Leading up to the new financial year is a common time for many businesses to start focusing on their new product design ranges, particularly since the end of the festive season means that a lot of seasonal custom cardboard boxes will need to be replaced, regardless.

It is a good time to figuratively and literally take stock of how you package your products individually, as stock-keeping units (SKUs) and for shipping, and ensure you are using the most efficient and sustainable packaging that is fit for purpose.

Working with experts in custom packaging can help ensure you have boxes of the right size with inserts and stuffing that help protect your products, rather than inadvertently creating the wrong impression with the way you ship and sell goods.

Here are some of the most common ways in which businesses make mistakes with their packaging, why they tend to happen and how you can avoid them.

Why Is Excessive Packaging Used?

Possibly the most common mistake many businesses make with their product packaging is simply using too much of it, especially for shipping and transportation.

Many people who regularly buy online have experienced the bemusement and occasional frustration of receiving a gigantic box which contains a very small product item that could have fit in a smaller box or cardboard envelope.

The main reason why this happens is a reliance on standardised box sizes and shapes, which can be used highly efficiently for transporting goods from manufacturers to warehouses and store shelves, but are not always the most efficient way to transport goods to customers when bought at a smaller scale.

However, not only is it wasteful and expensive, but it can create the misguided impression to customers that a business is somewhat careless, especially if the larger packaging allows for a product to slide and move about in shipping.

How To Avoid Using Too Much Packaging

• Have a range of smaller boxes, envelope sizes and designs available.

• Research your typical customer journey. How large are their orders, and what could they fit in?

• If you need larger product packaging, ask what the extra space is for.

When Is Packaging Unnecessary And Why Is It A Problem?

In some cases, the issue is less the dimensions of the box and more that certain elements of it are unnecessarily complex, expensive, inefficient or otherwise wasteful.

Generally, this problem is caused by an overabundance of protective stuffing and inserts with boxes, rather than trusting that the design of the product packaging is efficient enough to protect it from the rigours of delivery.

Additional stuffing, plastic wrapping and additional layers of packaging intended to make it easier to hang or store on certain types of shelves can be an issue that costs your business more than you think. 

Why Is Misleading Packaging So Harmful To Businesses?

The size of cardboard boxes can also be a problem when they are designed in such a way as to mislead customers about the overall contents of the package.

One article by Crash Magazine focusing on a particularly fraught product launch noted a debate regarding the size of a computer game box, with the note that most customers know that large boxes such as those used for model kits tend to mostly be full of air.

Beyond this, there are other ways in which product boxes can deceive, such as only having items located on the cutaway which customers can see, using lifts and trays that make a box look and feel fuller than it is, or misusing spacers.

Ultimately, it works once, but customers despise being tricked and misled and will not buy from you again if they have the option.

How Can Poor Design And Copy On Product Packaging Harm Your Business?

Finally, sometimes the box design itself is perfectly adequate and appropriate for its purpose, but its design or the wording on the box inadvertently puts potential customers off.

This could be the result of spelling errors, misused words, incorrect descriptions of the product on the box, unrepresentative illustrations of the product in question, uncanny use of photography or image manipulation, or colours and logos that create the wrong impression of a product.

Possibly the most infamous of these was Colgate’s Kitchen Entrees, a short-lived line of ready meals that sold poorly due to the logo being primarily associated with toothpaste.

What Makes For Perfect Product Packaging Boxes?

• They clearly and accurately represent the product you are selling.

• The copy is eye-catching, accurate and easy to read.

• They provide the right inserts to keep fragile products safe throughout the delivery process.

• They are made from sustainable, easily recyclable materials.

• They are neither too big nor too small. 

• They are fit for purpose and suitable for the product in question.