Your product is like your baby. You’ve poured your blood and sweat into creating an excellent product. But what if after putting in so much effort, your product fails to induce the desired outcome? This is a common quandary faced by many companies that ignore the monumental value of packaging. But we don’t want you to commit the same blunder.
To thrive in the challenging retail environment, great packaging can help you outmaneuver your closest competitors and reap the rewards of rising sales. If you’re feeling perplexed about what makes packaging perfect, read further.
The idea of designing perfect retail packaging is creating “shelf-ready packages.” Your product’s packaging is not just about using great colors and images. You need to consider the needs of your customers, as well as retailers.
You must know about the symbiotic relationship that exists between brands and retailers. Their happy marriage results in reaching a huge volume of consumers and thereby boosting sales. This means ignoring the retailers’ insight while creating your product’s packaging can be a big mistake. Retailers have an intimate and close-to-the-ground relationship with your target customers. Their valuable perspective can help you stand out in the aisle.
So, as a brand owner, you need to meet retailers’ requests for retail-ready packaging solutions. In case you’re not aware of this term, retail-ready packaging (RRP) means a packaging which is ready for on-shelf product display without the need for assembly or unpacking. The product goes straight onto the shelf from the truck. Shelf-ready packaging, also called retail-ready packaging is in demand not only because it’s practical for retailers, but it is also a great way to boost sales.
In short, shelf-ready packaging serves a dual purpose. It catches the eye of the consumer and at the same time minimizes the time and effort needed by retail staff to create appealing shelf displays. Now you must be thinking about how to make your packing retail-ready. Read on and find out!
- Seek Retailers’ Opinion
The primary goal of RRP is to streamline the process of stocking and unpacking. Since this trend is driven by retailers, it’s best to seek their suggestions. You may ask them about the designs that work best for them. The data and information collected from retailers can guide you throughout the package development process. Some companies even conduct research to observe retailer staff and customers interact with existing retail-ready packaging.
- Consumers always come first
Don’t get confused here. Obviously, RRP is primarily designed to maximize the experience of the retailers. But your ultimate goal is always to attract customers. Sharp edges and hard to pick up products never appeal to consumers. You have very little time to influence a consumer’s buying decision, so make the best use it. Avoid odd shapes and complicated packaging. An ideal retail-ready packaging isn’t only easy for the retailer to shelf, but also attractive for the consumer to grab from the shelf.
- Find a viable solution to align goals
Once you’ve determined the goals for your RRP, it’s time to pick a viable packaging solution. At this stage, you may find out the pitfalls of reducing the thickness of your packaging material. Though it helps in reducing costs, from the shipping point of view it may not be safe. You may need heavy carton with strong enough seal to hold the contents securely during shipping. The best option here is to plan multiple mockups to test packages with drop tests and on actual shelves to confirm viability.
- Never compromise with the integrity of your brand
Simple packaging by no means implies skimping on printing. Now it’s time for printing on the packaging to convey your message loud and clear. Always use high-quality print solutions to make your labels and graphics easily stand out.
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