You’ve put plenty of time and money (not to mention your heart and soul) into developing your products. They’re the result of seemingly endless amounts of brainstorming, researching, planning and executing. It makes complete sense that you’d want to protect your creations.
And yet, there are businesses out there that carelessly package and protect their products (if you can even call it that!). All that time and energy and it’s like they can’t be bothered to create the kind of packaging their investments deserve.
But if you’re reading this, you’re not the type. You’re looking to put in the effort and the time to prevent your products from suffering damage once they’ve left your hands.
So, let’s get down to it and answer the question: why is packaging so important?
Packaging houses and protects products
Whether you’re selling artisanal chocolate, custom knitted sweaters or high-end electronics, your products need packaging. It provides a proper haven during shipping and storage that reduces the likelihood of spoilage or destruction.
Chosen well and used correctly, packaging helps protect against:
- Damage caused by dropping, crushing, collision or vibration
- Environmental influences like temperature, humidity, light, dirt and dust
- Infestation from bugs, chemicals contaminants and fungus
- Tampering and theft
That’s why packaging is key for your products and your business. It also does so much more.
Packaging conveys product information
There’s bound to be a lot about your products that you want to convey to your customers.
That could involve instructions on how to use them, or a list of warnings and things to avoid. It could be a list of ingredients used, or a suggestion of things they can be paired with. There’s plenty of contextual, incidental, and important information you need to share. So rather than being there in person to tell your customers everything they need to know, packaging can do that for you.
Packaging sells products and builds brands
They say you have 7 seconds to impress a customer.
In that time, your packaging has to convey your branding, differentiate you from the competition, advertise your product and convince a customer to pick it up and buy it. That’s a lot to accomplish in such little time.
That’s just in conventional terms, too—that is, a customer scoping out your product on a store’s physical shelves. But what about online, when all your customer has is a picture on a web page? Unless there are pictures showing your packaging from every angle, you may only have one side doing the talking for you.
And what about your shipping packaging? When something’s bought online, your customer’s first interaction with your product will be the box or mailer it’s shipped in. If it’s not branded properly, or at least visually interesting, your customer might not be enthused and your business may take a hit.
You’ll need to make sure every choice about your packaging is the right one. Its size and shape, how it opens, what colours and pictures you use, and of course, what the copy says about your business and your products. Put in the time to do the research and the planning. It’s worth it.
So that’s why packaging is so important. It builds your brand, conveys information, and both sells and protects your products. When crafting your packaging strategy, choose supplies and materials that not only fit (and protect) your products, they fit your branding as well. Two great places to start are the Custom Shop and the corrugated boxes category.
