Sean Downs - March 21 2024
Maximizing Your Brand's Potential with Custom Packaging
Unlocking the Benefits
of Custom Packaging
Why Your Business Should Consider Custom Packaging in Australia
Packaging is an integral part of any business that sells physical goods. Since it’s a central component of your company, why not invest time and effort in creating custom packaging for your customers? When you invest in customised packaging for your shop or business, you open your enterprise up to many valuable benefits! Let us show you some of the perks of having personalised packaging below!
Thinking about getting some custom bags made for your business? Explore our options for custom packaging here!
Explore all the different sizes of kraft bags available now! There are many to choose from so you will find the perfect fit!
Woven paper handles make these bags 100% recyclable and super comfortable to hold! Check out the collection now!
The Benefits of
Custom Packaging
The Benefits of Custom Packaging
Custom packaging can require a significant investment from you as an entrepreneur or business owner. Here are our top three favourite perks that your enterprise can gain from custom boxes, bags, and other packaging:
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Increased brand recognition
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Improved customer experience
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Cost effective
Increased Brand Recognition
Being recognised by your target market is crucial to the longevity of your business. The brand must be able to stand out and make an impression on both existing and potential customers. Exciting or unique visuals are vital to achieving this kind of exposure, which is where personalised packaging can significantly help.
Give your brand a distinct visual signature by incorporating your brand graphics into your packaging! This can be anything from your corporate logo, brand symbols or colours, stock images and many more!Consistent and unique branding will result in customers being able to fully recognise your brand in any format at a glance, which can lead to word-of-mouth recommendations to their friends, family members, and colleagues. One look at your packaging from afar should be enough for people to tell that it’s your products inside!
Improved Customer Experience
Online shopping to buy and receive products can be a very mundane experience for your customers, but you can regain their attention and create a memorable experience for them by providing exciting packaging.This can do wonders for your reputation and buyers will be more likely to return for repeat purchases and become loyal to your products and branding.
Thanks to advancements in technology, it’s now possible for your customers to broadcast their purchases to their networks of friends, family, and colleagues on social media.
A fresh take on packaging for purchases is always exciting and can increases the likelihood of your customer finding ways to thank your business. Leaving reviews, sharing pictures and testimonies on social media or in person with friends and family, or sharing popular unboxing videos on social media can be their way of thanking the business for an amazing experience.
Through these platforms, your packaging and products can find exposure to influencers’ networks without any added expenses. This isa great way to show the quality of your packaging and customer experience with those who are unfamiliar with your brand. However, you can only realise these benefits if you can provide a distinctive experience that only brand-specific personalised packages and boxes can provide.
Cost Effective
Financial management is crucial for a business, often more so than for an individual. Your business needs to maintain a positive cash flow if it is to outlast the competition. Packaging is a necessary operational expense, so it’s important to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth.
While often more expensive than regular packaging, in the long run, custom packaging can help you save money in a various ways. They can be custom sized to your specifications so they fit your products perfectly, which reduces waste and increases the efficiency of your packages. This will also save you and your customers money on shipping as you’re only shipping the size and weight of the products. This means you can ship more products in fewer packages, which will further reduce your expenses.
By customising the size of your boxes and packaging, you reduce the risk of your products being damaged or wrinkled in the mail.Damaged and wrinkled items are the most frequent items to be returned, so ensuring your products arrive safe and sound will reduce the amount of returns or replacements that need to be issued.
Each business has needs that are distinct from its competitors. Fortunately, there are a multitude of options available when it comes to customised packaging. There are so many different designs and materials that you can choose from when considering personalised packaging:
Materials
Below are some commonly used materials for custom packaging:
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Cardboard: This recyclable material remains a hugely popular option for use in packaging among businesses. It’s affordable, yet durable and versatile which makes it perfect for custom made packages of all shapes and sizes. Cardboard is strong enough that it can be used a number of times in the post or as storage by you or your customers when in box form. Eventually when it becomes too damaged to be used anymore, it can be broken down and recycled into new cardboard and paper materials.
