{"id":7901,"date":"2014-07-17T14:46:44","date_gmt":"2014-07-17T14:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.123print.com\/blog\/?p=7901"},"modified":"2015-07-16T19:01:10","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T19:01:10","slug":"thinking-inside-the-box-8-product-packaging-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/thinking-inside-the-box-8-product-packaging-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking Inside the Box: 8 Product Packaging Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Thinking<\/a>How often have you received a package you’ve been eagerly anticipating and found the entire experience a complete disappointment? More often than not, the shipping envelope or box was underwhelming (and somewhat beaten up from its journey), the product presentation inside was non-existent, and finally, there seemed to be a potpourri of everything this vendor had available in its promotional arsenal, i.e., mini-catalogs, product inserts, a customer satisfaction survey, a packing slip and more.<\/p>\n

Most marketers would agree \u2014 the after-sale contact is the best opportunity to turn a first-time customer into a loyal and returning one. It should then come as no surprise that all aspects of your shipment \u2014 from the mailing label to the packing materials \u2014 are critical to future success.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s review a brief synopsis of the key packaging essentials to create a great customer experience:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Outside<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Select a tough exterior packaging to make certain the product is protected. This may be nothing more than a Tyvek\u00ae envelope<\/a> or a corrugated box.<\/li>\n
  2. Brand it. That means you either have your logo printed on the package or, less expensively, a personalized shipping label<\/a> affixed to the envelope or box. Don\u2019t miss the opportunity to promote your company name.<\/li>\n
  3. If it\u2019s a corrugated box, you\u2019ll need to make a basic decision: White or Kraft (Brown). White is definitely preferred as far as aesthetics, but that\u2019s before they\u2019re manhandled by UPS, FedEx and other delivery services. Kraft is often the smarter choice as it hides all of the scuff marks.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \"Envelopes<\/a>
    Get professional, affordable shipping envelopes and mailing labels at 123Print!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Inside<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Determine whether your product requires an interior box. First and foremost, you need to protect the contents, and secondly, it\u2019s an opportunity to make a statement that it\u2019s something special. The addition of an inner box is often the difference between an unqualified \u201cWow\u201d or just a \u201cho-hum\u201d from a customer.<\/li>\n
    2. How much do you want to know about the buyer? It\u2019s an excellent time to capture either demographic information (age, gender, size of business, etc.) or the overall satisfaction level with your website and product. A cautionary note here: Keep the survey short and sweet. \u00a0You don\u2019t want to make it too daunting by asking a long list of questions. Also, if you want to ensure that your response rate is more than satisfactory, offer a discount to incentivize a completed and returned survey (and yes, it should be postage-paid \u2014 or even online).<\/li>\n
    3. What is the next logical product(s) for this customer type? Now is the ideal opportunity to add a flyer or mini-catalog focused on the products this customer will most likely be interested in purchasing. If you\u2019ve delivered the item on time (or faster) and your product meets and exceeds expectations, the best time to capture a second order is now. Once again, if you want to increase your response rate, provide a discount with perhaps a short reaction time (two to three weeks) to produce a sense of urgency. Warning: Do not go overboard with inserts. Just one or two will suffice; anything more is overwhelming, adds additional weight and postage, and will more than likely be tossed in the nearest trash can.<\/li>\n
    4. Many companies also throw in non-competitive literature to earn additional revenue and provide the customer with more unique sales offers. My experience is that this approach is overkill (the \u201ctoo many inserts\u201d syndrome described above) and the internal inventory management of these flyers and shipping envelope inserts more than outweighs any revenue gained.<\/li>\n
    5. Finally, don\u2019t forget the packing slip. This is your opportunity to capture all of the key information: Customer Name, Address (Billing & Shipping), P.O. number (if relevant), Contact Name, Quantity and Product(s) purchased. If space allows, it\u2019s also the time to print a special offer on the packing slip or a tie-in reminder to the promotional literature you\u2019ve placed in the package.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      One more tip: Never take your eyes off the competition. Be sure to shop your competitors and regularly place orders with them. This will not only allow you to judge product quality, but also give you insights into their packaging philosophy. Doing this could foster new ideas and create a unique packaging path for your company. It\u2019s simply a matter of thinking inside the box.<\/p>\n

      What are some ways you’ve thought outside (or inside!) the box when it comes to packaging and shipping your products? We’d love to get your insight!<\/strong> Leave a comment below, or connect with us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> or Google+<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      How often have you received a package you’ve been eagerly anticipating and found the entire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1444,1448,1460,8],"tags":[328,1700,1698,1020,1699,1033],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7901"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7901"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8972,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7901\/revisions\/8972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}