​Unboxing facts that small businesses need to know.

Understanding what consumers value in the unboxing experience is an excellent opportunity for small business. Learn what your potential customers expect, and you can satisfy them.

65.7% of consumers said a good delivery experience encourages them to buy again from a retailer. Unboxing and the packaging materials you use play a key role in achieving a good delivery experience.

When you are an online retailer (small or large), packaging often represents the first tangible and physical interaction with your business. You need to make a good impression.

A poor unboxing experience can lead to bad reviews, returns, and loss of sales. And no one wants that, do they?

The increasing importance of branded packaging. In the past seven years, we have seen increased retailers turning to branded packaging to make their unboxing experience stand out. As a small business, you might not be sure where to start with branding, but there are simple options like custom printed packing tape to get you started.

If you are still unsure about printing or branding your packaging, then the impact per industry could change your mind. When we break it down, there are several sectors where using branded packaging makes a significant difference to repeat purchases.

The markets where consumers are most likely to be influenced to buy again by branded packaging are:

Jewelry, Art & Crafts / Stationary, Floristry, Health and Beauty, Fashion and Pet. How you add branding to your pack will differ depending on your business.

Why sustainability and eco-friendly packaging are unboxing essential for small businesses. From 2017 to 2022, there was a 62% increase in the number of packages consumers could recycle. More recently the sustainable credentials of a retailer’s packaging materials are starting to influence consumer buying decisions.

All these facts highlight how eco-friendly packaging is no longer a nice-to-have but a must-have for retailers of all sizes. Recycling is as much a part of the unboxing experience as product delivery these days, so communicating how customers can dispose of your packaging is necessary too.

For example, many customers will know that a cardboard box is recyclable, but they may not know that paper tape is too. So, if you are utilizing products that are 100% recyclable, let your customers know! You could print the information on your packing, print the info on your outer box or bag or even leave a note inside your pack containing all the recycling information.

Getting the unboxing basics right with protective packaging. Protective packaging is essential if you want to stop your products from getting damaged during shipping or storage. Damages can have a significant impact on your bottom line and what customers think of your brand.

So why is this important for small businesses? Keeping your percentage of damaged packages as low as possible helps you keep costs down, encourages positive reviews and repeat sales.

As your customers’ unboxing experiences matter, having damaged goods will impact their brand perception long term. So, we would suggest measuring the percentage every week/month/quarter/year, whichever is most beneficial for your business. Understanding this will give you a good step forward in learning where your improvements are; there is a specific product that breaks in transit consistently or a packaging product that is not giving you enough protection.

On the other side, it is important to remember that 14% of retailers still use too much packaging. So, there is a fine line between over packing and under packing.

If you want to learn more about packaging, we have covered many other great topics in our Packaging Blog. We work with small businesses daily to help them with their packaging, so if you want tailored expert packaging recommendations or advice, get in touch with us at 813 242 6995 or sales@quickpakinc.com