We will guide you through the world of packaging
Finding the right packaging for your new product can be very challenging. This is especially true if you are an entrepreneur that are developing your first product or range of products. There are a lot of different types of packaging to choose from and thousands of different manufacturers that want to sell you the packaging you need. Our goal is to make it easier for you to chose the best packaging for your product. To this end, we feature information about different types of packaging and guides to what you should think about when you are looking for packaging products.
Your packing should reflect the brand image
Your packaging will be the consumers first contact with your brand. It is very important that your packaging purveys your desired brand image and makes it easy for the consumer to understand what your brand is all about. It is also very important that the packaging makes it clear what type of product you are selling. The consumer must know what your product is at a quick glance. They should never need to pick it up and read on it to understand what it is. Most consumers will simply walk past your product if it is not immediately clear what it is.
Mass consumer products
If you are trying to launch a mass consumer product than you should look for a cheap packaging option. Consumers are often very price sensitive and every cent you can shave of the price will help you become more competitive. It is sometimes possible to brand yourself as a more luxurious option by using a more expensive packaging. The luxury space is however very crowded and it usually takes a lot of money to be able to compete in this space. If you are able to position yourself in the market as a luxury alternative then you are in a good position to make a lot of money. Do go for a more luxurious packing and image if you see a chance to break into that market but know that the best option usually is to try to minimize the packaging cost without increasing waste.
Lifestyle products
This is a category where the packaging is crucial and your main goal should be to make sure that your packaging allows the consumer to easily understand your messaging. To understand what they are signaling by buying and using your product. The price of the packaging is no longer the most important factor. The message the packaging send is. You need to allow the consumer to express themselves by buying your product. If you do this correctly then they will be willing to pay a higher price for your products. You can usually maintain healthy margins even if you opt for a more expensive packaging option.
Consider using nontypical materials for your packagings such as brushed steel or hemp fabric. You should do what you can to differentiate yourself from your competitors while staying true to your brand message. It is very important to know exactly what message you want to send before you start looking for packaging if you are in this space.
Luxury products
The packaging for luxury products should reflect your brand and it is very important that you avoid cheap alternatives. No one wants to receive their luxury product in packaging that feels cheap. This does not mean that you need to use expensive materials. It only means that you need to make sure that the packaging feels thought through and suitable for the product in question. With this said. Thinking outside the box and creating a packaging solution unlike anything else on the market can really set you apart and help you become successful. A perfume where the bottle is sold in a small simple wooden box can stand out among the competitors that use paper boxes. It is a way to differentiate yourself that doesn’t have to cost too much extra.
Virtual products
Virtual products do not need physical packaging unless you send out a physical copy on DVD or if you send out a physical voucher that allows your customer to download the product. When you sell a virtual product you have to think about your website and your user interface as the packaging. You need to make sure that they reflect the brand image you want to purvey to your potential customers. The same principles still apply and you should still make sure that your digital packaging purveys the desired image. Let us look at an example. This website is well designed for the industry it is in, binary options. If the website used the same design to try to sell shoes or cars then it would feel very outdated. A website that sells shoes or cars would need to focus more on images. Not on text like this website does. If you are sell shaving oil or perfume then you need to focus on the emotions the website purveys. A website does in other words have to focus on different aspects (text, images, emotions) depending on what type of product it sells in the same way as other types of packaging do.
Sourcing your packaging
The cheapest alternative is usually to buy your packaging from China. This is however not always the best option. Especially not for a small company. A local company can be slightly more expensive but if you chose them you have the opportunity to be part of the process every step of the way and to make sure that you receive exactly what you want. It can sometimes be hard to know the exact quality or spot an error in time if you source your packaging from China.
If you sell a lifestyle product then it can be an important part of the messaging to source the packaging locally or from a certain region.
Always make sure to think about more than just price when you source your packaging. To receive exactly what you want, when you want it can be more important than to save a few cents on each product sold. We recommend that you approach a few companies in China and a few local companies and ask them all what they can offer and at what price. When you have talked to everyone and evaluated their proposals then you are ready to make a choice.
Be aware that the Chinese product will never be as good as the Chinese seller says it will be. It will also never be as bad as the local competitors will say the Chinese product will be. It is possible to find the same quality work from China as you can get locally.