You Have Extra Board Games After Kickstarter. Now What?

Hey there. It’s Joe Slack from the Board Game Design Course. The Fulfullrite team kindly allowed me to write another guest post here and today I wanted to talk about what to do with the extra games that you’ll inevitably have left after your Kickstarter campaign. I hope you get some helpful ideas from this article!

One of the toughest things to figure out after my first successful Kickstarter campaign, Relics of Rajavihara, was exactly how many copies of my games I wanted to have made and what to do with them afterward. After accounting for all orders from Kickstarter, retail store orders, and late pledges/upgrades in my Gamefound pledge manager, I estimated I would need to order a little over 1,700 copies.

The number wasn’t exact, as I needed to account for possible loss or damage. So, I added a buffer of about 5%, which might be on the high side (some recommend about 2% extra), but this also gave me the flexibility and some extra copies on hand when some retail stores sold out quickly and wanted to re-order, as well as for reviewers requesting a copy.

But did I want to print 1,800 copies to have some extras available, or go up to 2,000 copies? 2,500 copies? More?

This was a tough decision to make. It was made even harder by the fact that I didn’t know what I would do with those extra copies and how I would sell them.

It’s a difficult number to get right. On the one hand, it would be great to have extra copies available if stores wanted to re-stock your game or new customers are asking for it. But on the other hand, you don’t want to end up paying for storage every month for pallets of games that aren’t selling.

I eventually decided on 2,500 copies. This would give me plenty of copies for backers, as well as any other later orders, plus I would have some on hand to help fulfill my next campaign, which was for the expansion, Montalo’s Revenge. This follow-up campaign included the option for backers to get the original game as well.

This worked out well, especially since my manufacturer offers up to 1 year of free storage (this is rare, but much appreciated!) and my next campaign did even better. In fact, I had a lot of backers returning for the expansion, plus many new backers who pledged for both the base game and expansion.

But if you’ve run a successful Kickstarter campaign, what are your other options to sell any extra copies you got printed?

Retail

It can be incredibly hard for a new creator or publisher to get their game into retail outside of any one-off orders you get from retail stores backing your crowdfunding campaign.

It would be a TON of work to contact or visit a bunch of independent game stores, just to potentially sell a few copies here or there. It can be done, but it will take a lot of time, effort, and travel. You’re way more likely to get someone’s ear by visiting their store and demoing your game than by cold emailing a store, to which you will likely get a rejection email or no response at all. But it’s still a lot of work.

That’s why most publishers looking to get their games into stores work through a distributor.

Distributors

Distributors are the middlemen/middlewomen between publishers and retail stores. If you can arrange a deal with a distributor, they will take your game and shop it around to retail stores for you.

Retailers will essentially be able to look at a distributor’s catalogue and order whatever games they would like to stock on their shelves. This allows them to get a few of this game, a dozen of that game, etc., all in one shipment rather than getting them from each individual publisher (which saves a lot on shipping as well).

However, getting in with a distributor isn’t easy for a new creator or publisher. They often like to see a catalogue of games from a publisher rather than just one before they will consider you. There are exceptions, of course, especially if your game did extremely well and there is a lot of demand for it. But this is definitely an exception.

If you go to a distributor trying to unload a few hundred games you can’t sell, they’re not likely to be interested. They get asked this often. If you were in their shoes, how excited would you be about trying to sell a bunch of games that others are just trying to unload?

Still, there are some distributors that are worth checking out who may agree to sell your games for you. Traditionally, they would buy your games at 40% of MSRP and then sell them to retail stores. In some cases though, they may work off of commissions with similar rates. This is the difference between being paid up front (more risk to distributors) or after copies sell (less risk to distributors).

Here are some distributors that you can contact to see if they are a good match:

Bridge Distribution (I’m currently in talks with them for my games)
Funagain Logistics/Hitpoint Sales
Quartermaster Logistics/Cool Stuff Inc.
PSI

Amazon/Cool Stuff Inc/other

Another option is selling your game yourself on Amazon or through a web store like Cool Stuff Inc.

The margins will be a lot better with this approach than distribution or direct to retail, however, the selling will be up to you. There are thousands of already popular games available for sale on these platforms, with tons of reviews and lots of sales, so how will anyone find yours?

You’ll have to find a way to advertise or otherwise direct people there so that they find your game. Otherwise, they may just sit there, racking up storage fees (which I understand Amazon will increase drastically if your product isn’t selling quickly).

