
That may be as simple as a little thank you note or wrapping your product in some custom branded tissue paper. Quality product packaging can also be a selling point that you list in your product descriptions (more on that later).
German-based apparel brand, Malimo, is a great example of how you can level up your packaging without having to put in too much effort. Every one of their packages includes a handful of unique items: a handwritten thank-you note, a card explaining their commitment to sustainability, and a sticker. It&#;s simple, but it goes the extra mile in delivering a personalized experience to the customer.
Everyone&#;s familiar with the excitement of coming home to see a package waiting for them on their front porch. Even if you know what you&#;re getting, there&#;s still an excitement when it comes to the reveal, if time and care have been taken to make the reveal part of what you already liked about the brand. Unboxing builds on our desire and enjoyment around the unknown.
The personal touches of an unforgettable unboxing experience can provide a great customer experience and grow repeat conversions. Providing your customers with a unique unboxing experience lets them know that not only do you care how the product is delivered but that you go the extra mile to ensure they receive the best possible experience from end-to-end.
Right, so you&#;re now convinced that good design and quality packaging can make a difference in how your customers perceive your brand. Here&#;s what you&#;ll need to know to actually get started designing packaging that satisfies your customers expectations.
First and foremost, your packaging is there to keep the product safe and secure. In the world of packaging, form always follows function.
Yope is a great example of a company using product packaging that: 1) is functional 2) protects the product, and 3) aligns with the aesthetic style of the brand. It&#;s completely ok to get carried away with intricate, stylized packaging (in fact, we encourage it), just as long as it satisfies its first job of protecting the product.
In a retail store, this would stand out and draw attention. Sold online, it keeps multiple products together to make shipping easier. There&#;s not much point to using packaging that looks pretty if it doesn&#;t protect your product from damage in the shipping process.
Once you&#;ve picked the proper type of packaging for your product, it&#;s time to start getting branding involved.
Chances are good that you&#;ve invested a solid amount of time into creating your branding style guide: logo, colors, shapes, textures, messaging, etc. If you want your packaging to leave a memorable impression on customers, make sure it aligns with the branding guidelines you outlined in your style guide. This helps create a feeling of consistency, from the online space into the physical realm.
Also, don&#;t forget to follow packaging legal requirements in the markets you&#;re selling to. Different countries have different regulations around how you&#;re legally allowed to ship products, so make sure you&#;re in compliance with regional laws before moving forward with any custom packaging.
To really get the most of your packaging design, the material and texture of your packaging need to work with your logo and branding.
If people know the shape of your logo (Apple, for example), you can hot stamp or emboss your logo, as the shape is easily recognized. Alternatively, if colors are most important to you (like Google), then you&#;ll need a canvas that complements these colors.
Moon Sling opted for packaging design that amplifies the uniqueness of their brand. They ship their products in recyclable corrugated cardboard (which aligns with their commitment to sustainability and ethical business practices) and have a simple cutout of their logo so that customers get a glimpse of the high-quality linen fabric before they even open the package.
If your product is swimming in opulence, then a rigid cardboard box with a subtle black texture is going to compliment your brand experience.
BMW created a sleek custom-designed press kit to help promote the launch of their latest automobile release.As with most creative mediums, packaging design is only limited by your imagination. Materials, shapes, textures &#; if you can dream it, chances are there&#;s a way to pull it off (within the limits of shipping regulations that is).
Many online retailers sell products from dozens of different brands. For example, the online clothing retailer, ASOS, has hundreds of different brands that they carry and distribute, so how do they maintain a consistent brand experience through their packaging?
Their solution was to create an eye-catching poly mailer bag. Now their brand is synonymous with the black and white bags their clothing ship in. Every time you see a bag with this pattern on it, you immediately know who it&#;s from without even needing to see the logo.
Great product packaging speaks directly to the quality standards of your brand. If you can provide your customers with an amazing overall buying experience, it&#;ll have a positive impact on your perceived brand value and your bottom-line.
As a value-add for your products, consider mentioning custom packaging directly on product detail pages (PDP). If you ship everything in recyclable (or compostable) packaging, that should be called-out as a feature so visitors are fully aware of your company&#;s commitment to sustainable business practices.
The brand Boxed Water is Better is a great example of how you can carefully highlight specialized packaging throughout the website experience. Notice how they draw attention to their &#;100% recyclable, refillable & BPA-free&#; packaging in the product description. This company is revered for their sustainable product packaging, and it&#;s likely contributed to their rapid growth in the bottled water market over the last several years.
If your business is investing the time and resources into creating a unique packaging experience, make sure you call attention to that throughout the purchase process. You may be surprised by the impact it can have on your website&#;s conversion rate.
Regardless of what you sell, you&#;ve got competition. The smallest nuance can either convert a customer or send them to your competitor.
Quality custom packaging, whether in-store or online, can be that little piece of added value that makes your customer think &#;wow, I got a lot more than I bargained for&#;. It ensures that your brand&#;s name, along with a quality product, will stay in their mind well after the transaction is complete.
If you want to start using custom packaging for your brand, head over to Packhelp and use the online designer to drag-and-drop your branding onto your ideal packaging.
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Phil is the Content Marketing, SEO & Content Specialist at Packhelp. When he&#;s not writing articles about fancy packaging, he can be found writing about Polish history and culture, hanging out with his dog or pretending to be a stormtrooper.
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