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Corrugated Cardboard: This material is usually used to make cardboard boxes for shipping and storage. Corrugated cardboard is made with three layers. The outer layer is made of paper, which protects your products from outside elements and can be customised to incorporate your company logos, brand information, and other design elements. The innermost layer is also made of paper which provides a smooth and sturdy surface to place your products against. The inner fluted layer is where the magic happens! This is the part of the cardboard that absorbs shock damage by spreading the force of the impact across many ridges.The three layers of this material are designed to protect the contents while also being environmentally and cost friendly.
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Paper: Paper is the most versatile among the eco-friendly packaging materials. It comes in many weights and colours, so you’re bound to find the perfect fit for your needs. Most commonly, paper is used to create bags for retail shopping.These can be customised with your company branding for visibility around the shopping centre or market. If your business maintains a brick-and-mortar shopfront or runs a market stall, these paper bags are the perfect fit! Eco-friendly and reusable, these paper bags can help raise awareness for your brand by simply being seen among the community. Customised bags are perfect for constant visibility. If your business maintains a brick-and-mortar shop or deals with lightweight products, these bags should be on top of your choices.
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Canvas: Canvas is a strong material made with woven cotton. It’s durable, washable, and can be branded which means they can be reused as shopping bags. Like with paper bags, canvas bags can help raise awareness for your brand by simply being seen by people in your community.
Custom Made Designs
Aside from selecting the correct material, you can further personalise it by introducing custom designs. Here a few styles available for customising your business packaging:
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Custom Cut Packaging: There’s no better way to make your packaging stand out from the rest by having a box or bag custom made to your specifications, commonly used in fast food chains but can also be used in retail packaging. This type of packaging can be made by die-cutting or with a rotary blade. With custom cut packaging, you can create boxes that your customers can carry around, and you can further boost the visibility of your products by incorporating branded graphics.
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Embossed packaging: Embossing is a raised pattern on the surface of the packaging material. This is done by pressing a die or template with the graphic on the back of the material, then pushing the design onto the front surface. This technique causes the design to pop out and give your packaging a more premium feel by creating a unique texture as well as visual design. You can emboss anything on the surface of your packaging, be it a corporate logo, your company motto, or a combination of both. Embossing can also be combined with gloss varnish to make it stand out more.
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Printed packaging: This is the traditional method of incorporating company branding to the packaging of your business. Offset printing, the most common method, is a multi-step printing technique that is used to print your design onto the desired material. This technique promises high-quality and colour-accurate output, attributes that can maximise the visual signature of your parcels.
Void-Fill
No matter how cleverly your custom packaging is designed, there is almost always the need to fill empty space inside. Here are our favourite eco-friendly void-fill options that show your brand’s commitment to sustainability, while also adding a stylistic flare to your packaging:
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Diamond Protect Hex Wrap: This paper void-fill material is not only stylish, but also eco-friendly. 100% recyclable and made of responsibly sourced paper, this unique material will protect your products and prevent them from moving too much when your package is out for delivery.
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Compostable Void-fill: These compostable air-cushions are the perfect alternative to single-use bubble wrap. Simply inflate the required number of bubbles and add to your packaging for some premium protection.
Innovations in Custom
Packaging Design & Technology
Innovations in Packaging Design in Australia
In the world of custom packaging, the Australian innovators have been at the forefront of the market in recent years. As a result, many businesses in the country have employed at least one of the following initiatives in custom-made packaging:
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Smart packaging: This innovation combines traditional parcel tracking techniques with modern ones by implementing electronic identification methods such as QR codes, barcodes, RFID tags, and microchips. Smart packaging leverages technologies such as the smartphone, barcode scanner and RFID scanners, to provide benefits to both consumers and businesses. QR codes allow shoppers to retrieve more information about their purchase as well as related products they might be interested in. For entrepreneurs, they can safeguard their reputation against counterfeit products by incorporating similar technology through smart packaging solutions.