Many fulfillment companies will also organize Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) shipping for you, so if you are shipping your games to them to fulfill Kickstarter orders, you could also send them your extra copies to sell in this manner.

Selling them yourself

Another option is to sell your games yourself. There are a few different ways you can do this:

Sell from your website
Sell them at conventions (and other events)
Sell them on future Kickstarter campaigns

From what I understand talking to other publishers, only a very small portion of sales come directly from their website. If they are a larger company and offer a pre-order for their next release, this can generate some decent sales, but outside of this, you won’t likely sell a ton of copies.

Plus, you’ll again have to do all the marketing to bring people to your site, which is a lot of work and is not in everyone’s skillset.

First, make sure you have a plan for order fulfillment. If you need a hand getting your games out to backers and you’re not interested in doing this yourself (I wouldn’t recommend doing this on your own unless you have few backers and/or a lot of time on your hands), Fulfillrite is a great option.

So, you might instead consider conventions or other events. You must note that getting a booth or even a table at a major convention can be very expensive. Plus, you have to travel to get there, be at your booth at all times and hire staff or volunteers to help demo and sell your game, and you’ll be on your feet all day. Being an independent publisher, you’ll also likely get an out of the way spot at the back of the hall.

Many medium and large publishers just aim to break even from these conventions. Of course, people will see your game there and even though they might not buy it on the spot, this could generate future sales.

A smaller convention or another event, such as a local fair or flea market, might be another option. This would be much less expensive to attend, however, the latter events will not be your core audience. At the same time, you may be the only one there with a cool game to demo, so you would stand out. Still, selling hundreds of copies of your game could take many trips to many events.

If you run another Kickstarter campaign in the future, you could also offer your first game as an add-on or as part of a bundle. If your first game did well enough to warrant an expansion, offering the original game on this next campaign is a no-brainer, as many more people will discover your game that missed the original campaign. They will all need to purchase the base game before they would be able to play the original.

You could even leave your pledge manager open or re-open it later to take additional orders after you deliver all your games to your backers. You’d just need to have these games available for you or your fulfilment partner(s) to send out when they are ordered. Again, it would be up to you to drive traffic here so that more people discover your game.

Wrapping it up

How many extra copies you have printed is up to you. But you should have a plan for how you will sell those extra copies, as they won’t sell themselves. It might be interesting to test the waters and try selling your game through one or more of the approaches above with a small number of copies just to see what method would work best for you.

If you’re thinking about launching your game on Kickstarter sometime in the future, check out my free Kickstarter Success Checklist. It will give you step-by-step pre-launch steps, a list of important tasks to complete right after you hit launch, and tips on how to keep your campaign going strong.

Joe Slack is a board game designer, publisher, instructor, and the author of the #1 international best-selling book, The Board Game Designer’s Guide, along with 3 other books on game design. He has taught Game Design and Development at Wilfrid Laurier University and runs the Board Game Design Course, an online course for new game designers. Joe has 4 games published with other publishers (Zoo Year’s Eve, Kingdom’s Candy: Monsters, Four Word Thinking, and King of Indecision) and one self-published game (Relics of Rajavihara) and expansion (Montalo’s Revenge).

Hey there. It’s Joe Slack from the Board Game Design Course. The Fulfillrite team was kind enough to ask me to write a guest post on how to know your game is ready for Kickstarter. Of course, I was completely on board!

After having run 3 Kickstarter campaigns (2 successes following 1 failure) and having studied what it takes to be successful on Kickstarter, I wanted to share my top 3 signs that you’re ready to launch.

If you’re looking to self-publish your game, consider this a checklist of all the things you’ll want to have in place well before you hit that launch button.

#1: Your Board Game is Amazing

If your goal is to successfully Kickstart your game, the first thing you need to ensure is that your game is amazing and that people really enjoy playing it (and want to come back for more).

There is a lot of competition in the board game world, with thousands of games being launched on Kickstarter every year (4,490 in 2020 and 2,439 in the first half of 2021 alone!). So, your game has to stand out. It has to be interesting and innovative. It has to do something different than all the other games on the market.

Your game has to be amazing enough to make people want to back your campaign over all the others out there. People have a limited amount of disposable income and only so much they can allocate to board games, so your game has to really stand out. It’s not enough to have just a “good” game.

When you playtest your game with other designers and players, you’ll often receive a lot of feedback. Quite often it will be necessary criticism that you need to hear in order to identify problems with your game and make it the best it can be.

