Some packaging is practically perfect and would be difficult to improve (“Hey, let’s put a zipper on a banana”). Some packaging is so bad, the designers should be forced to spend the day opening their own plastic clamshell containers, with no tools other than their teeth, fingernails and grunts of frustration.
But now Amazon, according to this New York Times article, is taking angry customer feedback on old-fashioned packaging directly to the product makers. They use as evidence the statistic that compared to the traditional versions of the products, frustration-free products have earned on average a 73 percent reduction in negative feedback on the Amazon site. But still only about 600 of the millions of products Amazon sells come in easier to open versions.
For most retailers, traditional packaging remains popular because it can help deter theft. But in on-line shopping, there is general agreement that the alternative packaging is a hit with consumers, and that it is simple for packaging companies to create. It is also environmentally friendly, using recycled and recyclable cardboard rather than plastic and wire ties. Also, it is quicker to produce than the retail packaging…and costs less.
Now, it may be too expensive for you to create two separate packages for web and brick and mortar. But if you remember that your packaging is the last chance you have to persuade a consumer to pick you over the next guy on the shelf, you can see the importance of revisiting your approach.
What could you do different if you had a blank template? Easier to open may not apply to your screw top beverage, but the graphics, colors, copy and images you’ve wrapped it with certainly do.
Get the idea?
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