6 minute read
More often humanity think and evaluate the outcomes of the consumer behavior. Consumers pay attention to the product pack and question it. Is package reusable? Is the design simple and speaks out the main features? Is it recyclable? Has it been manufactured efficiently and earth-friendly way? Let’s deal with each of the questions separately.
Simplicity
We have written before about expanding trend of Minimalism. Simplicity and clearness influence the packaging industry as well as any other. Consumers are overwhelmed with information flow and range of products. Here is Matt Cheuvront’s quote from his blog post “Life Without Pants“:
“The minimalist trend isn’t rising, it’s here, it’s everywhere around us. We’re living in a society that ultimately wants less. We’re condensing our wants to meet our needs – and in a world in which we are absolutely inundated and bombarded with information – we value simple and effective over flash and glamour… I was in the store the other day buying some shampoo and something obvious was staring back at me – gone are the days of the bright pink bottles with crazy typography that scream “look at me”. Now we’re seeing rows upon rows of simple, clean, white bottles with easy to read fonts and clear “messages” about what that product will do for me. Calls to action are clearer, messages are much less fuzzy, and everyone, even Vidal Sasoon, is buying into the minimalist approach.”
PWC reports[nbsp]that Millennials would choose the minimalism and simplicity over the luxury and status choosing the products for home, fashion, technology and other. “A more thoughtful approach to spending on luxury and non-discretionary goods is emerging. Shoppers are placing a premium on goods that exhibit qualities of timeliness, usefulness and versatility. Items that make shoppers feel like they are getting something that will hold its value for the money (rather than something that is going to go out of style next season or has limited, narrow usefulness) will be judged worth the investment. Shoppers also continue to look for goods that are “green” or sustainable and appear to be willing to pay a slight premium for green goods that also deliver a personal economic benefit—e.g., energy-saving light bulbs and appliances.”
Insigh Box
Awareness of environmental responsibility[nbsp]between customers grows significantly. The preference of the brand is driven by sustainable package and clear messages. Clients desire to see the environmentally responsible companies, natural and reusable materials.
Reusability
The innovative design of the package can add value to the product being the complementary or a useful little thing. Seems like a well-known fact, however, not well implemented in the world of mega-possibilities. Creating the pack that might be easily transformed to the useful addition to the product will create better customer experience by its multifunctionality. Smart design and function of a container is an additional competition advantage. When a client sees two products, and the carton box of first product can be used as a well-designed storage box at home, the value of the product will rise in times. In this case, the package is not a complementary for a product, however, offers a new function. The hyper-functional or multi-purpose packaging trend was excellently followed by Wine brand Aquilegia. IconPackaging has created a unique wooden wine carrier that easily transforms into the stylish wine rack.
Aquilegia Wine Carrier/Wine Rack
Dotcom Distribution’s e-commerce packaging survey has proved that trend is growing. Thier research reveals that 53 percent of consumers are more likely to repeat the purchases when the product is delivered in a premium package. Also, 4 out of 10 consumers would share the picture of the online order in social media if the package was unique.
More value
Less waste
Consumer awareness of environmental issues is driving the sustainable package development.[nbsp]
One of the good examples is the Japanese online shop Muji, specialising in minimalistic design, emphasising on recycling, waste reduction, and no-logo or “no-brand” policy. On the European website Muji is translated as No Brand Quality Goods – everything Millennials dream about! Besides being global and successful, in 2005 Muji was awarded five gold product design awards by the International Forum Design in Germany and 2006 held a first own international design competition, “Muji Award 01”.
Getting ready
for future policies
The sustainable package is essential for B2B business. Paul Jenkins, the founder and Managing Director of ThePackHub, claims that sustainable package importance will only grow: “The main driver for packaging innovation is more ‘industry pull’ rather than a ‘consumer push’”. Paul predicts that the food waste issue will find the solution in nearest future, as the problem is growing with gigantic steps. “This is now widely seen as a more tangible environmental opportunity than packaging light-weighting or material reduction as a means to deliver sustainability. The packages with resealability or that extend shelf life will continue to be important and will help the food waste prevention agenda. However, we don’t expect consumers to necessarily understand it. Consumers see this added functionality as making their life a bit easier and more convenient rather than being overtly sustainable. There continues to be a great opportunity for brand owners to better communicate the benefits of a sustainable packaging change.”
Nevertheless, the mass-market are not the only problems. The raising environmental issues create pressure on the government resulting on waste and environmental taxes for the business. Therefore, the innovations in the packaging sphere will be the gigantic financial saver. Starting the shifting process towards eco-package today will definitely bring the company couple steps further in the future. Moreover, the innovative solutions have already arrived.
The unrecyclable plastic foam peanuts and styrofoam used all over the globe found the dissolvable twin-brother. The creation of the StarchTechl is a corn starch based loosefill packaging peanut that is biodegradable is water, soil and both home and industrial compost settings. This product is earth-friendly with no negative environmental impact of plastic packing peanuts, air bags and bubble wraps.
The environmentally friendly option for foam plastic material is the eco-based Mushroom® packing element. Combining the agricultural waste and Fungal mycelium (the vegetative part of mushroom) the material of any form is grown in [nbsp]a matter of a week. Mycelium is natural, self-assembling glue, digesting crop waste to produce cost-competitive and environmentally responsible materials that perform. The process allows producing the material in a variety of different shapes creating the packing material for literally anything. This green innovation has a huge potential to replace many conventional materials.
