The world is struggling under the weight of excessive waste. Change, however, often starts small.
Businesses that want to keep their customers coming back need to step it up when it comes to their retail packaging. This doesn’t just mean a more clever design or brighter text, but communicating just what your brand is doing to make the world a better place. Customers don’t just want a good price. They want to know their dollar is going as far as possible, even somewhere they’ve never been and may never go to. When designing your customizable packaging solutions/options, going for a more green approach may just make the difference in where your business goes in 2018.
It’s time to talk packaging. Let’s see what yours could offer both consumers and the environment at large in the coming years.
The State Of The Environment
Today’s environment is starting to feel the strain of poorly discarded waste. It’s thought as much as 150 million metric tons of plastic are currently residing in the world’s oceans. The Ellen Macarthur Foundation report conducted in 2016 stated that, if action isn’t taken and soon, there may be more plastic in the ocean than fish by the time 2050 comes around. The amount of plastic waste that ends up in the ocean costs surrounding industries and cities over $14 billion every year, which is nothing to say of the animal life that struggles to adapt in the face of so much excess.
The Definition Of Clamshell Packaging
Packaging has become more efficient than ever. That doesn’t mean it still can’t be improved. A blister package that folds in on itself, creating a little pocket of protective space, is called a ‘clamshell’. This is one of the most preferred methods of retail packaging the world over for its low use of materials and ability to keep firm throughout handling, traveling and stocking. Recent studies have shown as much as half of the people around the world would partially make purchasing decisions due to packaging. These customer preferences will shape how you look at your box labels and clam cases.
Today’s Customer Preferences
What do customers want today? This is easily the most important question you can ask on your way to more green packaging solutions, as people are very vocal about what they expect out of their businesses. The advent of social media has only made this easier. A West Rock Consumer Insights Study conducted in 2016 saw 25% of consumers stating the packaging of a product was important to them. While that doesn’t seem like much, this was up from 18% just a few years prior. Another 60% of customers said they tried out a new product because the retail packaging caught their eye.
Reflecting Your Business’s Green Approach
The little efforts your brand puts into making the world a cleaner place to live should be reflected in your patented packaging. The same West Rock Consumer Insights Study revealed 45% of consumers purchased a product because the packaging displayed the business’s environmentally friendly actions. This can be done no matter the services or products provided, whether it’s an ammo storage case or fishing utility box. Figuring out your retail packaging and getting as much message as possible in a short amount of time is difficult, but not at all impossible.
Getting The Most Out Of Your Retail Packaging
Your retail packaging is your brand’s first line of communication with what should be repeat customers down the road. It relays not just what your business has to offer, but the long-term impact it’s leaving wherever it goes. Over 31 million metric tons of plastic waste are improperly disposed year after year, leaving customers disillusioned and businesses in the troubling position of catching up after failing figures. Blister packaging will ensure you are always using the right amount of product, while representing your green efforts will draw more customer eyes than even the snazziest design set-up.
Being environmentally friendly isn’t an option anymore. It’s time to give your business an overhaul so it can move toward the future smoothly.