Relics of Rajavihara, a solo adventure and puzzle game, 634% funded on Kickstarter

Often, other designers will give you feedback that would change the game more into the game that they would have designed or would have liked to play, so you have to watch for this.

But when players only have suggestions on how to make small changes that would make the game slightly different, but not necessarily better, take note of this. If this is the only feedback you’re consistently receiving and there are no major problems being identified and no suggestions for improving your game, this is a great sign.

But there are certainly other signs and signals that players give you that will boost your confidence as well.

“Can we play again?”

This is like music to a game designer’s ears.

While this won’t happen with every game, particularly longer games that you wouldn’t normally play multiple times in a row, with a shorter game, this is something you want to hear from your players. If one player has just tasted defeat, they may want a re-match. If it’s a co-op game and the players narrowly lost, they may want another chance at redemption.

If your game is a bit on the longer side, what you might hear instead is players discussing strategy and what they would do the next time they play. They’ve found some depth to your game and have indicated they are interested in playing again in the future.

Even better, if players finish playing your game and immediately ask when it will be available, this is a great sign. It’s even better if they say this while playing your game.

They’ve indicated they enjoyed your game and are interested in picking it up when it becomes available.

If your players are consistently asking when your game is coming out, it means there is some demand for it, which is always a great thing!

It’s an amazing feeling when someone is ready to pull out their credit card and buy your game right there on the spot.

If players are asking to buy your game right now, they are putting their money where their mouth is. They’re not just saying they like your game, they are ready to put down their hard-earned cash to get a copy so that they can share this with their friends and family.

If you’re hearing any of these types of comments consistently, you can be confident that there is definitely a demand for your game and that there is something really special about it. At this point, you’ll know that your game is getting close to the stage where you’ll be ready to launch your Kickstarter campaign.

After all, if your game isn’t amazing, then it’s going to be a tough sell.

#2: You Need an Audience

It is so critical to bring your own audience to your Kickstarter campaign. You can’t rely on the hope that “if you build it, they will come.”

Having an amazing game is a great first step, but nobody knows about it, you’re not likely to hit your funding goal. Even an “ok” game with great marketing will do better than an amazing game that nobody knows about. So, you need to build an audience.

The best way to do this is by getting anyone who is interested in your game to sign up to your email list. Whether you’re demoing your game at a convention, talking about it online, or wherever you can, you need to get people to go from interested to a subscriber. You also have to keep them engaged by sharing backstories, art, and interesting facts about your game or game design journey.

Some suggest that about 10-20% of your email subscribers will actually back your game. You want your game to fund quickly so that it gets more attention and draws more people in, so if you can build up your email list to the point where 10-20% of them would make up the funding goal, you’re in a really good position and can be more confident that your project will succeed.

Without a solid number of supporters, you’re not likely to fund (or at least not without a LOT of effort).

Download my free Kickstarter Success Checklist to ensure you’re ready to launch with success!

King of Indecision, a 2-5 player light strategy game of getting the King what he wants before he changes his mind… again.

#3: You’ve Set Your Campaign up for Success

You have an amazing game.

You’ve built up a sizable audience of raving fans.

But you’re not quite there yet. You still need to put everything together so that your campaign page is ready, you can offer pledges and shipping that are accurate for your project, and you can transition to the next steps of manufacturing, shipping, and fulfillment once your campaign ends successfully.

Before the campaign, you’ll want to prepare several other things in advance. These include the following steps:

Put together a project plan
Find an artist and graphic designer, then commission some art for your game (or all of it if you’re able)
Set up your landing page and email service provider
Promote your game and collect email addresses
Set up a Facebook group for your game (optional)
Get manufacturing quotes and decide on a manufacturer
Record your Kickstarter video or hire this out
Get prototypes made
Contact reviewers and influencers and get them to review and promote your game
Start putting together your Kickstarter page and launch your notification page
Research and determine your shipping and fulfilment partners
Finalize your pledge levels, pricing, stretch goals, and funding level
Determine your launch date and ensure it’s not coinciding with other big launches (and announce your launch date in this spreadsheet as well)
Get feedback on your Kickstarter page and make improvements
Run ads leading up to your campaign (optional)

I go even more in-depth on each of these steps in this article on the Board Game Design Course blog.

As you can see, there’s a lot of work that goes into launching a successful Kickstarter campaign. There are a whole lot of things you need to do that are way beyond game design and require a completely different set of skills.

