A company thrives on good marketing and promoting its product or services available for retail, and sometimes, billboards, call center work, TV ads, and Internet ads can do this promotional work, but advertising does not end there. Packaging is a vital aspect of promoting an item and making it eye-catching and desirable to customers, and the design of a package can either make it stand out and create a repeat customer, or it may be forgettable and sit idle on the shelf. Many different products use this tactic, from pet treat packaging to printed coffee bags to cannabis bags (in states where it is legal), and custom packaging is a hobby that anyone can take up.
The Power of Packaging
Businesses stand to make or lose a lot of money based on whether advertising and packaging can sell their products well enough, and so plenty of surveys and studies have been undertaken to get hard numbers on how packaging can make a difference and why. This can pay big dividends; it has been estimated that any business that pays close attention to its products’ packaging enjoys a 30% increase in consumer interest, and that can lead to profits. And customers themselves have been surveyed about their shopping practices and preferences in regards to packaging, and some trends have emerged. For example, customer purchase decisions may be influenced by a package’s printed text, and this can make a difference up to 85% of the time. What is more, the West Rock Consumer Insights Study, in 2016, found that 66% of consumers will try out a new product based on how well the packaging caught their attention while shopping. The same study also showed that 26% of respondents considered the packing of a product extremely important for their overall product satisfaction.
Many retailers offer their products online as well, and here, visual power is the same. An online catalog should have data tags on items so they can be found with search engines, and organizing items by type is critical so the consumer can find what they want. Large, clear photos of the product go a long way to promoting it online, and here, consumers can see the packaging on their screens, and this is bound to have a similar effect to finding the packaging in a store, with the added benefit of no risk of finding damaged packaging.
Many Americans drink coffee, and this means that coffee bean and brew companies have a lot competition to sell their coffee, and coffee packaging bags are a route companies can take to set their brand and flavors apart from the rest, from enticing logos and imagery to pleasing colors and patterns, which may also reflect the coffee’s particular flavor or strength. An estimated 54% of Americans aged 18 or over drink coffee, and that translates to a lot of drinkers who want coffee bags for their home coffee makers.
Custom packaging can borrow ideas from commercial packaging. Here, instead of competing on the market, a private individual may design custom packaging for gifts or party favors for holiday presents or birthday party favors. Custom packaging can make use of a holiday’s theme such as St. Valentine’s Day, Christmas or Hanukkah, or Easter, in regards to colors, materials, patterns, and more. Easter may call for eggshell white and pink, blue, and yellow along with rabbit motifs, while Christmas party favors may feature red, gold, and green, along with mistletoe, Santa Claus outfit patterns, or snowy trees. For those who celebrate Hanukkah, blue and silver are popular colors, and custom packaging for party favors or gifts may include the Star of David and menorahs. Finally, birthday parties can involve custom packaging and custom candy bags whose patterns are limited only by the sender’s imagination. Anything from model Chinese takeout boxes to 1950s lunchboxes to preferred colors of paper and ribbon may be involved, and the packaging may also fit the intended recipient’s taste as well. Adult house party members would be interested in different packaging than guests at a kids’ birthday party.