As more and more customers prefer to shop for products or services online, sales at many physical retail locations will drop. Surveys revealed that shoppers prefer to shop online because of ease of checkout, brand and product variety, as well as the ability to create store accounts. Because of the shift to online shopping, the interaction with the packaging of the product may have less influence on the buying decisions. If you are a business owner, you might be wondering about the impact of online retail growth on your product packaging.
Product Protection and Delivery
Online retailers recognize the importance of product protection and delivery. Studies reveal that online buyers valued a package’s functional benefits more than its look or branding. While the role of packaging for online retail is not different from the traditional on-the-shelf package, some functional demands must be considered. Online retail minimizes some of the security and safety demands required for in-store packaging where retailers have to deal with issues such as tampering and theft. But, online retail deals with different security concerns and offers a more profitable and accessible marketplace for selling and distributing counterfeit or stolen goods. That is why product packaging should verify legitimate products and customers should be allowed to track their purchases from production to delivery.
Customer Experience
Business owners can work directly with their packaging manufacturer to
buyboxes and ensure they come up with finished products that can be opened easily and recycled. Products packaged like this are ready for shipment without requiring secondary packaging.
Moreover, online shopping offers a more direct opportunity to recover valuable items and packaging materials. Online retailers can provide return labels in product shipments to help deliver quality materials to appropriate facilities. This approach can increase access to recycling and offer recovery options for materials that are usually incinerated or sent to landfills.
It is unlikely that the world will see a full shift away from retail locations and traditional packaging. The online experience cannot meet the in-store service. Every business will need to put efforts into building their reputation and maintain its relationship with customers in a physical way.
As shoppers shift more toward online shopping, brands and packaging companies have increased opportunities to get their brand message across in a more effective way. Whether customers encounter a brand on a shelf or on an e-commerce website, the packaging design is vital to keeping the brand in the minds and hearts of shoppers.
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