Is Your E-Commerce Packaging Missing Out on This Opportunity?

With post-holiday sales in full swing and e-commerce set to grow even more in 2021, it might appear as though online selling has never been more effective. However, what many sellers forget is that their well-designed and thought-out products arrive not just in its packaging, but also in additional packaging used to ship the item. The result is often a brown, plain-looking package that does very little to impress customers with their purchases.

Given that many consumers are now placing orders multiple times a week, it is becoming increasingly likely that your product will be delivered alongside other purchases, maybe even products from some of your competitors.

In this post, The Packaging Company will explore how e-commerce sellers can optimize their packaging for the customer’s satisfaction and consequently enjoy a boosted image and higher revenues.

The Key Difference Between E-Commerce & Brick-and-Mortar Retail

To understand why e-commerce businesses are missing out on customer satisfaction, it’s important to consider how the alternative works. Despite facing their own challenges, brick-and-mortar establishments do have the advantage of being able to sell the entire shopping experience personally to each customer. From stylish storefronts to pleasing in-store music, every element has been added to create the impression of quality.

On the opposite site, e-commerce adopts a minimalist approach which often favorably results in fewer operating costs for both the buyer and seller involved. Yet, even with excellent web design and a solid virtual customer support team, e-commerce businesses will find it more difficult to transmit the message of quality that customers receive in-person.

In fact, other than through a confirmation email or landing page, e-commerce businesses have very few opportunities to showcase proactive customer service that you would experience in a store. This means that the customer’s sole impression will be placed on when the product arrives on their doorstep or in their mailbox – typically a small, brown mailer or plain-looking cardboard box.

Creating Impressive E-Commerce Packaging

It is clear that quality packaging is a cornerstone for customer satisfaction given that product development teams dedicate plenty of time into crafting the perfect design, texture and shape for their packaging. But what does impressive packaging actually look like? Essentially, great packaging consists of two elements:

1. Branded Design

Whether utilizing exotic colors or simply adding in gentle nuances such as a holiday-themed pattern, you can help turn your customer’s perception of your product from being ‘just another packaging in the mail’ to their ‘special purchase’.

Having attractive packaging featuring your brand is also an excellent way to spread your brand to influencers and your social media community. We live in a highly visual era where product images and unboxing videos are presented by influential individuals to thousands of potential customers. Your packaging should be no exception to this and even adding the slightest of touches to your packaging can make a huge difference in showing the real quality behind your products.

2. Quality Materials

Sight is not only one of the key senses that influence customer satisfaction. The way product packaging feels when being handled and opened is also part of a quality customer experience. While many brick-and-retail stores have the advantage of allowing customers to handle products before purchasing them, e-commerce sellers do not have this option. Therefore, the customer’s first physical interaction with their product is when handling the packaging it arrives in.

While sellers cannot be expected to oversee the entire packaging operation, they can boost the quality of their packaging materials. By working with reliable suppliers who regularly inspect and test their packaging using a variety of different technologies, the seller can have peace of mind that their customer’s satisfaction is being met.

On a side note, the additional advantage of using quality material for packaging is that the risk of damage during transit is reduced and products are able to hold up well. No buyer wants to have their product arrive in an unusable state and many choose to blame the seller rather than the courier itself.

Design Your Own Packaging for Your E-Commerce Business

At The Packaging Company, we know just how important quality design is when it comes to delivering products that impress the minute they arrive at your customer’s doorstep. That’s why we offer custom packaging solutions that enable you to design, craft, and customize your packaging so that it makes that all-important first impression.

Start designing your own packaging with us, or browse our catalog to discover our wide variety of packaging options for your business needs.