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Sustainable materials: Australia, like the rest of the world, is hard at work to introduce environmentally sustainable packaging. Sustainable packaging will help minimise the amount of landfill and non-recyclable waste produced every day. Many Australian enterprises are opting to use recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable materials instead. These materials are designed to be broken down quickly, reused, or recycled without producing or requiring dangerous chemicals to be broken down.
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Digital printing solutions: Advancements in digital printing now allow businesses to reap the benefits of custom designed packaging at a fraction of the cost. With fast turnarounds being the norm in this space, companies can restock quickly and efficiently without the need to be concerned with quality or cost issues. It’s incredibly easy for a designer to provide a file to the printing company. Digital printing ensures a high-quality print with many colours and is the most accurate and consistent way to mass-produce packaging.
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Interactive packaging: Interactive packaging makes use of the same technologies employed in smart packaging, such as NFC chips, QR codes, and RFID tags. The main difference between the two related technologies is the intent of use. Unlike smart packaging, interactive parcels are designed to provide an immersive experience to the company’s customers. By scanning a QR code, for example, they can access exclusive digital content like games, an informative video, or an exclusive discount offer.
Customised Packaging
For Brand Recognition
Customised Packaging for Brand Recognition
Your brand needs to be recognisable if it’s going to make an impact in your target market. As mentioned, investing in custom made designs and graphics for your packaging is a fantastic option that will take you closer to that goal. Here are some things to consider when beginning your journey to customised packaging:
What Role Custom Plays in Enhancing Brand Recognition & Brand Loyalty
A successful business or entrepreneur can often attribute their achievements to an innate desire to stand out from the rest. This can involve unique products, marketing strategies, or anything else that can ensure the business is eye-catching and memorable. Few understand the huge role that packaging has to play in this goal. A fancy or unique unboxing experience can be the difference between a return customer and someone who shopped with you once.
Customers are bound to remember branded packaging. A one-of-a-kind unboxing experience can help cement your brand in the mind of your consumers. Packages that are consistent with your company branding will reinforce your brand identity and will tie in the whole experience from the online order right down to unboxing. Customers are more likely to share their good experience with friends and family if they’ve had a consistent and memorable experience.
Specifically designing your custom packages with an eye for customer comfort and convenience is a great way to gain or maintain the loyalty of your customers. Buyers may not want to purchase from you again if the unboxing process is difficult, unpleasant, or unsatisfying, which is whyit’s essential to make sure your customers will enjoy the whole process!
Custom Box Packaging and How it Enhances Product Presentation & Perceived Value
Marketing is about presentation. Businesses of all sizes face the challenge of not just presenting their products to the market, but also needs to convince potential buyers that the product has features that will solve a problem in some way that competitors don’t. There are a variety of techniques that can be employed by the business to show off the value of the products, including written and visual presentations on social media, in the boardroom, or casual business meetings with clients, as well as high quality packaging.
Before your product is delivered, you must first sell the benefits to your customers. Strong copywriting on social media, paid advertisements, and on your website adds personality to your brand and creates trust with your target market. This, combined with a series of good quality images of your products that have been styled well can make all the difference when advertising your business. Behind the scenes videos of your packaging can get potential customers excited to buy from you and receive their own visually appealing, custom-made and assembled package.
Did you know that high quality packaging majorly enhances the perceived value of the items inside? The idea is that because the products are worth protecting with more expensive or unique packaging, they’re well worth the money spent to purchase them. This can be as simple as wrapping your products in a sheet of tissue paper, or as complex as custom designed cardboard inserts to prevent the items from moving around in transit! Custom made packaging can be the last point that convinces your customers to return, giving you the edge over your competitors.
