Product packaging is designed to help sell a product and protect the product. Creating effective product packaging requires an analysis of your market and an understanding of what your customers are looking for. It is also important to find a balance between packaging that protects the product and still allows the customer to easily remove and use the product.
Work with the Product
Take a look at how manufacturers of products similar to yours are packaging their product, and use some of those ideas in your packaging. Use market research to determine which products are the more successful ones, and see if they offer any insight as to how you should package your product. Remember to be very economical with the size and shape of your packaging because retail shelf space is expensive and you want to be able to fit as much product on your shelf space as possible. Experiment with packaging that takes up as little space as possible, but still properly protects your product during shipping. It will help you to keep up on the newest in packaging ideas and technology in order to keep up with your competition and get the maximum return on your product packaging.
Understand your Customers
You may determine in your market research that your packaging needs to be difficult for children to open because your product could be harmful to children if used improperly, but do not make the mistake of forgetting the rest of the family. Some childproof packaging ideas do prevent children from getting to the product, but they are also difficult for grandparents with arthritis to open. Understand who will be opening your packaging so that you can design it to be manageable for that group. Remember that the graphics on your packaging should be geared toward your buying audience, but the packaging itself should be designed for the people who will be opening it.
In the United States there is a movement toward biodegradable packaging and away from plastic and other packaging that could be harmful to the environment. Customers are becoming more conscious of the environment, and they are beginning to accept environmentally friendly packaging as necessary. These are the kinds of packaging trends you need to keep up to date on so that you can package your product in a way that customers will find acceptable.
Do market research and find out what customers need to see on packaging in order to convince them to purchase the product. Think about how many times you have gone into a store to purchase a product and rejected products that did not list important and useful information on the packaging. Make sure your packaging includes images that make it very clear as to what is in the box, and descriptive information that answers any questions the customer may have before deciding to purchase the product.
Work with Retailers
The larger retailers have needs when it comes to your packaging, and it is your job to make your packaging meet the standards of the big box retailers. They have requirements for the images on your packaging, the size of your packaging and the descriptions printed on your packaging. Work with the retailers to be sure that your packaging meets their requirements.
Product theft is a big issue with all retailers. There are standard theft protection systems that retailers are using to reduce the amount of product lost to shoplifting, so be sure to include whatever the retailers need you to put in your packaging to reduce theft. Many retailers use an antitheft system that requires a small sensor to be put in the packaging, which is deactivated by the cashier when the purchase is made. If the sensor is not deactivated, it sets off an alarm when the person tries to leave the store, alerting security. Many big box retailers are requiring manufacturers to put these sensors in packaging because criminals found it too easy to remove the sensors put on the outside of the packaging by the store.
Mind the Law
Packaging is affected by laws and regulations for any kind of product. Understand the laws before you set out to create your packaging so that you do not invest in packaging that is illegal. The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Food and Drug Administration have laws that apply to the proper packing of certain products that you will need to be aware of. These laws apply mostly to household chemicals and medications, but it is a good idea to find out if your product requires special packaging. In California there are laws against using too much cadmium, mercury or lead in product packaging, and exceeding these limits could make your packaging illegal in the state of California.
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