Ecommerce dominates the modern business world, and it’s easy to see why—it allows enterprises to reach broader markets and enhances customers’ convenience.
However, ecommerce can be challenging for businesses. To elevate the customer experience, businesses need to add personalized touches and leave lasting impressions—which can be tough when your entire experience lives online, versus brick-and-mortar settings where businesses can leverage face-to-face customer interactions to build experiences. Shipping costs can also be prohibitive for ecommerce businesses, which can cut into their revenue.
That’s where ecommerce packaging comes into play. It goes beyond fulfilling the typical product protection role to also help businesses reinforce their brand identity, enhance the customer experience, and manage shipping costs.
Here, we look at the value of ecommerce packaging and guide you through the process of finding and applying the right solutions.
The important role of ecommerce packaging
Ecommerce packaging is how you pack products for customers who purchase items online. With many consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies already involved in ecommerce, packaging can sometimes mean the difference between standing out in the competitive space and blending into the background.
As an ecommerce business, you only get a few chances to make a good first impression. Sure, you can take the best pictures and create high-quality video content to showcase products on your site. And, while this certainly adds points in your favor, customers’ first physical interactions with your products are what truly count. The first unboxing experience has a huge impact on customer satisfaction.
This is why ecommerce packaging is becoming a critical topic in CPG marketing. Packaging isn’t just for protecting products to ensure they reach customers in good condition. You can also leverage it to deliver a unique, positive customer experience that reinforces your branding and serves as a clever marketing medium.
Why you should care about ecommerce packaging solutions
Some businesses may unintentionally pay more attention to retail packaging than ecommerce packaging—and this is understandable since retail packaging needs to entice shoppers in order to capture sales.
However, just because ecommerce packaging is for customers who have already bought products doesn’t mean it’s less important.
Here’s why:
Customer satisfaction
Thoughtful and well-executed ecommerce packaging creates a positive unboxing experience and first impression, enhancing customer satisfaction and perception of your brand. This can result in increased brand loyalty, potentially leading to more than one purchase from each buyer.
To maximize satisfaction, include features that delight modern consumers in your packaging. These include making your packages easy to open, creating an attractive design for the wow factor, and using eco-friendly materials.
Operational efficiency
Ecommerce packaging can facilitate operational efficiency by streamlining warehouse operations, reducing shipping costs, and minimizing product damage. Remember, it doesn’t just involve ensuring your packages look good. It’s a multifaceted process that also involves:
- Coming up with effective packaging designs for better storage and stacking
- Finding efficient, properly sized, and lightweight packaging materials to control shipping costs
- Using reliable packaging materials and secure seals for product protection
- Leveraging automated packing and conveyor systems to promote speedy packaging and minimize errors
Reduced costs
Despite many businesses hoping that shipping costs would reduce after the COVID-19 pandemic, they’re still one of the most significant expenses for ecommerce brands today. There are several reasons why shipping is so costly, including increased fuel prices, labor costs, and the declining demand for shipping, which has forced carriers to raise their rates to maintain operations.
While the general rise in shipping costs may be beyond your control, you can still manage how much you spend per delivery. A few ways to minimize expenses are choosing the right packaging materials and designs.
This means replacing oversized boxes with optimized package sizes, opting for lightweight materials, and making bulk packaging purchases to enjoy bulk discounts. These ecommerce packaging strategies can help you minimize waste and lower shipping costs.
How to choose the right ecommerce packaging solutions for your brand
There are many ecommerce packaging solutions on the market, so it may be a little challenging to know where to start. Below are our top tips for choosing solutions that work well for your brand.
Understand what your product needs
The first step to determining the best packaging solutions for your brand is assessing your products. Do you sell fragile or heavy items? Then, double-walled corrugated cardboard boxes are worth considering, as they offer more protection and are sturdier than standard boxes. If you sell standard items that don’t require too much protection, you can go for standard corrugated boxes.
Also, consider your product’s size when choosing a solution, as it can impact shipping costs and customer perception of your business. If you sell small, non-fragile items, like books, you can use bags and envelopes to fulfill small orders instead of packaging them in large boxes. For fragile, small items, consider padded mailers for extra cushioning and protection.
Choose custom packaging solutions tailored to product requirements instead of using the same packaging solution for everything. This way, you can ensure maximum protection and control shipping costs.
Balance cost and quality
It’s hard to make any business-related decision without considering costs. After all, costs determine how profitable your business activities are.
When choosing packaging solutions, find a balance between cost and quality to manage expenses without compromising customers’ perception of your brand.
Start by understanding your product needs to find the best solution. If you’re shipping fragile items, solutions with extra layers of protection are necessary. However, if your products are durable, there’s no need to shell out the additional cost.
Also, consider your items’ size and use packaging that suits the size of each order to save costs and prevent items from bouncing around. The less they move around in their packaging, the less likely they are to get damaged during transit—this could result in fewer returns, saving you money.
Another cost-saving strategy is to buy materials in bulk, as most suppliers offer discounts for large purchases.
If you want to upgrade your packages’ aesthetics, opt for simple designs instead of expensive embellishments. For example, you could use tissue paper with your brand colors and print your logo on shipping boxes instead of embossing your logo on the items.