Stand Out With
Personalised Boxes
How Personalised Boxes Can HelpSmall Businesses Stand Out in a Crowded Market
Custom packages are worth the investment. It comes with some additional cost but is worth it for the sake of customer loyalty and increased brand awareness and preference. Studies have shown that customers are more likely to purchase from a company that has invested in personalising their product packaging, especially if that packaging is also eco-friendly and recyclable. A Dotcom Distribution survey found that 40% of respondents expressed interest in patronising retailers that accompany their products with customised boxes or cases.
This is true because of the emotional connection that customers gain from personalised or customised packaging. Your customers feel more valuable to you when they receive beautiful custom packaging that shows the company is willing to invest time and money into making each experience unique and memorable. This is also supported by the higher perceived value of the products that premium packaging creates.
eCommerce Growth
The one positive thing to come out of the COVID lockdown was a new way to give people gifts through eCommerce!
Online shopping became incredibly popular during the pandemic because of quarantine and other travel restrictions. This led to a global growth of 27.6% between 2019 and 2020, which means there was an increase of $920 million of spending in just one year! The number of consumers who bought products online also grew 9.2% year-on-year in 2020, turning e-commerce into a very lucrative sector.
This means there’s still great opportunity to growbusinesses in this space and proves now more than ever the value of custom madeor custom printed boxes in Australia.
Enhance the Gifting & Unboxing Experience with Personalised Boxes
More people are now turning to eCommerce in their day-to-day life, especially for gifting. It’s easier than ever to get gifts delivered to the recipient directly from the online store, which has given rise to a growing entertainment segment of unboxing videos. While unboxing videos have existed for as long as video sharing sites, such as YouTube, have exists, it was only during the pandemic that this genre became incredibly popular and accessible. Because of travel restrictions and other quarantine requirements, the number of unboxing content creators grew exponentially during the pandemic.
This is partly due to the rise of online shopping, and also partly due to the need for isolated people to feel connected with others. So, with nothing else to do, these content creators started posting cozy videos designed to keep you company and give suggestions on what to do with your lockdown time.
Because this content became so popular, it began to give companies and other content creators valuable insights into what kind of merchandise and packaging was the most exciting for consumers. The growing entertainment value of unboxing videos clearly showed that the more customised or unique the packaging, the more exciting the product reveal became.
Brands are continuing to work with content creators or posting to their own social media pages in order to promote their products and show off their uniquely branded boxes and packaging. Custom packaging allows you to use influencers and unboxing videos to increase your brand’s recognition rate and loyal following. Potential customers can see your branded graphics right before them with an unboxing video.
Printed Paper Bags
The Benefits of Printed Paper Bags for Businesses
There are many benefits to using printed paper bags, perhaps the most obvious is that paper bags are very sustainable. As a material, paper is both biodegradable and recyclable, and if they’re in good shape, a paper bag can be reused several times before they must be recycled. Not only can they be recycled, but they can be used in the garden as they are biodegradable and will break down over time.
Paper bags are very affordable when bought in bulk.This low price makes these bags a cost-effective solution business with high order volumes. For a small additional cost, these bags can be customised, thus turning your parcels into marketing tools. They not only prove to your customers that your business is conscious of its environmental impact and actively aiming to reduce waste, but that you’re up to date on the current trends.
Design Eye-Catching Printed Paper Bags
Deciding to use custom-made product packaging is not enough to ensure your business’ success as you’ll need to ensure your package is well designed. It’s important to ensure that the image incorporated into the packaging is eye-catching and consistent with your brand’s current marketing message and identity.
Consistency is essential when designing your brand across many channels. This means ensuring the final product aligns with the brand’s reputation and personality. For example, Gucci as a brand is recognised for its focus on luxury and exclusivity, its Italian heritage, and its visually bold style. Every Gucci product is made with high
quality materials, iconic styling, and intricacy to reflect this identity.
When designing your customised printed bags, it’s important to incorporate your brand’s colours, graphics, and written language into a visually appealing package. You or your designers don’t need to create aloud and elaborate design to communicate your brand. Sometimes, clever usage of packaging real estate combined with minimalist elements is all that’s required to get the message across.
