Four Simple Steps to Product Packaging Success

Finding the right product packaging solutions can make all the difference in the success of an ecommerce business. Receiving an order doesn’t mean you’ve made a successful sale—a customer could be unhappy when their order arrives and either return it or simply tell others about their negative experience, limiting one of the most valuable sources of advertising. Even failing to package your products in boxes that remind customers of your logo could be a failure in terms of brand awareness. Your packaging should also enable you to ship products at an affordable cost without fear of their safety in transit. When choosing the packaging for your products, here are four steps you can take to ensure success:

1. Appearance
   Think of your packaging as a first impression. Although a customer may have been pleased enough with the impression they got from your website to place an order, the experience they have with the physical goods that arrive at their door is an entirely new interaction. So, don’t skimp on this one. You have many different types of boxes to choose from to get the appearance right, including the following:
   • Boxes with no printing
   • One-color direct printing boxes
   • Two-color direct printing boxes
   • High-end printing boxes

Cost
Look for ways to reduce shipping costs, if possible, without making a noticeable difference to customers. Although it’s obviously important to find product packaging solutions that are attractive to customers, you don’t want to go overboard and cut so deeply into your budget that you erode profits. For example, while opting for high-end printing instead of plain boxes is a good choice, you may be able to forego extras like custom tissue paper and ribbons.

1. Protection
   Protecting your products during shipment is paramount to the success of your business. This means not only choosing high-quality boxes to ship your products in, but being mindful of what you place inside the box with your products. It’s important to keep the weight, dimensions and fragility of your products in mind when choosing your filling, and choose materials that will keep your goods safe without going over budget. These are a few of the most popular options for materials to fill your boxes with:
   • Air-cellular cushioning (bubble wrap)
   • Antistatic sponges
   • Paper
   • Loose-fill foam peanuts

Regulations
Last but not least, always make sure you are complying with all applicable regulations. Obviously don’t ship items that are illegal to send in the mail, and include all information that is required to appear on the outer packaging before shipping. The most basic information to include is the country of origin, company name, product name, volume/weight of product and any special safety instructions. There are specific markings for certain types of products being shipped, particularly anything that could potentially be considered harmful or dangerous, and labels with text and/or numbers that must appear on the outside. If you’re not sure what regulations apply, look at the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (for the United States), the Guide to the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and Regulations (for Canada), and the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) regulations (for Europe).