Packaging Is an Important Step for Online Businesses

A lot of online retailers consider their product line to be the most important aspect of their business. While offering sought-after, desirable products is crucial for any business, it shouldn’t be an ecommerce retailer’s only focus.

Because they typically pay so much attention to what they sell, many online businesses don’t give their product packaging too much thought. Research conducted by Dotcom Distribution shows that online retailers should devote a tremendous amount of thought to their product and shipping packaging, however.

The Importance of Packaging for Online Products

According to Dotcom Distribution’s survey, 60 percent of those polled said they’d share an image of a product they bought online if they liked the way it looked. As more and more consumers turn to social media for product reviews, unboxing videos are becoming more common. Approximately 35 percent of the people who participated in Dotcom Distribution’s study said they’d watched an unboxing or unpackaging video in the past. Out of the individuals who viewed an unboxing video, 55 percent of them claimed they wound up buying the product that was unpackaged because of what they saw in a video clip.

When it comes to online business packaging, it’s impossible to overstate the importance of packaging. Even though they’re not an advertised commodity in their own right, the packages you use to ship your goods to consumers are almost as important as the materials you use to package your products. In fact, Dotcom Distribution’s study showed that delivery packages are a critical factor that influences whether consumers will make repeat purchases. In other words, your delivery packaging can impact a person’s decision to buy from you or another retailer if they like one company’s delivery package better than the other’s.

Package Ideas for Online Business

Whether you’re designing a package for a product or you’re trying to figure out how to ship an online product so that it provides an optimal unboxing experience, it’s important to keep a few things in mind. Ideally, your packaging should do several things in addition to enhancing the unpackaging experience, including:

• Attracting attention
• Establishing and reinforcing your brand identity
• Advertising even after a package has been opened

For your packaging to do these things, it’s generally wise to make your product packages reusable. Dotcom Distribution’s report showed that 90 percent of consumers reuse packaging that’s branded. Close to 30 percent of shoppers claim they learned of a brand’s existence only after they saw someone carrying the retailer’s repurposed packaging in a public place. This means you can acquire more customers when shoppers are able to do passive advertising for you by reusing your product packaging for other purposes.

In addition to making your packaging reusable, you can incorporate the following online business package ideas for your packaging:

• Custom Printed Boxes: When customers receive products in custom printed boxes, it creates a memorable experience that often exceeds their expectations.
• Premium Packaging: Premium packaging makes opening a product a special event that many shoppers will be eager to share online. When people share their unboxing experiences, their videos may motivate other consumers to buy products from your online store.

Phase 1 Prototypes

If you’re looking to make the most of your product and shipping packaging, contact Phase 1 Prototypes. Since 2006, we’ve been helping online and brick-and-mortar retailers develop packaging that will have the maximum impact on consumers for all of the right reasons.

No packaging idea is too innovative for us to handle. We’ve even developed several proprietary substrates to make our clients’ packaging dreams come true. Our slogan is, “Your vision, realized.” Let us realize your vision by creating a mockup of your packaging design. Contact us to learn more now.

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