But if you’re willing to put in the effort and ensure your game is ready before you hit launch, you too can have a successful Kickstarter campaign.

In the course of prepping this interview for you to read, I probably checked my phone five or six times. I’m not the only one: half of Americans spend five to six hours on their phone every day excluding work-related tasks. It’s a serious social problem, and the folks at Light Phone are working on a solution.

Light Phone is designed to be used as little as possible. It’s a simple idea: take all the good parts about a smartphone – phone calls and texts, the calculator, music and podcasts, alarms, and directions. Then strip away all the stuff that steals your attention. No social media, no browsing, no email, news, or ads. Everything that is and is not on Light Phone is deliberate.

It’s even designed to look and feel like a tool and not a toy. Instead of using a distracting and bright display, Light Phone uses sedate E-Ink for a display that’s easy the read at night and in broad daylight. Plus the battery lasts a long time, meaning you don’t even have to constantly think about charging it.

In this interview, we ask Co-Founder and CEO Kaiwei Tang to tell us about how he came up with the idea, how he turned it into a real product, and how he got people on board with the idea of a distraction-free phone.

What follows is a transcript of our conversation. It has been edited for clarity and brevity.

First, tell us a little bit about Light Phone.

Light Phone is a phone that is designed to be used as little as possible.

It doesn’t fight for the important things that we take for granted, our time and attention. The Light Phone offers utility and the peace of mind we’ve become accustomed to with our smartphones whilst eliminating the distractions, manipulation and stress of social media, news, or email. I don’t believe that the ever-increasing digital connection makes us happier.

It’s also a simple phone that is built around intention and purpose. It’s not a dumbphone. It offers modern tools such as calls, texts, directions, music, podcasts, hotspot, etc. through a completely customized and in-house designed typographic-based interface.

We spent years designing and developing Light Phone to produce a slim, credit card-sized phone with a matte black and white E-ink screen. The screen feels nothing like a smartphone, which is not an accident and it is perfect for viewing outdoors in direct sunlight. It’s a phone that isn’t interested in collecting and selling your data, ever.

We call it a phone for humans.

How did you first come up with the idea of the Light Phone?

My co-founder Joe Hollier and I were invited to a designer incubator hosted by Google in 2014. We were encouraged to build a mobile application, but we quickly realized that making another app is just the last thing this society needed from us. People are becoming increasingly frustrated and appalled at how much time their phones were sucking out of their lives and we wanted to create something that would give those people an alternative.

Almost every tech company were and still are, making apps that are “sticky” — they encourage users to stay for long periods of time. The reason is simple, the longer someone uses an app, the more revenue an app could make through advertising; however, the result is devastating to our attention and well-being.

As a reaction to the pernicious influence of time-grabbing apps & social media, we decided to create a product that would encourage users to take a break from the internet and their smartphone.

How did people initially react when you pitched the idea of creating a new smartphone?

The reactions were extremely polarized in 2014. People either loved it thinking that its radical approach could change their life for the better, or they could not see a reason to lower their screen time. Everyone had a strong opinion on the Light Phone, which continues to this day.

Our users often told us that having a Light Phone in public sparked some really great conversations between them and other people. They chatted about why they chose to “Go Light”, they discussed their relationship with technology, what problems they have experienced with social media and apps as well as what phone features are critical to them.

I think it’s really amazing that the Light Phone becomes a conversation piece and our users are making a conscious choice. Part of what we are trying to do is to be more intentional in terms of deciding what technology to use and how we design our tech tools.

How long did it take you to develop Light Phone II?

It took us almost 2 years from designing, developing to actually shipping Light Phone II. We customized almost every aspect of the phone to make sure the design aligns with our mission and the value of the company. It wasn’t a re-purpose of any existing phone on the market. It was a challenge for both us and our suppliers at the time, to work on such highly customized hardware and software. It is part of the reason the price of an unlocked LPII ($299) might seem relatively high if you compare it to any vintage feature phones or flip phones.

Customized hardware requires a lot MOQ (minimum order quantity) on almost every component inside the phone. We are not a big technology company like Apple or Samsung, we can’t afford to order any part in hundreds of thousands to get lower costs. This is something we have been trying to be transparent about and communicate with our customers as well. It is the reality of a small start-up but hopefully as we continue to grow we can offer a more affordable option.

What was the first prototype like?

