Packaging for Retail Shelves

By: phase1
February 15, 2019

If you sell your product in stores, you will need to think about your retail packaging design. Your product may be far and away the best of its kind on the market, but if it doesn’t come in custom product packaging that grabs the attention of the consumer, you might as well be selling rocks. You worked hard to get some of that elusive retail shelf space for your product, but you may be sharing that space with ten other products that are just like yours. How will you make sure the customer chooses the right one?

Eventually, you may build up a reputation and brand loyalty that will keep people coming back to your product over the others on the shelf. Until that happens, though, your only chance to get ahead is by having the most distinctive and/or appealing packaging. But what makes for great retail packaging?

Winning retail packaging has a personality that reflects your brand. If you are selling a very subtle but luxurious product, you may want to use muted, neutral colors. If you are selling vibrance and energy, you’ll probably want bright colors and action images on your packaging. If you’re selling uniqueness and fun, you may want to have your package be an unexpected shape. This is your big chance to make an impression, so get creative!

The Difference Between Packaging for Retail vs. Online

Quality custom packaging for retail sales can be even more important than for online sales because your potential customer has the opportunity to actually pick up and handle your packaging and scrutinize it up close. Online shoppers rely in part on the online image of your product, but also largely on reviews of other users and consumer reporting websites.

When someone is shopping for your item in a store, it is less likely that they will be guided by reviews and more likely that it will be by what they see, so your ability to create an exciting, engaging, eye-catching package is all the more critical.

Retail Design Trends

So, what are some of the design trends that are becoming popular with respect to retail packaging? One important one is sustainability. Consumers are more environmentally conscious than ever, so a package that is reusable or recyclable is likely to gain a lot of favor with a large segment of potential customers.

Another related trend is making packaging that is easier to open, and, especially with food products, easy to reseal. Some “easy-open” packaging is a lot more challenging than it looks, which can be extremely frustrating to your consumers, so it’s a good idea to make sure yours really is easy to open before releasing it.

One more trend in retail packaging is making a package that is fun. Think of the Pez dispenser. Pez is a type of candy that could easily just come in a roll, like many others, and for a time it did. Then, they innovated the Pez dispenser and created a classic.

Before putting your custom retail packaging out into the marketplace, you may want to test it. That’s where Phase 1 Prototypes comes in. We’ll create a great mock-up of your packaging at a price you can afford and get it to you fast so you can verify your design and get your product out there. To find out more, contact us today.

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