Choosing Packaging for Your New Product? Here Are Some Important Things to Keep in Mind
You’ve got your product finished and ready to go, but there’s still one thing you need to get absolutely right before you’re ready to sell; your packaging.
You’ll no doubt have put a great deal of time, effort and passion into making sure your product is perfect, so it makes sense that you put the same effort into the way you package your product up to achieve retail success. If you get it wrong, your product could fade into the background. But if you get it right, your product will naturally find its way onto retailers’ shelves and your customers’ homes.
So here are the top things to keep in mind when deciding on your packaging:
1. The Basics
As you might imagine, there are always the fundamental first points of call when it comes to packaging a product:
Materials – What will your packaging need to be made from? This will obviously depend on your product; if you are producing cold drinks you can use plastic bottles, or if you’re product is fragile you’ll need something sturdy to prevent breakages. You can consult with local packaging contractors and manufacturers to get their advice based on your particular product and needs.
Size and shape – There’s no sense packaging your product in oversized and oddly shaped boxes if you’ll need to stack and transport large amounts of them. You’ll need to think carefully about convenience for both retailer and customer as well as creativity here.
Finances – You may have big plans and ideas for your product, especially when it comes to how it will be packaged. However, sometimes the type packaging you want might be difficult to source and very expensive. Consider your finances both short and long-term to help you decide on materials and contractors which would be the most cost-effective.
2. Your Future
You may be starting out with just one product for now, but it’s worth spending some time thinking about future possibilities and plans before deciding on your packaging. Perhaps there’s scope for an expansion of the product to create a branded range, or perhaps your product has the potential to change in size or design with the development of new technology. If so, you may need to think about using packaging which can be easily adapted to accommodate these changes and future-proof your business as it grows.
3. The Environment
As well as convenience and design, one important factor that can sway retailers’ and customers’ decision to buy your product is how environmentally friendly your packaging is. If you have lots of unnecessary bulky plastics and oversized boxes it could put off potential buyers and investors before you’ve even had a chance to sell in the product itself.
With that in mind it is worth putting in some extra research to see if there are alternative packaging materials, weights and designs which could help you reduce the impact of your product on the environment. It is also a good idea to encourage the recycling of your packaging as part of the written information on your product.
4. Branding and design
As critically important as all of the above factors are, it can be argued that the most important factor of all is how your product appeals visually. This is where it’s a great idea to consult with and hire a professional design agency to take your product the rest of the way and make it shelf-ready.
We all know that first impressions are everything. Imagine you’re faced with a selection of products and no recognisable household brands; which one do you pick up first? The one that looks the most professional and visually appealing, of course.
So, once you’ve decided on how you want to market your product and who your target audience is, you’ll need to choose colour schemes and layouts that will work with your product and your chosen style of packaging. This is no easy task, and one that your designer can help you with if you’re not sure.
The right packaging design will not only look great and make your product stand out, but it will also convey a message to your customers about your own brand values and the quality of your product, so this is well worth investing in.
If you have questions about product packaging design for your new venture then by all means give us a shout here at Design by Day; we’d love to have a chat and help you out.
The post Getting The Packaging Right For Your Product appeared first on Design By Day.