Packaging Design. A sales tool

This text is for those who make good products and want to compete, on the shelf, with the most famous brands in the world. The ideas are based on personal experience in making food packaging, so they may not be suitable for all types of products.

It's hard to produce something good. It's hard to get the product on the shelf. What I recommend is not to neglect the branding and packaging design stage, because once your product finally hits the shelves of the big stores, it will benefit from a short trial period. Make sure your product has packaging that works as a sales tool.

Good packaging meets the following criteria:
It is observed on the shelf.
Communicate benefits quickly
Interact post-purchase with the customer.

1. Packaging design that stands out
   The first condition for a product to be bought is to be seen on the shelf. Most products in stores are not even noticed. And this is not just me saying it, but Ionuț Vlad, owner of Tokinomo, a business with robots for retail. Tokinomo manages a fleet of over 2,500 robots integrated into stores around the world. The customer runs past most of the packaging on the shelf. Few products manage to attract attention, and even fewer convince customers to add them to the shopping cart.

The reality is that a manufacturer has a lot to communicate, but on the shelf, customers sometimes see over 100 different brands in a single category, and the time spent choosing a product is only a few seconds. The time differs depending on the category. Bread is chosen in 3-5 seconds, and wine in 60-90 seconds.

Let's imagine how a shopping session goes for a normal customer. Dad receives a shopping list of about 30 products from different categories. The allotted time is a maximum of 30 minutes. Even after looking for a parking space and standing in line at the checkout, there are still less than 40 seconds left to choose each product. Some products on the list are more difficult than others. For example cosmetics will trouble most men. Spices or baking powder will require additional time to identify the rayon, choose the right product, etc. These difficult products eat up the time of the basic ones. When we buy staples: milk, cheese, butter, eggs, and bread, we rarely try new brands. A new brand in the basket is a risk factor. What if the kids don't like it? What if it doesn't have the same qualities as the recurring product? What if my wife throws it to the dog?!? It's safer not to change, I'd better take what I already had…

That's why there are product categories that are more difficult to change than others. It's easier to change the brand of biscuits than the brand of milk or bread.

Once we stop in front of a new packaging, it only has a few seconds to communicate the benefits it offers. See the case study Shake Me!

2. Package design that communicates benefits
   Customers buy products for the benefits they provide. Benefits appeal to reason and/or emotions. A rational benefit can be argued logically, for example, a clean prescription. No additives or preservatives. The benefit of a clean prescription product is health. An emotional benefit appeals to our subjective side. Activates a state or emotion. We impulsively buy products with a lot of sugar because the reward comes quickly. That is why we notice that many sweet products emotionally communicate states of joy, fun, or even happiness.

A smartly built product has a clear benefit. And good packaging communicates this benefit in a very short time. Quality, well-designed, and well-produced packaging communicates trust. Customers want quality products, and the packaging has the role of confirming a choice, of assuring the quality offered by the product inside.

A brand's verbal and visual identity helps a product make a good first impression. The harmonious composition, the chromatic accords or the quality of the materials from which the packaging is made contribute to the ability of a product to be pleasant. Packaging must structure a large volume of information, sometimes in a limited space. A professional designer manages to organize information in such a way as to communicate effectively with clients. Good packaging will communicate a large volume of information quickly and attractively. See case study Manea Brutarul

3. Packaging design that communicates post-purchase
   Once the purchase is made, the packaging continues to communicate with customers. It must be both functional, easy to store, close effectively, etc., but also tell the story of the product further.

At home, the interaction time with a product is much longer, and the packaging will be looked at by several people. Each with their own interests. Mom will carefully check the ingredient list and nutritional information.

Packaging can also be an effective tool for generating online traffic. Packaging can be a link to a brand's online universe. In the online environment, the benefits of the product, the story of the brand or information about the rules of an ongoing promotion can be widely communicated.

In conclusion, packaging design, done well, is an effective sales tool. If there is a strategy behind the graphics and we collaborate with a talented designer to visually organize the information.