E-commerce brands live and die on the quality of their packaging so when the festive season comes around, the pressure to stand out and go the distance only intensifies.
Christmas is a time when consumer spending increases considerably. The Retail Gazette reported a £13.7bn spend with UK grocery retailers alone in December 2023, while fashion retailers Next and M&S reported 5.7% and 4.8% increases in seasonal sales respectively.
Consumers spend their hard earned money on presents for close family, treating themselves to festive goodies and gifting items to friends overseas. It’s therefore imperative for e-commerce brands to be prepared for the festive season and have their packaging house in order – and here’s why.
As discussed in our recent blog about point-of-sale packaging, elevating your brand is an important step towards maintaining loyalty and gaining market share. One piece of packaging will inevitably pass many pairs of eyes on its travels – so designing e-commerce packaging in a way that showcases a brand’s values and creativity is essential.
This doesn’t just apply to how a logo is placed on the outside. It encompasses the design of the packaging and how it’s constructed. Memorable design features that maximise a brand’s voice and demonstrate its creativity all play a role in catching the eye of passers by and elevating a brand above its competitors.
Corrugated cardboard is adaptable – making it a brand’s best friend for personalisation and customisation. Packaging can be partially or fully printed and can be designed to suit the theme of the contents. If your product is a plush teddy bear, why not theme the box design around the lovable character inside? Receiving an e-commerce order should be an experience, and that experience begins with the packaging.
Whatever solution you decide upon, it must work as an effective vessel for your products – transporting them safely on their journey from distributor to doorstep. This consideration is heightened when we remember the unpredictable nature of couriers. Post that cannot fit through a letterbox is often left on a doorstep to face the elements or dropped over a high gate with fate taking over as to whether or not the contents survive the fall. E-commerce packaging must therefore be able to stand up to whatever a courier can throw at it or, wherever they can throw it.
Taking things back a step, parcels often travel many miles on their way to a consumer – sometimes on roads, sometimes in the air. They will undergo many changes of hands and need to stand up to the rigours of the journey itself.
Corrugated packaging is designed to cushion contents thanks to the layers of board that make up each sheet. Internal dividers, enhanced board grades and structural design features can all ensure that your corrugated solution is tough enough to withstand even the bumpiest of journeys.
The pressure on brands to be sustainable has never been greater, with many now taking responsibility for lowering their carbon footprint and creating a greener purchasing process for consumers. Buying decisions are commonly made with the environment in mind and brands need to keep up if they want to remain on the nice list.
Ditching polystyrene and plastic and replacing them with corrugated is an easy step on the path to sustainability. The material you’re investing in will be made from recycled materials and at the end of its journey, you can rest easy knowing that your packaging can be recycled again. In fact corrugated fibres can be recycled over 25 times without losing their quality.
Once you’ve locked in your corrugated material, it all comes down to your choice of packaging designer. Sustainable design should seek to minimise wastage so that the manufacturing process is environmentally friendly. For a truly green packaging life cycle, review your supply chain on a regular basis to ensure your suppliers are meeting required ESG targets.
We can all agree that the anticipation of unboxing a gift or order is a very precious moment. Believe it or not, how packaging opens can make or break repeat purchase decisions.
The way Apple boxes open for example, can make unboxing something mundane feel like the most satisfying moment of your life. It is beyond clever. The price point of Apple products means the attention to detail that goes into its packaging is almost expected – but this doesn’t mean that other brands can’t have packaging that creates the same levels of excitement and satisfaction.
And while brands never want to see items returned, it’s inevitable that a percentage of goods will be posted back for varying reasons. Giving thought to how packaging can be resealed without wasting precious material, while still making the process simple for the purchaser, is just as important as the unboxing experience.
Corrugated has the ability to deliver ultimate consumer satisfaction when unboxing and repackaging a purchase. Tear strips, resealable tape and features that satisfy the inner Apple shopper are all achievable with corrugated board – it’s all about choosing the right design partner and keeping your consumer in mind throughout the process.
With five generations of packaging design expertise, Colton Packaging is perfectly placed to support you with your corrugated e-commerce solutions. Reach out to our experts for tailored advice.
