Guide to personalised packaging in e-commerce

Packaging that is precisely tailored to your needs: can you think of a better way to improve your customers’ experience with your e-commerce brand? After all, the packaging of your goods is the first physical point of contact between you and your customers. But how do you go about creating the perfect design for your bespoke e-commerce packaging? There are a multitude of technical and aesthetic details to consider. We help you with a little step-by-step guide to YOUR packaging with a guide personalised packaging.

What do you want to achieve with your e-commerce packaging?

This is the first question you should ask yourself. With what goal do you approach the packaging project? Because before you invest time and budget, you need to clearly define what you want to get out of it “in the end”… So take time to put the goals of your customised e-commerce packaging down on paper. Would you like to…

• Deliver your shipment on the first delivery attempt? Fast delivery is a very crucial aspect of a positive customer experience. If product dimensions allow: Reach for mailing bags, envelopes or the flat boxes for the letterbox and achieve this goal.
• Improve the productivity of your employees during the packaging phase? The way to do this is with suitable, customised packaging. After all, handling packaging that is too big is not only exhausting, it also takes time away from filling and padding.
• Reduce the volume weight of your shipments? This is one of the main goals of all online retailers, but especially for express or international deliveries. Less “empty freight” means less transport budget.
• Improve your brand image? Nothing beats customised or personalised packaging that makes your brand unmistakable at first glance and makes the unboxing experience a very “own” one. Have your packaging printed for this purpose.
• Keep the environmental impact of your packaging as low as possible? Consumers have long been making conscious choices here – and turning away from retailers without a sustainable concept. Many e-traders are therefore interested in ecologically responsible packaging for two reasons at once: Their own demands for environmentally friendly packaging as well as the response from (and ultimately the turnover with) the customer.

Packaging protects your goods

Protecting your goods during shipping and transport remains the ultimate goal. When it comes to the concept for the perfect packaging design, it must therefore be clear in advance which product or products will be packaged and shipped. Take the time to explain the possible technical constraints that need to be considered when creating your customised packaging:

• Are your products particularly fragile? Then they require enhanced protection, and your designer can then incorporate more padding or more robust materials into your packaging.
• Are your products luxurious or expensive? It is then necessary to pay special attention to their protection against theft, for example with a specific adhesive or strapping method.
• Do your products have unusual dimensions or weight? If they are very large, very bulky or very heavy, your goods must be the subject of a selection of specific packaging products (e.g. cardboard made of double or even triple corrugated cardboard).

Whenever possible, let the packaging designer have the products that need to be protected. This way, he can carry out in-house tests directly on site to offer you the best packaging and cushioning materials suitable for your goods.

caja-regalo-charol-con-cierre-iman

What do you expect from personalising your marketing?

You’ve already figured it out in the first step of this short guide: If you create customised packaging for e-commerce, it is not unusual that there are marketing goals behind it. Your packaging transports your brand, your values and in this sense is directly involved in the promotion of your products.

So remember to identify the different marketing needs you have in relation to this new packaging. For example, you may want to …

• Print your brand logo or slogan on the packaging to make your brand visible at first sight? Maybe it’s about a specific promotion, for a certain period of the year (BlackFriday, Christmas sales, anniversaries, etc.), which should be temporarily communicated in the design of your packaging?
• Making your packaging more environmentally friendly to live up to your responsibility in this respect? An important goal in every respect. Make your commitment visible, also make sure that this message reaches the customer: logos on the packaging make it clear which aspect is the focus in each case (recyclable, from responsibly managed forests, biodegradable, etc.).
• Generatea kind of word of mouth with thoughtful and unusual packaging : Indeed, consumers like to share the moment of unboxing on social networks. The packaging plays a very important role in this. But it doesn’t have to be complicated: even a crackling packing silk or a special haptic experience can create the famous “wow effect” that so many e-tailers crave.
• Stand out from the competition with distinctive packaging: If this aspect is the focus, your packaging designer should also be familiar with your competitors’ packaging and ideally have it on hand – to then work out possible ways to stand out.

caja-regalo-charol-con-cierre-iman

Collect the necessary elements for the order

If you bring in a packaging specialist outside your company, they will need to have an overview of your existing promotional materials in addition to your creative ideas. For this reason, it is important to gather all the elements that can help your custom packaging designer create your new packaging.

