From primary to tertiary packaging, all aspects of your product’s packaging should be designed with purpose. It not only protects your product, but it also acts as a tangible first impression of your brand. Ensuring you have the right packaging solution is critical for success. Below are five things to consider when packaging your product.
Product
Since the product is the primary purpose of the packaging, building your solution around the packaging needs should be the first consideration. Things to consider include:
- Type of packaging – do you need primary, secondary, tertiary, or all?
- Physical characteristics – size, weight, fragility
- Cost – higher-end products may require special considerations for protection or branding (e.g., graphics, material quality)
- Seasonality (e.g., holidays, trends)
Customer
Know your customer. Are they a consumer, retailer, manufacturer, or combination? What are their expectations and desires when it comes to packaging? Some things to consider that may be important to your customer include:
- Physical design (e.g., easy-open design, box style, product configuration within)
- Graphic design (e.g., nostalgic, modern, industrial, plain)
- Environmental Impact (e.g., renewable materials, recyclable, reduced materials)
- Customer experience
Packaging Facility
How will the packaging be used within your facility? Will they be packed by hand? Will you use a case erector or other automation? When designing your packaging, consider employee ergonomic requirements and the limitations of your equipment.
Distribution
How you distribute the product matters. Your packaging may need to conform to external requirements or may offer additional branding opportunities.
- E-commerce platforms – Amazon, for example, has specific packaging requirements.
- Retail – Retailers may have specific requirements; the type of store (e.g., high-end retail or discount stores) may impact your packaging.
- Direct-to-consumer – This provides an opportunity to have cohesive branding across primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging.
Product handling must be considered. Do you have pallet requirements (number of boxes on a pallet, maximum weight, maximum height)? Is your packaging optimized to prevent damage while reducing materials and costs?
Budget
Prepare your budget beforehand so you have an idea of the costs involved. Consider all your packaging materials, including dunnage, pallet wrap, labels, as well as any tooling you may be responsible for. You may have grand ideas but may need to make concessions if you don’t have the budget. Working with a supplier experienced with creative packaging ideas may help you get closer to your dream without breaking your budget.
Choosing A Packaging Supplier
Packaging plays a significant role in your marketing efforts and your supply chain. It is essential to partner with a packaging manufacturer that can help you meet your objectives. For success in meeting your goals, look for the following attributes when choosing a packaging supplier:
- Communication – Communication is vital in all relationships, and listening is the most critical component. Your vendor should ask what your company’s goals are and respond in a way that demonstrates that they have listened.
- Stability – Look for a supplier that has been around for some time and is economically stable.
- Experience – Your supplier should have insight into current industry or retail trends, the ability to problem solve, and an in-depth understanding of design, packaging, and logistics.
- Reliability – Investigate on-time delivery and service. Running out of packaging supplies could be costly.
- Quality – Choose a vendor who is ISO certified with strong quality standards. Try to avoid vendors who do not have a quality system in place. Due diligence can help you avoid issues with print, misregistration, poor slotting, inferior or false scoring, or excessive glue, which can create delays, cost you money, and negatively impact your brand.
Progress Container and Display
Established in 1971, we have been executing packaging solutions consistently and on time without fail. With an in-house structural design department with more than 75 years of combined experience, we have the knowledge and capabilities to create packaging that will not only protect your product but will drive sales.
Whether you need retail packaging, point of purchase displays, branded shipping packaging, or all of the above, Progress Container can deliver with attention-grabbing graphics and economically responsible high-quality packaging solutions. Contact us to get started.