Packaging is one of the most important yet often overlooked elements of running a successful online business. From the ease by which you ship products to consumers to the first impression your company makes when they open their purchases, packaging is a critical element.
To help you stay of ahead of the game, here are some ecommerce packaging tips that you can use to avoid common packaging mistakes while improving branding and reaping the rewards of better loyalty and retention.
The Unboxing Effect
If there is one area of ecommerce that totally nails the unboxing effect, it’s the popular subscription box services, which send predetermined items to a consumer on a renewing monthly cycle. We can all glean some packing tips for ecommerce from these trendsetting services providers.
Visits to subscription box websites grew by more than 3,000% between 2013 and 2016 – up from about 722,000 visits in 2013 to a whopping 21.4 million in 2016. On average, 37 million visitors come to these sites each month to purchase new products and get the same unboxing and customer service experience that other consumers have raved about.
Aside from offering a convenient deal-in-a-box with minimal hands-on effort required of the consumers, subscription box services cut their teeth on optimal packaging that’s easy to open and unbox and pleasing to the recipient because it leaves a positive, lasting impression.
A great example of excellent packaging in motion is provided by SALT, a subscription box social commerce experiment that encourages its users to help make the world a better place by learning how to be more proactive and sensitive to the environment. Note the appealing position of the interior contents of the box and the welcoming message and coy design that’s offered.
If you’re looking for more examples of how the unboxing effect can help you win over new customers, we’ve got you covered with this complete rundown on how you can use this phenomenon to take your packaging to the next level by thinking outside of the box. Remember, first impressions are everything. If shoppers are wowed when they receive their package, they’re more likely to buy from you again and tell others about, too.
How important is the unboxing effect in ecommerce?
New studies find that millions of hours worth of unboxing videos have been uploaded to YouTube since 2013, with an increase in search for the topic by more than 1,000%. As of 2015, these unboxing videos have been watched more than 1.1 billion times, according to NY Times.
Not only does creating the unboxing effect help you impress new purchasers of your product, but it has a far-reaching after-effect that results in increased brand awareness and invaluable word-of-mouth advertising that money is simply unable to buy.
Custom Packaging vs. Standard
By and far, you’ll realize greater retention when using custom packaging that accentuates your brand’s unique style, appeal and flare.
You’ve got a spread of choices you can consider for custom ecommerce packaging that can really make your products stand out. If cost is of issue, you’ve always got plenty of bargain options you can opt for with the USPS standard Priority Mail packaging, provided that your packages meet the size requirements, with newer options that let you get a discount on Priority Mail while using your own customize-branded boxes. You can also find affordable custom packaging from a wide variety of different services providers, each with their own assortment of choices.
How important is custom packaging to your brand?
According to a report by Shorr packaging, only 11% of consumers are impressed about the packaging they receive. With custom packaging, though, you have the potential to dazzle most recipients of your products, creating a lasting impression in their mind that drives home your brand’s namesake.
Consider this example from Brown Thomas (below) versus your standard USPS or Amazon box. The custom interior and gold lettering immediately evoke a mental response that’s pleasing to the recipient and that makes this package stand out.
You can take things a step further by including a “thank you” note for the consumers. Doing so, as the example below shows, can improve retention and generate new word-of-mouth sales, which Help Scout explains helps retain as much as 20% of your customers (which can represent as much as 80% of your reoccurring sales).
Another immediate benefit to using custom packaging is the viral social media sharing that can directly follow, which often leads to new customer acquisition and sales. A Packaging Digest report finds that when you make your packages look attractive, such as the example below depicts, there’s a 74% chance that this new purchase, and its packaging, will be shared on social media by the recipient.
Digital Coupons Are a Winning Strategy
Want more repeat sales from each order? Then you need to make sure you’re offering digital coupons to your loyal buyers by including them as packaging inserts with each custom box you ship. By the end of next year, more than 30 billion digital coupons will have been redeemed by consumers, with a projected 1.04 billion coupons being redeemed in 2019 overall.
How can digital coupons including in your packaging help generate new sales?
Current statistics find that they help improve brand awareness and loyalty by as much as 68% while generating sales uplift by as much as 48%, depending on the medium they’re advertised on.
One of the best ways to use digital coupons to generate new businesses is by including them as an insert in your ecommerce packaging. As our partner, Shopify, explains:
Packaging inserts can be low-cost: You don’t need to invest a lot to bring packaging inserts into the mix. Each of the examples below are low-cost but can yield high return. Inserts can be highly targeted: The recipient is already a customer, and you know what they bought. You can tailor your package insert to the exact person receiving it.
Take this example of Shea, a subscription box service that provides beauty related items and curated picks to its subscribers. Not only is their packaging helping to create the unboxing effect—which, as previously explained, comes with a myriad of immediate benefits—but notice how they’ve included a coupon code that’s good for a discount off the next purchase from them—typically redeemed by a family member or a close friend of the recipient—to also share in the savings, and to also generate new interest and increased sales uplift.
If you need some ecommerce packing tips on creating packaging inserts to showcase your digital coupons, look to this helpful guide by Sticker Mule. It will give you all the information you need to include this valuable, conversion-generating addition to your packaging scheme.
If you’re still wondering how digital coupons help your online store generate more repeat buyers while attracting new sales, we’ve got you covered in this related Guide.
Need Even More Tips?
Take a look at this illustrated infographic, courtesy of Shorr Packaging, to get even more tips on how you can make package that impresses your customers without breaking the bank. Want better relationships? Start your two-week free trial to ReadyCloud CRM today and start building them!
