Will Your Packaging Design Drive More Purchases & Satisfaction?
Every company should “up their game” in packaging whether the product is sold at retail, online, or both. You’ve always needed to stand out on the shelf in physical stores through design, content, and durability. But many marketers forget the impact of packaging for items purchased online. That’s because the product is often displayed online without its box or wrap. The experience of opening up a package at home is the critical time to convey the brand message. In either situation, thoughtfully designed packaging can drive more purchases and satisfaction, according to a study posted in Psychology & Marketing.
We have previously written about sustainable packaging which you can read here. But in this post, we’re going to cover branding and durability – important factors for both physical stores and eCommerce to drive purchase and satisfaction.
What to consider when creating packaging:
Create a checklist, starting with durability and shipping considerations. A dented box or damaged produce hurts your product perception and brand image. Then we’ll cover how to deliver the right branding and messaging.
1. Supply chain – How will the product be shipped and stored? Will there be an outer shipping container or will the box be placed individually in a shipping box by the retailer or Amazon? Make sure you have all those specifications, such as size and weight. Do you need barcodes, product numbers, or marketings in a specific space? Does it need to be waterproof?
2. Branding – The next step is to determine how packaging works with your organization’s brand standards. Many company standards don’t address packaging. So you may need to create a special set of brand guidelines for packaging. And don’t forget that color matters. If the outer packaging is corrugated cardboard, how does the brand color look on light brown cardboard? The packaging design should reinforce the brand with colors, logo, typography, and materials.
3. Emotion – Now it gets fun. What are the emotions you want to create when someone sees the package for the first time? Even within a brand, there may be several different target audiences. Who is buying this specific product? What demographics are you targeting? It’s also always important to consider accessibility for many products. Test with your target audience to ensure you are conveying the right message.
4. On-shelf – Finally, when you have a design, how will it look in-store? Products on the shelf have a FMOT (first moment of truth) where you only have a few seconds to convince someone to take it home. In this case, the packaging design needs to stand out from everything else around it. You may want to take a mockup of your package into several stores and see how it looks next to competitors. Or take photos on your phone and use photo editing to put your product “in the store.”
Delivering Satisfaction
Creating a satisfying experience with packaging is more complex than most other marketing activities. It’s like a lock that will only open if all the numbers align (1) supply chain (2) brand standards (3) emotional impact (4) on-shelf impact.
Don’t leave this strategy to the end of your product development or marketing workstream. James Ross Advertising in Fort Lauderdale has helped many clients develop innovative and impactful packaging and we are here to help. Take a look at some of our designs for bands such as Filthy Foods, and Flomentum! Contact us here.
