Efficiency Through Better Packaging

How you package your products impacts your business bottom line. Truth be told, sometimes consumers show reluctance in buying an item they are interested in just because its outer package isn't attractive enough. And what about the products that arrive by mail? The same truth holds good there. Better package leads to higher satisfaction with the product and higher chance that people will make purchase from that business again. Additionally, what business doesn't want to cut cost, increase profit and reduce labor cost all at once?

1. Going Green

How to achieve that efficiency with packaging, you may ask. After all, it is the last task in a product manufacturing process, and what is inside matters more, right? Wrong! A good packaging adds value to the product you are selling. Good packaging may come in many shapes and forms, the most popular being green packaging. No more PVC films, corrugated materials and broken glasses. Today's technology has led to the use of new Polyolefin materials that are flexible and inexpensive at the same time. Besides, they can be cut, dyed, printed and designed in various ways. Best of all though, they are environment friendly. So, new environment enthusiasts in the packaging field can take a note of this.

2. Thinking Way Ahead

One of the most common mistakes in a failing business is to procrastinate packaging decisions. It is always better for the company revenue if this decision is made as early as possible along with other important tasks. Why? Because delaying this decision means more expensive and clunky designs, waste of time and money. In essence, packaging should always be a topic to discuss in every business meeting held - be it in the start or somewhere in between. So, where to begin? Make an itemized list of your design requirements. Consider the size of the product, cost of packaging, space constraints, labeling and everything else related to this process.

3. Maintaining Packaging Machinery

This tip cannot be emphasized enough. Just like a car needs regular tune-ups, packaging machinery needs regular upgrades and maintenance in order to achieve required efficiency. So, do not hesitate in any way to make that call for a serious upgrade. Most of all, do not delay to maintain them as needed. With packaging machinery running smoothly, you will see reduced overhead cost, expenses close to or less than your budget and overall improvement in production.

4. Reducing Labels

Now that you have looked at a few tips to create efficiency in packaging products, it is time to focus on labels. Stick-on labels, printed labels and design labels can cost a lot if you are ordering from outside. So, why not use the default one that comes with shipping? This move can not only reduce unnecessary cost but prevent redundancy. Also, printing labels directly on the packaging supplies can cut an extra step out of the packaging process.

5. Gathering Information

If you are not keeping track of price for every material involved in packaging, such as cardstocks, labels, tape and polyolefin, you are doing no favor to your revenue growth. Because these prices can fluctuate almost every month, make sure that materials are affordable, and you have back up suppliers handy. Another way to cut cost is to buy in bulk whenever possible and beat the inflation.

Designing Packages for Smaller Brands

Finding the right packaging supplies for your product really all boils down to marketing. Everything from the design of the package to logo design and even the color should really act as one big call to action that will entice consumers into picking your product over the competition.

This is why it is very important to invest in a packaging design that makes your product stand out in a unique way, and help grow the brand which will, in turn, lead to the product being more marketable and profitable. Here are a few tips for developing the right packaging concept to propel any product upward in the market.

The first thing to keep in mind is the package's function and form. Fundamentally, the function of a package is to keep the contents inside safe while the form should be something that roughly approximates the size of the product only a bit bigger. However, wrapping the product in a plain box with some bubble wrap inside will do nothing to help the marketability or increase the chances of a customer purchasing it. The package needs to provide customers with the product information while also looking like an attractive option. In other words, the packaging needs to be as minimalist as possible while still looking stylish and unique.

This leads to the next tip which is to be creative. There are all sorts of ways to market a product that are both unique and attractive. The last thing that any company owner wants is for their product to be perceived as cheap, tacky, or inferior just because the packaging was poorly designed. This is why it is important to invest in the design process and not necessarily just take the most economical choice.

While it is good to be creative, this can sometimes lead to some problems and leads to the next tip which is to stay as concise as possible. Consumers are bombarded with all sorts of marketing campaigns on a regular basis, and if something is ambiguous in terms of what the product or company is, then there is a good chance that they will pass it by. There is precious little time for a product to grab a customer's eye, and if they can't tell what they're looking at, then chances are they will simply pass it by.

The next tip has to do with where the product is being sold. Brick and mortar companies have a distinct advantage where the senses of touch and smell are concerned. Consumers simply cannot engage those sense when shopping online and as such the marketing scheme and packaging supplies used will have to take that into account. Of course, how the packaging and marketing would need to be modified between brick and mortar and an online environment will depend greatly on what the product is.

Above all else, the best way to come up with the right packaging design to boost brand name and growth will probably require some outside help. It can be enticing, especially for a smaller company with limited resources, to try to handle all the marketing in-house to keep costs low. On the other hand, risk tends to equal reward and shelling out the extra money for an advertising agency now can mean reaping big rewards in the future.