Seasonal & Event Exclusive Paper Bags
Seasonal promotions and events are a great opportunity to refresh your packaging to create a unique marketing approach. Unique designs for holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, or Christmas can get your customers excited to shop from you again and may encourage repeat purchases.
When designing seasonal packaging, your business should incorporate any visual elements relevant to the event and your brand’s design elements. For example, Christmas packaging can include any or all of the season’s traditional colours, green and red, with other traditional elements such as the trees, candy canes, and gingerbread houses.
Designing seasonal packaging is important for establishing an emotional connection with your customers. Everyone feels the spirit of the event and connecting with them through your packaging can help enhance brand recognition and loyalty and customers’ purchasing decisions.
What to Consider When Choosing Custom Packaging
It can be quite intimidating when shopping around for the perfect custom packaging provider. Before making your decision, you could consider the purpose and functionality of your packaging, how much protection will you need, what the environmental impact will be, and finally, the cost. Here are our suggestions!
Purpose and Functionality
With many materials and designs available for custom packaging, you must consider what you’re using the packaging for. Will the packaging be used once? Do you want the customer to be able to reuse the packaging after it’s been delivered? Should the packaging be used as storage? These are all fantastic points to consider when deciding on the kind of packaging you need.
For one-time usage, paper is the ideal material to use.It is the most environmentally friendly choice because it’s recyclable and biodegradable, which means it will break down over time without adversely impacting the environment. Paper can also be recycled many times into other materials as well.
For packaging that’s intended to be reused many times, corrugated cardboard and eco-friendly plant-based plastics are the better choice. These materials are water and dust resistant and can provide many levels of protection depending on the need. These materials are sturdier than paper and can be reused more times before needing to be recycled or composted.
Product Protection
Packaging serves as temporary for the products that your customers purchase from you. Every parcel goes through various stages of transportation and can be damaged in the process. The condition of the items purchased by your customers is vital to securing their brand loyalty. Because of this, it’s essential that your packaging will need to be effective at protecting deliveries from the elements, shock, and other effects of rough handling. Custom packaging is a fantastic option that can address your needs for the safety of your parcels.
Customisation allows you to pick the best materials for your products. For example, if your business deals with electronics, you can choose packaging designed to keep the devices protected from certain environmental factors. This helps prevent damage that can, at the least, degrade their performance.
Budget
It’s important to consider your budget when deciding on what kind of custom packaging to get. Each material is priced differently and offers different pros and cons, sometimes with discounts applied to larger bulk orders that are handy if you’re shifting a large volume of product.
There is a large range of options available when considering custom packaging, which can vary from cheap and cheerful to high-end premium. It’s important to find the best balance between cost, quality, and volume when decide the best packaging to use for your company.
Environmental Impact
Due to the increased awareness of climate change and other environmental issues among all levels of society, the type of packaging material can hugely affect the brand loyalty, customer retention, and overall reputation of a business. So it’s wise in today’s climate to choose packaging that has the lowest possible impact of the environment, both for the benefit of the global ecosystem and for your brand.
Plastic has long been the favoured material for packaging because of its durability and versatility. However, plastic is so durable that it can take hundreds of years to decompose. This severely impacts the global environment as it causes injury and death to many animals and can blanket the landscape which prevents ecosystems such as forests, mangroves, and bushland from restoring themselves naturally.
Because of this, there’s a growing preference for compostable and biodegradable materials like paper and plant-based plastics.Both materials break down naturally upon disposal, but compostable materials can do so faster than biodegradable materials. Compostable materials also release natural components that can fertilise the soil, while biodegradable materials break down naturally in the environment but don’t release any nutrients, they are simply not harmful when breaking down.
Branding and Marketing
Aside from coming up with head-turning visuals and aesthetics for your packaging, your designers should also consider your brand identity in your packaging. Your packaging after all is an extension of your business and must reflex your brand personality to remain consistent with your website and socials.