Use technology for connected packaging
Smart packaging is the future of both ecommerce and retail packaging, as it enhances customer engagement and gives businesses a better visual of their supply chain.
There are numerous smart packaging solutions to choose from, depending on your needs. For example, you can use QR Codes, 2D Barcodes, RFID tags, and NFC tags to direct customers to product information, making it easy for them to learn what they need.
Alternatively, you can introduce 2D Barcodes into your packaging process to get a better visual of your supply chain—these codes carry a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) enabling vendors to identify products.
The beauty of using QR Codes and 2D Barcodes is that they’re also trackable. You can see how many people interact with your packaging (through scan data), and as such, you can identify the most popular ecommerce packaging solutions among your audience.
The future of connected packaging is bright, with businesses constantly coming up with creative ways to leverage technology. Keep an eye out for what’s to come and incorporate what you can to improve your processes.
Examples of how to apply ecommerce packaging solutions
Ready to bring ecommerce packaging solutions into your business? Here are some examples of how to apply them:
Note: The brands discussed below were found during our online research for this article.
Custom branded packaging
Want to enhance brand recognition? Custom-branded packaging may be exactly what you need. Adding elements as simple as your logo and brand colors to packaging reinforces your brand identity by making your package instantly recognizable. It also leaves a lasting unboxing experience for customers as it conveys attention to detail and differentiates you from other brands.
If custom-branded packaging is something you may be interested in, ensure every element in your packaging is brand-aligned. For example, you can customize QR Codes to match your brand colors, and if you plan to include your website URL on the packaging, use branded links to build familiarity with customers.
Brands like Pukka Herbs and Glossier use branded product packaging, making them hard to miss—both include identifying elements like their logos and vibrant colors on their packages.
Sustainable packaging options
If you want to appeal to eco-conscious customers and reduce your business’s environmental footprint, sustainable packaging solutions need to be at the top of your list. Use biodegradable materials, recyclable packaging, and reusable containers—such as corrugated cardboard, mailers made from kraft paper, and glass or metal jars.
Allbirds, a popular footwear and apparel brand, has successfully implemented this packaging solution to lower its carbon footprint. It uses 90% post-consumer recycled cardboard to minimize tree cutting, showing that sustainability is possible—even in ecommerce packaging.
Protective packaging for fragile items
The last thing you want is for customers to have to constantly return broken items for replacement. This can affect your bottom line and damage your reputation, especially now that people take complaints to social media platforms and review sites. To prevent this, ensure products reach customers in perfect condition.
How do you do that? Start by choosing the right type of packaging solution. For example, double-walled boxes are a suitable option for shipping fragile products. Then, add an extra layer of protection by using infill options like bubble wrap, kraft paper, foam inserts, and air pillows.
Size-optimized packaging
As mentioned earlier, ecommerce packaging is a multifaceted approach that aims to create high-quality customer experiences, manage shipping costs, and control waste. Using size-optimized packaging is a great way to tick the last two boxes.
To find the perfect size, measure your products (length, width, height, and weight) and use 3D modeling to visualize how they’d fit in different-sized packaging solutions. Also, consider their shape, especially if they have protrusions that could affect how they sit in different packages, and test their fit to identify the best solutions.
In its efforts to minimize waste and manage costs, Amazon has cracked the code on proper package sizing by leveraging advanced algorithms. The ecommerce giant uses machine learning to determine the best-suited packaging solutions and sizes as well as identify opportunities for joint shipping to efficiently use available space.
Innovative packaging designs
Innovative designs can help you stand out from the competition and secure repeat purchases. If you’re stuck on which designs to incorporate into your packaging, put yourself in customers’ shoes and think about what you’d like to be done better.
Would you like an easier unboxing experience? Then you should consider using easy-to-open packages. Would you want a more sustainable ecommerce packaging solution? Put your money on resealable bags and multi-functional packaging.
Packaging for enhanced product presentation
If you choose strategically, your packaging can identify your brand even before customers see what’s inside.
Build anticipation for your product by using well-designed packaging solutions such as window boxes, elegant finishes, and unique shapes and accessories. These elements can create a premium feel, improving customers’ overall perception of your product and brand.
Just look at the Tiffany & Co. packaging. The company’s use of the forget-me-not blue color and white ribbons for its packages adds a distinctive luxury feel that enhances the perceived value of its jewelry and gifts. Even before you unbox a Tiffany & Co. package, you already know you have a valuable product.
Enhance your ecommerce packaging strategy with Bitly
Your ecommerce packaging is the first physical experience online shoppers have with your brand. This means it sets the stage for their overall experience with your brand—a major opportunity to make a great impression that could potentially lead to more future purchases.
To capitalize on the opportunity, leverage solutions like Bitly to create the best experiences and enhance customer loyalty. With Bitly, you can easily create Bitly Codes and 2D Barcodes to enhance customer engagement, provide easy access to product info, and track customer interactions with your packaging.
Through the engagement data in Bitly Analytics, you can identify ecommerce packaging strategies that resonate with your audience, allowing you to continuously optimize your solutions.
Sign up for Bitly today for reliable, trackable, custom solutions to help elevate your ecommerce packaging strategy!