Product packaging is not only necessary for transporting your goods and getting them to your customer safely. It also provides an opportunity for the company to increase its sales.
How? Recent surveys tell us that about 72% of consumers admit that the design and printing of the packaging is one of the factors that can influence their buying decisions. Therefore, if you are not paying attention to this vital element you are missing out on a lot of potential sales and chances to promote your brand.
In this article, we will discuss the importance and the vital elements that you should not miss when designing or choosing one.
Why is Packaging Important?
Many businesses are asking this question: Does product packaging design matter?
It does. Packaging plays many roles in companies and customers. It is an essential ingredient for brand awareness, marketing, and sales.
One of the critical roles of packaging is in protecting products while in transport and up to the moment the customer opens the package. If the product is not properly packaged and is damaged upon reaching the customer, it will create a negative impression about your company. In short, this slight oversight will affect your brand.
Not only that, the product should be easy to remove from its packaging. This is part of the customer experience.
Packaging helps customers identify your product. Every packaging should contain enough information, through images, text, and other forms of communication for the consumer to determine what is inside. Varied colours can differentiate the different models of a product under one brand.
Product packaging is critical in branding. It contains vital elements like the brand’s logo, colour, and fonts – all of these can help customers identify the brand or the company that makes the product. It directs new customers to the brand and improves brand awareness.
Vital Elements of a Good Product Packaging Design
Packaging is your silent salesman. It helps the consumer identify the product without seeing the real thing. You need your product to get noticed amongst the many others on the shelf. We have also pointed out the role of product packaging on branding strategy. It can make a simple product look luxurious and catch the attention of the consumer.
There are ten vital elements every packaging should have. It helps the consumers relate to the brand and provides it with a high recall.
1. Fulfils the retail requirements
When designing packaging, it is necessary to know the retail requirements first. The right place to start is reviewing the feedback and observations on how packaging works during storage and the shelves. Aside from this, determine the type of packaging that sells the most. Getting the correct specs will help the packaging designers to come up with the right one.
2. Convenience
Part of customer experience is how the consumer can easily remove the product from the packaging. Therefore, good packaging should be convenient. It should easily transport the product from one place to another and can be handled well by the seller and the consumer. The shape and size of the package should not be hard to display and keep on shelves. Ideally, the packaging should be reusable too.
3. Creativity and Originality
Packaging is part of branding. One way of exuding an aura of luxury and exclusivity is creating awesome packaging. Designers can make use of different high-quality materials that speak of how much thought and effort went into creating them. Packaging this great speaks of the quality of the product inside.
4. Powerful Suggestion and Emotional Resonance
Have you noticed how shampoo packaging shows shiny hair or a skincare product offering eternal youth? That is what is called an end-promise. Consumers can be easily persuaded using visual interpretations. It can be a picture, sketch, or structural shape that offers powerful suggestions and emotional resonance to the consumers.
5. Clear Purpose
Even budget brands should make their purpose and brand clear. If not, nobody will notice them. A simple word like tomato sauce splash on the can is enough to give the consumer an idea about the product.
6. Style
A good packaging design should not be too loud for the consumer to notice. According to packaging designers, a simple and clear design is all you need. Something unique and different is enough.
Filling all the available space on the packaging will make it look like a mess. Instead, make use of the white space to highlight the main components and lead the onlooker on what is important. In short, a minimalist design works better than hot and messy.
7. Provides Information
Good packaging should be able to communicate. It should give consumers information on the purpose of the product and its quality to stimulate demand. Remember, product packaging works as a silent salesman.
8. Sustainable
Consumers are more conscious about the environment, and it has an impact on their buying decisions. They tend to favour eco-friendly packaging. Therefore, companies should not take this caveat of information for granted. If they use sustainable packaging, it will appeal to the consumers and help boost the brand appeal and translate to an increase in sales.
9. Stirs Emotions
Emotions are linked to memories, and a product packaging should have a design that tugs heartstrings. It should be memorable. The response may vary. Some will appeal to the consumer’s sense of joy, aspiration, or nostalgia. It is more effective than highlighting features and benefits to highlight your brand.
10. Serves it Purpose
The main function of packaging is to protect the products from different risks. The products should be packed in a way that their quality, colour, and form will not decline or get damaged. And when carrying it from one place to another, the product packaging should protect it at all costs.
Conclusion
Packaging plays an important role in every product. It protects the product and helps in sales promotion. The container or cover should serve its purpose, and at the same time, it must be convenient, economical, attractive, and present a positive image for the brand.
As mentioned, seven out of ten consumers are saying that packaging influences their buying decision. As such, companies should start looking at packaging not just to serve its function but also as a form of sales and marketing.
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