Good Packaging Design = Increased Sales

Two factors influence consumer purchases of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) more than others – brand and packaging design.

A consumer’s first point of contact with your products is often your packaging, and good packaging design is a powerful tool to entice consumers to try a new product or brand. For this reason, to successfully launch (or relaunch) a product, it’s critical to get your packaging design right.

Know your customer

Think about your own shopping experience. When faced with numerous products you are often drawn to certain ones because their packaging appeals to you. Your customers are the same. So, to get your products off the shelf and into their shopping carts, you need to know who your customers are and what appeals to them.

Market research and focus groups are useful to determine who purchases your products, what is important to them and what connects with them. These tools allow your packaging design to be developed based on research facts and focus group feedback.

Packaging is your product

Whether the packaging is opened and discarded (please recycle) or is a container for the product while it’s used, the packaging is an integral part of the product for the consumer at the point of purchase. For some products (like drinks, sauces and spreads) the packaging takes on an important functional role in its use. This means other factors, like easy access and storage, become considerations.

No matter how good a product is poor packaging can keep it from reaching its sales potential. Choosing the right container and creating the right packaging design can be as important as the ingredients or materials used to make the product. But remember, good packaging design will convince a customer that your product is worth trying out – but it won’t help you get repeat sales if the product doesn’t live up to expectations. 

Value, not price

We make assumptions about the price point of a product before we see a price tag. We then look at the price and decide whether it is good or bad value. Good packaging design can increase the desirability and perceived value of your products, allowing you to charge more and increase profitability. Packaging that appeals to your customers and presents good value makes it easy for them to make the decision to buy.

Build brand loyalty

Brand loyalty is the most powerful marketing tool a producer can have. When consumers buy into your brand and become loyal customers it guarantees repeat sales, time after time. Many factors work together to build brand loyalty and packaging design is an important one. Branding on packaging across a product range builds recognition and encourages cross-sales.

Branding and design reflect the positioning and values of your brand and, if your brand connects with a customer and your products meet their expectations, you have a repeat sale. Build on this across all your products and you will develop brand loyalty.

An investment that pays off

Packaging design has a strong influence on whether consumers decide to try your products or not. It is also an important factor for building brand loyalty. Get your packaging design right and you will increase your sales.

Posted 18 October 2016