Boost your packaging ROI with attentive details
A package in hand is worth two on the shelf.
“If [consumers] take it up and it feels good in their hand[s], then they’re extremely likely—greater than 50 percent—to make that purchase,” says Melissa Stevens, vice president of sales for Mohawk Paper.
It is paramount to package your product to stand out on a crowded shelf so a potential customer will pick it up. And, companies are leveraging the classical elements of luxury packaging to get the job done.
Simple, elegant design elements—long a staple of the cosmetic, beauty, and fragrance industries—often incorporate blind embossing, foil embossing, and other tactile printing techniques. The feel of the paper also factors in.
“Uncoated papers and dull or soft varnish techniques achieve the tactile effect that many brands are looking for,” says Terri Price-Deep, a member of the business development and corporate solutions group at Millcraft, an independent distributor of paper and packaging, headquartered in Cleveland.
Metallic, UV, and pearlescent inks add to the air of sophistication while at the same time visually engage shoppers. All of these elements combine to increase the perceived value of a product.
Although these luxurious details require an initial investment, companies are finding the investment pays off in increased sales, brand elevation, and customer loyalty. Smithers Pira, a global authority on the packaging, paper, and print industry supply chains, forecasts luxury packaging sales to grow 4.4 percent annually through 2019 and reach $17.6 billion.
“If the market’s booming, there’s a finite amount of time to take advantage of the opportunity,” says Stevens. And with digital printing changing so rapidly, Stevens and Price-Deep both agree that it’s only a matter of time before many luxury packaging techniques will become available to all.
