Take a stroll along any retail store and observe the way people shop. The majority of the customers do not look at labels. They see and they touch. Display packaging determines what products are picked up at first glance and what products remain unpicked despite the goodness of their product. An excellent product with a dull, unremembered box suffers to a mediocre product in a well-dressed box and that fact alone motivates more buying decisions than most brands know.
Why Do Some Products Get Noticed First on a Crowded Shelf?
Shelf space is a rival and the customer looks and scans rapidly before settling on where to concentrate. A box that harmonizes with the background loses that struggle even before a customer looks at what is in it. The use of color contrast, shape and open visibility helps in getting attention in a few seconds.
There are always a couple of things distinguishing between packaging that is memorable and packaging that is easily forgotten:
- Good color contrast with other products.
- Open or window design that exposes the product.
- A shape that is taller or wider than typical boxes in the area.
- Clean and readable branding as opposed to messy text.
Custom Display Packaging Built Around How Customers Actually Shop
Custom display packaging is most effective when it takes into consideration actual shopping habits rather than mere appearance in a design mock-up. Customers facing a shelf make decisions quickly and in many cases within a few seconds and this implies that packaging must transfer value quickly almost instantly, not by someone reading all the information.
Designing for Quick Visual Recognition
A familiar figure or uniform colour scheme within a product range makes returning customers identify a brand within a glimpse of it even at a distance. This is more important in outlets where there is a high flow of customers and the customers are hardly willing to pause to read fine print before making a decision.
What Makes Display Boxes for Products Different From Standard Boxes?
Display boxes for products fulfil a twofold role that does not concern usual shipping boxes. They cushion the item when transporting it and they also serve as a marketing instrument when they are displayed on a shelf or counter. This dual role alters the design priorities greatly, as a shipping box just has to survive the trip, whereas a display box must not just survive the trip but also look attractive when it gets there.
Display-ready packaging is also favored by retailers due to the minimized additional handling. The box can be put on a shelf by staff without repacking the product in individual retail-ready containers, which saves time during the process of restocking.
How Display Packaging Boxes Influence First Impressions
First impressions are made quickly and display packaging boxes bear the brunt of it even before a customer ever touches the product. A well-designed box is an indication of quality and care and a shaky or cheaply printed box gives the impression of uncertainty towards the product itself, despite the actuality of great quality in the product.
This impact is very evident in other categories such as cosmetics, specialty food, and electronics where customers usually make judgments on quality based on package cues and do not read a single ingredient or specification.
Is Display Packaging Wholesale a Smart Choice for Growing Brands?
The bulk of orders usually reduces the unit cost, making display packaging wholesale orders attractive to brands that expand to additional retail stores. With that said, savings are only relevant when the packaging is consistent across all the batches. A bulk order assembled with poor quality print or low grade material or structure may result in dissimilar shelf displays in the various stores.
First-time wholesale order brands should ask the production batch to provide them with sample units, rather than an early prototype, to ensure the print and structure are the same as what was initially approved.
A Look at Reliable Display Packaging Manufacturers in the USA (Kwick Packaging Included)
When brands are looking at reliable display packaging, they often find themselves on a list of trusted manufacturers when it comes to reliability. The following is a brief comparison that should be reviewed:
- Kwick Packaging: Produces the boxes in-house as opposed to outsourcing manufacturing, and places quality control closer to the actual manufacturing floor.
- PakFactory: Established a strong reputation in a large selection of display ready types of packaging in a variety of retail categories.
- CustomBoxesNow: Known to deal with mid-size display packaging orders with a flexible turnaround time.
A comparative analysis of the quality of the samples, consistency of print, and communication among these manufacturers provides a better picture than any prices ever would. The process can be visited by anybody who wishes to have a glimpse of a manufacturing-first process via Kwick Packaging.
Final Thoughts on Packaging That Sells Before It Speaks
Display packaging is work that most brands are not doing as much credit as it deserves, as it can determine whether a product is picked up at all. Selecting the correct structure, print quality and shelf space all combine to transform a mere box into a powerful selling tool. Those brands that do not regard display packaging as an element of their marketing mix, but a container, wind up with more robust shelf presence and stronger first impressions in all retail outlets where their product finds its way.
