The packaging is the first physical touchpoint your customers have with your e-commerce brand and therefore plays a crucial role when it comes to creating impressions and encouraging repeat sales.
Put yourself in the shoes of a buyer; you already know that the presentation (from the package to the products you sell) is vital to provide your public with a stellar unboxing experience. Also, packaging protects your products during transportation and saves money, as you don’t have to replace damaged goods.
This article shines a spotlight on e-commerce packaging and provides you with all the information you need to create a unique customer experience and streamline the order management process.
Functions and advantages of e-Commerce packaging
How many times have you received a tiny item in a comically oversized boxed box and wondered what the seller thought when they picked that packaging? Or how many times did a package arrive and you realised the product was battered, bruised, and severely damaged, so you had to return it?
These experiences tell you that several factors can disrupt your clients’ unboxing experience, and choosing the right packaging is crucial because it impacts the feelings and emotions your products trigger in your buyers.
Let’s discuss how e-commerce packaging impacts your business.
Item protection
E-Commerce packaging protects your products against damage during transportation but also from crushes, accidental drops, weather conditions, and contamination, preserving them in an optimal condition. If you deliver goods internationally, transportation involves several logistics operators, so the packaging is a paramount element in preventing damage. Well-picked packaging reduces the number of returns and complaints about damaged parcels during shipping and lessens your customer support workload. You can visit supremex, an e-commerce packaging company for the best quality packaging solution.
Some logistics operators refuse to transport products with inadequate packaging because they spike the chances of shipping problems.
Customised customer experience
Since the beginning of marketing, packaging has been used as a branding element. Well-known companies have always used it to retain customers and build loyalty by personalising the packaging to their ideal clients’ preferences.
Packaging can be used as a marketing instrument because it impacts every single buyer, unlike social media posts, newsletters, or messages, which can be easily ignored. If you want to seduce your clients with outstanding packaging and lure them into repeating purchases, using customised boxes and creating a unique unboxing experience. Subscription book boxes nail at this, as they customise their boxes to match their themes and deliver beautifully crafted and unique packages.
Internal logistics upgrade
You can work with a packaging provider to design custom-made cardboard boxes and other kinds of packaging to match your particular needs and boost profitability and performance. For example, if you have a varied inventory, the packaging can help you identify the type of goods you handle without checking the registry. This cuts down the time your employees need to complete a delivery and lowers the chances of lost orders during shipping.
When the packaging doesn’t support optimal storage, you deal with wasted operational space and stock issues. An upgrade of order processing can reduce your costs drastically and enhance business performance.
More powerful branding
Would you be surprised to find out that 70% of people form impressions of sellers based only on the packaging? Half of the customers state they’ll purchase again from an online store if it sends the goods in branded packaging. In 2022, e-Commerce packaging is one of the most powerful branding elements a business can use to please its clients, add values, and modulate customer behaviour.
Going the extra mile with packaging customisation and branding shows your audience that you care about them and enables you to create a positive unboxing experience. Just look how popular unboxing videos are on social media and YouTube.
eCommerce packaging and the need for sustainability
Starting with 2019, the need for eco-friendly practices in all online shopping areas has increased. People are more environmentally aware, and legislation worldwide is put into place to help organisations meet sustainability goals. 81% of customers believe that brands should invest more of their resources to improve and protect the environment and are willing to pay more.
Sustainable practices to follow when choosing packaging:
Use less materials
Well-picked e-commerce packaging can help your company reduce its carbon footprint. At the risk of sounding obvious, you need to use less packaging because the fewer resources are wasted on your packaging, the less burden on the planet. Also, the less waste for your clients to dispose of.
Don’t mix materials
Yes, packaging from mixed materials like paper and plastic can add extra protection to your parcels, but they’re not the most sustainable option. Sadly, mixed materials aren’t recyclable because their layers cannot be separated. It’s best to pick recycled materials from the beginning because the more you keep the materials in use, the better it is for the planet.
Share your eco-friendly practices with your public
Help your customers recycle your packaging by sharing what materials were used to create the boxes. Recycling rules could vary from one region to another, so go the extra mile to encourage your clients to recycle and reuse. You can also create a page on your website where you break down how they can dispose of each item found in the package. Use the resource also to provide ideas on how to reuse the packaging materials to limit the impact on the environment.
Identify any over-packaging source within your supply chain
There are several touchpoints within your operations for packaging, and you need to overview each stage and determine if there are any over-packaging instances you could improve. For example, in some stages, your products may be bundled or bagged several times before being put in the box supposed to ship them to the purchasers. You might rely on over-packaging to keep your products safe, organised, and saleable. Sadly, they produce more waste to dispose of and harm the environment. Look for opportunities to create more compelling packaging, and talk directly to the manufacturers to identify ways for improvement.
Functional and practical e-commerce packaging can boost business growth. A positive unboxing experience improves your brand’s reputation and enables you to save resources in the long run.
