It’s impossible to please everyone—but as an online retailer, you’ve got to try. Sales, promotions, gifts and giveaways are always viable, but none of that counts if a customer’s completely unimpressed with your business. A big part of their impression of you comes from your packaging and how it arrives on their doorstep. Here’s 3 insights into how your e-commerce packaging choices affect your brand and its reputation.
They’re paying attention to your packaging choices
Customers are more discerning about their packaging than ever before. In survey after survey, three-quarters of customers report that high-quality or personalized packaging positively affects their opinion of an online store. It makes them feel appreciated and valued, which causes them to credit your business for the entire ordering and delivery experience. Even for things out of your hands—like unexpectedly fast delivery. Almost ninety percent of customers who have a positive delivery experience will return to your store in the future.
However, as a result, the flip side is also true.
They’re blaming you for any delivery damage
Half of all online shoppers have received packages that are damaged to some degree. And, regardless of how personalized the packaging is, or whether the damage is due to a careless delivery driver, almost all customers put the blame squarely on you. What’s worse, that prompts nearly three-quarters of customers to consider never purchasing from your store again—and inspires one in ten customers to stop buying from you permanently.
Since the fate of a customer’s order is out of your hands once it leaves your facility, you’ve got only three ways to combat these problems: choosing a reliable postal service, a strong returns policy, and a superior customer service team.
They’re judging your environmental impact
In these days of economy versus environment, packaging thankfully doesn’t have to choose a side. And, that’s a good thing, because customers are keeping a watchful eye on your e-commerce packaging choices. If you’re using a giant corrugated box to ship one small item, your reputation will take a hit. If you’re needlessly using lots of plastics and layers upon layers of packaging to protect things, the likelihood of their shopping with you in the future takes a dive. It can be a tough line to walk, but customers appreciate the effort to be eco-friendly, and your transparency about it.
Making it clear you use recycled packaging, or materials sourced from renewable sources, goes a long way to making customers feel better about shopping with you. And, the better they feel about your packaging choices and your environmental values, the likelier it is that they’ll become a repeat customer.
There’s a lot to consider when creating a packaging strategy for your online store. You need to balance product protection, customer satisfaction, environmental impact and even your shipping budget. It’s not an easy task, but making smart packaging choices that consider customer preferences can set your packaging efforts—and your online business—on the road to success.
