5 Inspiring eCommerce Packaging Ideas

Packaging Is Part of the Experience

The quality of your product packaging might be the distinguishing factor to determine the success of your ecommerce business. In a crowded market, an ecommerce store will only survive if it manages to differentiate itself from the competition by offering an exceptional customer experience. By optimizing every point of contact, a business can provide more value to its customers as a whole. Quality products sold at a competitive price via a smooth online shopping experience go hand in hand with the anticipation of unboxing a premium package when that product finally arrives. Original ecommerce packaging ideas instantly set your company apart and leave long-lasting impressions with your customers.

Custom product packaging is a very effective way to enhance the public’s perception of your brand. Better branding ultimately leads to better business. Extraordinary packaging that creates outstanding impressions will keep customers thinking about your brand for longer, but also talking about your brand for longer. From entirely customized shipping boxes to the finer details such as stickers and sealing tape, we invite you to explore the five following suggestions as inspiration for creative packaging ideas that can help your brand connect with customers on another level.

1. Choose a Stylish, Creative or Informative Internal Design

Customizing the interior of your packaging already puts you miles ahead of the competition. No matter what you choose to print on the inside of your custom box, you’re instantly demonstrating a willingness to go beyond the industry standards. That simple fact can speak volumes about your brand. Something as basic as including your brand logo on the inner lid or a crafty pattern that seamlessly transitions from the package’s exterior will automatically extend the duration of a customer’s initial interaction with that packaging. This, in turn, creates a more memorable impression. They’ll be thinking of your unique design well beyond the life of the actual box. Other interesting ideas include inspirational quotes, witty company slogans, or a concise set of instructions related to assembly, product use and storage. Some companies even decide to print a sentence or two disclosing that they use sustainable packaging to demonstrate their company’s efforts to be eco-friendly. It goes without saying that in 2021 environmental awareness is definitely an asset to your brand.

2. Use an Original Package Shape

Ditch the plain old brown cardboard box in place of an original packaging design to fascinate your customers as soon as they lay eyes on their shipment. Something as simple as a distinctly shaped custom box can be enough to make your entire brand seem novel. You can even keep the same old shape but change the way it unfolds! Predictability is boring. Product packaging is no exception. By putting effort into something that’s often overlooked, you can immediately snag a customer’s attention and actually set the tone for a refreshing experience.

3. Digitally Printing a Photo Quality Image

High-quality digital photo printing has become very accessible and affordable as the technology surrounding it has become commonplace. Countless businesses now use high quality imagery to boost anticipation surrounding their products. Many companies feature a single, sharp image of their luxury item on the cover of its packaging against a clean, minimalist backdrop to give it the center of attention. This strategy builds excitement by teasing customers with a sneak peak of what they’ll receive once they open the box. A more original variation of this strategy could instead highlight the transformation of your product. A photo showing a soothing cup of the tea you’re selling, delicious looking fruit used to flavor candy, or a person rocking to music while wearing the headphones they’ve just purchased are all great examples. This is a wonderful approach because it aesthetically illustrates the use of your product.

4. Packaging That Can Be Repurposed

If you create packaging that’s functional beyond its initial use, you can increase the number of people that will come into contact with your brand. Packages that transform into dispensers for their products end up advertising themselves. Whoever uses that product will be reminded of your brand each time they reach for one. A huge plus is that everybody who walks into that space will be introduced to your brand as well. This concept can be taken a step further by transforming packaging into an attractive display for the product. Notice how stylishly these wine bottles stand on their clever cardboard casing!

Depending on your target audience, packaging can even be repurposed as arts and crafts projects for young children. Several companies do this by adding nothing more than dotted lines and a link. This link works double duty by bringing more traffic to their website where parents can print instructions that show their kids how to repurpose the packaging into cardboard artwork. Talk about extending interaction time and increasing value!

5. Branded Sealing Tape for Your Shipping Boxes

Let’s say the budget that you allocate to product packaging is already being used or that you’re looking to further emphasize your brand without adding a significant cost to your marketing campaign. Well, it only takes a small investment to add a simple custom sealing tape on the outside of your shipping boxes. With this strategy, your packaging cost per product doesn’t increase substantially but your brand awareness does. This subtle change in packing tape can be exactly what’s needed to put your name on the map and create more brand recognition for those who come in contact with your shipping boxes every step of the way! It’s difficult to believe that Amazon would be allocating money from their budget to sealing each one of their boxes with custom packing tape if it wasn’t worth every cent.

The Bottom Line of Branded Packaging

No matter if you choose to adopt one of these ideas, work several in sync, or come up with something entirely different on your own, the end goal will always be to create a unique design that sets your brand apart from the rest. The success of an ecommerce business relies on its ability to service its target market in ways that other businesses can’t. Most people ignore the simple fact that product packaging is actually a subtle aspect of customer service. The first impression that comes from something as simple as custom mailer boxes can instantly make your brand more memorable. If making changes to your branded packaging adds that wow-factor that might give you the competitive edge, then you should go for it. You can either get ahead or get left behind!