If you are looking to move your product faster and more efficiently to customers over your competitors, you should not underestimate the importance of packaging when attempting to distinguish your brand. Packaging is often the first thing the eye of the consumer sees that connects them to your product, and if your packaging is lackluster or not eye-catching, this can negatively impact your sales. You product packaging should, of course, be functional, in that it should hold and protect your product from the manufacturing point to the customer’s hands. However, your packaging should also showcase your product, and draw their eye to your product on the shelf, even as it sits among a sea of competitor products. Packaging, once it has caught the customer’s eye, should also inform and persuade the potential buyer. So how to go about doing this? Some of the suggestions below might help.

1. Standard and Accurate

Studies tend to show that most decisions made by consumers regarding which product to buy are mostly subconscious, and not often based on which product is indeed the better one. Customers will tend to choose brands that are familiar or eye catching, or perhaps a brand they have used repeatedly before. A product that has a distinct visual look about it will be well remembered from advertising, or might bring up positive associations in the mind of the consumer. The information on the package should be accurate and informative, but also brief, for the average attention span of the shopper is only around ten seconds before they move on to the next product. If there are errors, misspellings or other mistakes on the packaging, the consumer will quickly lose confidence in the brand and move on.

2. Showcase your Company Values

An ongoing trend in modern consumers is an increasing concern that they are buying products that are good for the environment, have been produced with ethically made materials, and are coming from companies known to give back to the community through corporate social responsibility. Polls of American consumers consistently show that the majority of buyers prefer to purchase products from companies that reflect their own personal values, even going so far as to purchase a more expensive product. Your product’s packaging is a good place to showcase these values, such as certifications and awards given to the company on this matter, one example being the Fair Trade membership. Packaging should also be recyclable and eco-friendly.

3. Transparent 

Your product packaging should be informative and accurate, and correctly explain what it does in a format that is easy to understand, or no higher than third grade reading level. There should be no misrepresentations or false claims about the product anywhere, and it is even better if the customer can see the product through the packaging itself. 

4. Correct protection 

The package should not be difficult to open, but should be sealed well enough to prevent accidental damage or theft. Any package that is easily damaged does not give a good impression on the company that made the product, and can discourage potential buyers from choosing the product over others. Packaged products should be transported to the sales site in containers that protect them, with the proper cushioning and shielding.

As we can see, the factors that cause a customer to choose your brand over others can be heavily influenced by the kind of packaging you use. Addressing issues that consumers care about, such as visual display, recognizable brand factors, proper information on the packaging and how the product is contributing to corporate social responsibility are small things, but important ones, that can give your product an edge over the competitor products sitting right next to it on the shelf.