What is the vibe of your business? Is it luxurious? Is it affordable but good quality? Is it cheap and cheerful? Your packaging should reflect the core values of your business. If you want a premium feel, higher quality custom packaging, such as premium magnetic gift boxes or premium paper bags, would be a more consistent choice than kraft paper bags. In either case, eco-friendly choices are available for every level of quality so there’s a perfect match for every brand.
The custom package industry in Australia is bustling with activity. In 2023, the market is currently estimated at $972 million in revenue. The market has been experiencing a slight decrease in activity since 2020, in which it enjoyed the highest revenue since 2014. The pandemic is the cause of the high growth of eCommerce and resulted in over $996 million in revenue.
NEON eCommerce Packaging
Since this industry has been steadily growing, there are many new suppliers now in this space. NEON eCommerce Packaging is a major player in the industry with over 30 years of experience and has become a trusted supplier of eCommerce packaging to many businesses of all sizes. NEON is known for its focus on innovating and providing fresh solutions in packaging for all of its customers, both existing and new.
Emerging trends and innovations
Sustainable packaging is the biggest trend inAustralia's custom packaging industry. The industry aims to turn 100% of custom packages in Australia and New Zealand into reusable, recyclable, or compostable packaging by 2025. Since plastic is still prevalent, the industry aims to limit its usage to only 25% within the next two years.
FAQs About Custom Packaging in Australia
There are so many questions still about custom packaging to answer, so here are some of the most commonly asked questions!
What are the most common materials for custom packaging in Australia?
Paper is the most used packaging material in Australia. According to Mordor Intelligence, the demand for paper-based packaging will grow within the next five years. The market is set to see a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.2% between 2023 and 2028. This study cited the rise of eCommerce during theCOVID-19 pandemic as a major factor in the growth in paper usage for packaging. This is on top of paper’s biodegradable nature, which makes it safer in the long term than plastic.
How long does it take to produce custom packaging inAustralia?
The actual turnaround time depends on the provider. An average of 7-15 days is commonly accepted as the normal turnaround, however up to 30 days is also common. It is important to discuss this with your supplier directly as timings can vary based on current workload, material availability, and shipping.
What types of packaging can be recycled in Australia?
Most packaging in Australia can be recycled. Any packaging made of paper or cardboard can be recycled once any plastic tape has been removed. Some plastics can be recyclable, however you will need to check the labelling on the packaging to be sure. Styrofoam is NOT recyclable or biodegradable and should be thrown in the red bin.
How much does custom packaging cost in Australia?
The actual cost of packaging depends on the type of package, the material, the order quantity, and can vary from company to company. If you would like a quote, contact us and we will get back to you with an estimate.
What is the minimum order quantity for customised packaging in Australia?
Minimum order quantities vary from company to company and also depend on the material, demand, and method of customisation. It is best to check in directly with your supplier for accurate estimates. If you would like a quote, contact us here and we will get back to you with an estimate.
Conclusion
Personalised packaging presents a fantastic opportunity for your business to build a loyal customer base and increase brand recognition. Custom packaging, pared with a consistent brand image across socials and your website, will cement your identity in the eyes of your customers, both new and returning.
With the rise in custom packaging, it’s now easier than ever to get trendy branded bags and boxes while still making healthier decisions for the environment. Recyclable and compostable packaging is not only good for the environment but will also increase customer loyalty and retention as environmental sustainability is an area of great interest and concern among shoppers today.
Every business needs to prove separate and distinct from its competitors. Coming up with a unique packaging scheme shows customer show much you’re willing to invest in them. That’s why you should put custom-designed packaging on top of your priorities when you start your business.
If you’ve decided that custom packaging might be for you or your business, we’d be happy to help! You can check out our range of custom printed boxes, custom ribbon, custom printed paper bags, and custom tissue paper! If you’d like something more unique, feel free to contact us with your enquiry and we’d be happy to help you find the perfect solution for your business!
