What’s in a packaging? According to a study conducted by Dotcom Distribution, a logistics solution provider, there is more to it than just the product inside. Nearly 52% of customers who were surveyed for the study revealed that they made repeat purchases from online merchants that delivered the product in premium, uniquely branded box or bags. This is mostly true if the merchant offers premium packages to customers who buy in their stores.
The importance of packaging cannot be overstated. Packaging is indeed one of the five important P’s of marketing and immensely impacts the branding, positioning and saleability of a product. With the e-Commerce replacing physical stores as the platform of choice among most customers, there is a growing need to study the impact of the delivery package and how that impacts customer perception and loyalty.
Truth be told, the delivery packages are not an advertised commodity. When a customer clicks on the “buy” button, their purchasing decision is not influenced by the product packaging among other things. However, according to the dotcom distribution study even delivery packages – the cardboard boxes that protect the product during delivery – could serve as an important factor that determines repeat purchases.
To be clear, we are not talking about product loyalty here, but of platform loyalty – that is, while the customer could continue to buy their pet food from the same manufacturer, they could choose Amazon instead of your company if they liked Amazon’s delivery packages over yours.
Why is this the case? These packages help “attract attention, enhance the un-packaging experience, helps build brand identity, and continues doing your advertising for you long after the package has been opened.” This aligns with what respondents to the Dotcom Distribution study had to say. In the survey report, it was found that 90 percent of customers tend to re-use branded packaging. In addition to this, nearly 3 in 10 consumers discovered a new brand after seeing a customer carry a retailer’s package in public. Quite clearly, the delivery packages not only play a very important role in ensuring customer loyalty, but also positively contribute towards brand awareness and new customer acquisition through passive advertising.
Boring brown corrugated boxes that carry your product to the customer may seem like the logical thing to do – it not only serves its purpose, but is also reliable. However, as these studies show, this does not incentivize customers enough to come back to you for repeat purchases. Further, while these boring packages may help you save packaging costs, it is also a missed opportunity in terms of creating brand awareness. As a business owner, you should no longer see delivery packages as a cost centre, but a branding and advertising opportunity to not only reach out to more customers, but also push existing customers to buy more from you.
As they say – Bad design shouts at you. Good design is the silent seller.
What’s your take? Chime in with your thoughts below.
