4 Packaging Trends for Your E-Commerce Business

E-Commerce continues to grow in importance globally. To keep your brand in people’s minds, their journey to your product, starting with packaging, has to be memorable. Packaging trends have seen a seismic shift— from plain cardboard boxes to customized, handmade boxes. And naturally, brands have had to hunt high and low to deliver unique packaging for their products to stand out from the crowd. If you’re looking for cool ideas to elevate the packaging for your brand, you are at the right place. This blog discusses the four latest trends in packaging for your e-commerce business. Read along!

Customized Packaging

If you were to choose between the below two options, which one would it be?

Let us guess: the second one! Well, who wouldn’t? It is more personalized, looks branded, and just makes you want to grab it. That’s what customized packaging does. Customized packaging is a great way to show your customers who you really are and what your brand is all about. It helps you form a connection with your customers, which leads to brand loyalty and, eventually, higher revenues. It also helps you deliver a personalized user experience to your customer. 

For example, see how Chumbak, a cult favorite home decor brand in India, sends out personalized, hand-written notes to the customer. The package is beautifully customized and looks impressive.

Customized packaging acts as a premium real estate to spread brand awareness. It enhances brand recollection and association with your color theme, designs, logo, etc. Brands that have cool, funky, and personalized packaging often make it big on social media when people post about it. Now, who doesn’t like free promotions?

Bonus: One super cool tactic Starbucks uses is writing the names of its customers on the coffee container. Well, that’s not it. What they do is spell the names wrong (most of the time). In many instances, people post pictures of their misspelled names on social media, leading to free publicity for Starbucks. Genius!

Sustainable Materials

With climate change, environmental pollution, and its impact on the planet being a massive concern among the public today, embarking on the journey towards sustainable packaging is the need of the hour. It doesn’t just help save the environment but also shows your brand in a good light. In fact, a study by Nielson found that consumer brands that demonstrate commitment to sustainability outperform those that don’t.

Always be on the lookout for creative, planet-friendly packaging ideas. One idea we love is plantable packaging. It refers to the packaging that can be sown into the soil and has seeds embedded in it. How cool is that? Another sustainable option is to use recyclable materials. Some brands, like Nykaa, encourage their customers to send back their cardboard boxes to their warehouses for recycling. Kiehl’s, a beauty brand,  encourages you to bring back their empty skincare full-size bottle and receive a stamp. For every ten stamps, you’ll receive a free travel-sized product. 

Another stellar example of sustainable packaging is that of Bare Necessities, an eco-friendly brand. In fact, they call themselves a zero-waste brand. They provide high-quality products that are designed not to land up in all oceans and landfills, which means there is absolutely zero packaging footprint associated with a product!

Check out our blog, Why You Need To Adopt Sustainable Packaging & How To Do It Right, to know more.

Interactive Packaging

We are obsessed with interactive packaging. It is the type of product packaging that takes a user beyond just packaging. Confused? Let us explain. Have you seen product packaging that comes with a scannable QR code? The messaging on the packaging prompts you to scan the code and either visit a website or enter a contest. This is a great way for brands to push their customers to engage further with their brand. For example, if your brand deals in masalas and pastes, your QR Code could lead the customers to a ‘Recipes page,’ where you show them how they can use your spices to create magical food. Another example of interactive packaging could be where you scan the code to enter a draw to win prizes. Truly, the sky is your limit!

Check out this cool video where Quaker India promotes its QR code feature.

Minimalistic Packaging

A trend that is highly appreciated today by the environment-conscious crowd, and basically every shopper is minimalistic packaging. How often have you received huge boxes with small products inside? Not only is it a waste of resources and space, but also a menace to dispose of. Today, people prefer fit-to-product packaging that solves the purpose of protecting the product and just enough branding. One point to keep in mind is that minimalism doesn’t just mean lesser boxes. It also means a cleaner design with less fine print. 

We are personally obsessed with the beauty brand Sugar Cosmetics, which follows a minimalistic approach. They even send a reusable pouch with their products that the customers can use to store their makeup.

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIZ-olSlIkt/?hl=en

Packaging Trends are Ever-evolving

Packaging trends change, and so should your product packaging. Packaging in 2023 will be all about minimalism, sustainability, and personalization. You can expect tons of popping colors and branded packaging going around. If you want to stay ahead of your competition, we recommend bookmarking this page and working on your product packaging right away.

Which brand has the coolest packaging, according to you? Let us know in the comments below.

About Velocity

Velocity is India’s largest revenue-based financier, and we offer growth capital of up to Rs 4 crores to D2C and e-commerce companies. Businesses with healthy revenue streams can apply for instant funds and pay it back as their revenue grows. For further insights into revenue-based finance and to explore the advantages of RBF for your company, simply follow this link.