Product packaging is a critical step in the retail manufacturing process. Unfortunately, many businesses neglect quality packaging to save money and time, which costs them more in the long run. Using poor packing materials, neglecting quality control standards, and failing to protect against product damage can lead to customer dissatisfaction and a negative view of your brand.
Durable, brand-oriented, high-quality packaging is a must-have in today’s market if you hope to succeed as a business. This article outlines the most common packaging mistakes businesses make and how you can avoid them to improve your packaging strategy and increase sales.
Setting the Stage: Prioritizing Customer Experience
As a business, your goals include producing high-quality products and gaining positive brand recognition for those items. Even though the thing in the box is what the customers want, the packaging shapes the customers’ first impression of you and your company. The quality, durability, functionality, and packaging design heavily impact the perceptions a customer develops about your company at a glance.
In a survey completed by PACKCON E-Magazine, data revealed that 56% of participants agreed that the colors and design of a package influence their decision to purchase, and 86% of participants agreed that the strength and durability of a package contribute to customer behavior.
Moreover, market research suggests that customers also have concerns about the effects of packaging materials on the environment. Specifically, customers tend to have unfavorable opinions about companies with wasteful packaging practices. Such practices include using too much packaging or failing to consider sustainable packaging as part of the manufacturing process, as throwing away excess cardboard, plastic, and bubble wrap makes customers feel uneasy.
The Most Common Packaging Mistakes Businesses Make
It goes without saying: packaging material, the design, and the strength of a package influence customer behavior and perception. If you want to nail your packaging and avoid accidentally turning consumers away, consider the following packaging mistakes and learn how to avoid them.
Mistake #1: Using Poor Packaging Materials
A common mistake many businesses make is settling for low-quality packaging. Before your customers can enjoy your products, the products have to get to them first. High-quality packaging ensures product protection during shipping so that the items inside remain intact and damage-free when they arrive at a store or any other destination.
Whether you use plastic packages, boxes, or other containers for your products, the shipping process puts the packages at risk for various kinds of damage. From water damage on cardboard boxes to wear and tear on the road, several things could go wrong during transit if your product packaging material isn’t up to par.
How to Fix It: Outsource to a Reputable Packaging Company
To improve your product packaging and prevent damage during shipping, consider what materials would protect your product best. Packaging size, quantity, and fragility will influence your choice, but remember that you have no shortage of packaging options at your disposal.
No matter your packaging needs, you can outsource high-quality cardboard boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap, and other types of material from one of many reputable packaging companies.
A trustworthy packing company will have strict quality control standards and practices that ensure packaging strength. For example, a packaging company may use the box crush test to gauge the durability of a cardboard box before sending similar materials out for manufacturing use.
By developing a business relationship with a company that provides excellent packaging, you can ensure consistent quality across all the materials your business uses.
Mistake #2: Failing to Consider Customer Experience
Product protection is an essential feature of high-quality packaging. However, an aspect of product packaging many businesses fail to consider is the functionality of the packing material post-shipping.
It’s an easy part of the process to get wrong. Many brands assume that the business interaction is complete once the consumer purchases their product from the store, but this assumption couldn’t be farther from the truth. The appearance and functionality of your packaging influence customers’ impression of your brand, sometimes negatively.
Protecting your products during shipping is essential, but most people don’t enjoy struggling to open the container or box your product comes in. If consumers have to resort to using various tools to open their packages, they may choose a competitor in the future.
How to Fix It: Consider Your Target Audience
To avoid giving customers the wrong impression of your company, consider the specific demographics you serve. To whom do you sell the most products?
If your primary customer base includes people who prefer environmentally friendly shipping practices that reduce waste, you could explore investing in reusable packaging. If you serve the elderly or communities who may struggle with opening a box or container, consider the convenience of resealable packages.
The best packaging practices prioritize customer experience. Take the time to think about who your primary customers are so you can tailor your packaging around their needs.
Mistake #3: Product and Packaging Chemistry Issues
One of the most common packaging mistakes companies in the food industry make is failing to consider the effect of certain materials on food products. For example, packaging acidic foods in aluminum can cause the products to take on that aluminum taste, effectively ruining the product for potential customers.
Unwanted chemical reactions can occur between several food products and packaging materials, and this mistake can have devastating consequences for your business.
How to Fix It: Perform Testing and Automate Packaging
For the health, safety, and satisfaction of your customers, you must research chemical reactions between certain materials and food products. This research should include lab testing of your product packaging to ensure a quality final result.
Additionally, consider investing in an automated packaging system. When calibrated correctly, automation prevents human error and provides a consistent result every time. A high-quality automation system and excellent packaging materials will help your business increase performance and earn returning customers.
Final Thoughts
Product packaging is critical to quality control and establishing your company as a reputable authority in your industry. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” doesn’t apply to consumer behavior. That is why it’s essential for the future of your business that you make a positive, lasting impression throughout every step of the purchasing process.
It’s easy to cut corners with packaging to pinch a penny now and then, but doing so could ultimately cost you more in the long run if your audience is dissatisfied with your packaging practices.
To ensure future success, you must consider the most critical aspects of packaging: the quality of your supplies, functionality, and the interactions between the packaging material and the products inside. Addressing these issues in your packaging practice will result in higher quality overall and increased customer satisfaction, which will increase sales.
At TDI Packsys, we help business owners and manufacturers perfect their packaging processes with our state-of-the-art inspection and packaging automation systems. We build each of our automation systems with quality, safety, and efficiency in mind, ensuring smooth operation and enhanced performance.
Using strict quality standards, industry expertise, and superior machinery, TDI Packsys creates inspection and packaging solutions for the future. To learn more about how we can improve your manufacturing process, call us at 877-834-6750 or contact our team online.