This is what you should provide him or her with:

• Your graphic elements. Include your logo in its various forms, your e-commerce brand’s flagship colours and how you use them, and your typography.
• Your old packaging, if available. You can tell your designer what you want to change in this packaging but also what elements you want to keep.
• Ideas for creative inspiration, if available. These can be packaging from other brands that you like or visuals that represent the atmosphere you want to create from your packaging.

Design the specifications for your customised packaging

At this stage, you have already addressed a number of key elements that are relevant when creating your bespoke packaging. Now bring all these aspects together in a document that you pass on to your packaging designer.

Clearly state your objectives (marketing and / or global), your technical constraints, your creative possibilities, etc. Do not hesitate to indicate the budget you would like to allocate to your customised packaging, as well as the number of pieces you plan to use (initially).

Are you thinking about collecting the ideas of several competitors in a pitch before finally deciding who will design your packaging? Then create an evaluation form that you can use to evaluate the individual specifications. What criteria would you like to use to evaluate who understood your brief best? Technical constraints, creativity, budget, materials used…

The specifications contain various pieces of information that enable the manufacturer to design a suitable package. In particular, this document can contain this type of data:

• The type of packaging you want (single, double or triple groove);
• quality expectations;
• the dimensions ;
• the size, volume and weight of the product to be packaged;
• the type of products to be shipped;
• the elements that must be included on the packaging;
• Packaging and delivery of packaging

Test a small portion of your orders

Thanks to your very comprehensive specifications, your packaging designer was able to create the ideal customised packaging for you that meets your expectations? Perfect ! But be careful: it would be dangerous to send all your orders in this new packaging without having tested it first.

So select a very small part of your orders to pack in this new packaging. During this testing phase, make sure that all your basic objectives are met without compromising the protection of your goods. And why not get your customers’ opinion on this new packaging? You can enclose a flyer with your parcels or use the invoice dispatch by mail to ask on this occasion: How was the packaging received? What was special about it? What would customers change about it…?

This testing phase also allows your staff to identify changes in the packaging process. Changing packaging always affects the productivity of your pickers, delivery staff and their daily operations. Training or adjustments to the “hardware” such as packing tables and the like may be necessary.

Customised packaging is produced in pre-production in order to test it in real situations, i.e. on a small part of the consignments. Sampling makes it possible to assess its resistance , protective function and ease of use for pickers. Packaging tests also help to determine shipping costs . The aim is to obtain costs that are in line with the original estimate of the project.

Since the customer is the focus, testing under real conditions allows an evaluation of the user experience . To do this, it can be interesting to ask customers for their opinion of the new packaging in terms of wrapping, unpacking or the condition of their package when they receive it. In return for their return on the box packaging, you can offer them a product or send them a promotional code that will be valid on their next order.

The use of end-of-line packaging in your entire logistics process

As an essential factor of reliable logistics, end-of-line packaging must therefore ensure its functions, namely ease of handling, product protection, transport, but also its marketing functions. The sampling enabled you to carry out a reliability check with the aim of securing the technical, marketing and budget aspects of the packaging. The packaging test was clear? Your orders can now be shipped in the final package.

There’s nothing like customised, personalised packaging to achieve your goal and build customer loyalty. As a true marketing tool, it increases the visibility of your business and allows you to stand out from the competition. Make it a lever for your brand!

Are you ready for customised packaging?

Would you like to be accompanied by experts in the process? Then contact our custom packaging department and let’s talk about your project.