The first prototype of Light Phone II is a 3D printed solid block I did in our co-working space. We were trying to get a look and feel on different sizes and thicknesses. It’s a non-functional mock. I also bought many used vintage phones, broke them apart, and then reassembled them to create the first functional light phone from those scrapped components. It was like a scene out of Todd McLellan’s book, Things Come Apart.

Did you have to create your own e-Reader ink?

We worked with our manufacturing partner, E-ink Technology, to create a smaller size e-ink display that wasn’t available on the market. We also spent a year optimizing the performance and refresh rate of the display. E-ink displays are not often used on phones so there was lots of trial and error to get to where we are.

How did you secure funding?

Light Phone II IndieGoGo campaign in 2018 really kicked us off. We raised over $3.5 million via pre-orders from our wonderful backers who believe in us. The campaign also led to a good deal of press coverage here in the US and internationally. The media attention gave us and our prospective investors a really good indication of whether or not people want the product.

The last several years we received investment from mission-aligned angel investors and VCs such as Pinterest’s Ex-President Tim Kendall, Lyft Co-Founder John Zimmer, Twitter’s Co-Founder Biz Stone, Bullish VC, Able Partners, Hinge VC, White Bay Group, and many others.

We are really grateful for the support from our early backers and investors.

How were you able to market a product specifically made to avoid social media and similar distractions?

I honestly don’t think paid social media advertisement is or should be the only way to promote a product. It has definitely proven to be effective on many products but at the same time, social media and the majority of technology companies are basically profiting from our data, attention and time.

The last few years we have had a lot of customers help us spread the word to their friends and family based on their experience using Light Phones. We also received lots of press coverage organically.

I think a user’s endorsement is so powerful and it also makes the product really meaningful to others. Instead of spending millions on paid marketing, I think we prefer to spend our limited resources on making the experience better. That being said, hopefully more people can find out about Light Phone and join all our users “going Light.”

What was the mass manufacturing process like, especially with all the supply chain disruptions?

Recent supply chain disruptions did slow us down. We have many vendors that provide components of the phone and their factories are located in different regions of the world. Other than the shipping backlog that I think a lot of people heard about and were affected by, we have also had to contend with COVID lockdowns in local areas that disrupted our vendor’s shipment and schedule.

We tried our best to keep people posted about shipping irregularities and be transparent about the problems our suppliers had. Thankfully our customers are very understanding and trust we are doing all we can.

How do Light Phone users get cell service? Which networks are covered and how do they pay for the plan?

We have our own Light SIM card and service plan (optional). Our users can use the Light plan which is on AT&T network, or use their existing T-Mobile, Verizon, or AT&T SIM card.

Light dashboard is where Light Phone II users customize their phones, accounts, tools as well as payment.

Do you find yourself marketing more to smartphone users? Or traditional phone users who might want a little bit extra?

I do think all users have different needs and different senses of what makes an ‘essential tool’, which is why we are working on adding a few more utility tools so that more people feel comfortable to Go Light. Although, Light Phone will never have social media, browser or advertisements.

The last few years we have been focused on sharing the health benefits of going light that we have heard from our users i.e. less stress, less anxiety, becoming more productive, getting more time back, sleeping better, etc. We also have parents and schools who are interested in getting a Light Phone as their kid’s first phone.

We also created a campaign to interview our users so they can share their experiences firsthand.

Going Light with Desi from The Light Phone on Vimeo.

Are there any exciting future upgrades on the horizon?

At the moment, we offer phone, text, direction, music, podcast, hotspot, calculator, and an alarm clock on Light Phone II. We have plans to introduce other utility tools such as a calendar, meeting reminders, notepad, barcode reader, voice memo, two-factor authentication… We are also working on a feature that would enable users to use their existing smartphone number on Light Phone II.

Interested in ordering a Light Phone for yourself or a friend? Check out their website here to learn more.

Brands and businesses are becoming more and more aware that their packaging serves a purpose beyond functionality; it is also a strategic and strong marketing tool for those who know how to wield it.

Packaging boxes are even more of a necessity in online/eCommerce businesses, with every order having to be shipped in them.

Forward-thinking businesses understand that customers’ buying behavior is influenced when a thing appeals to their emotions. And what better way to thrill customers than to cause them to fall in love even before they unbox their order?

Table of Contents

Does Custom Packaging Really Matter?
What are The Benefits of Premium Packaging?
5 Ways To Use Packaging To Increase Customer Retention and Revenue

Does Your Packaging Really Matter?

Let’s answer this way. If we’re given the option to choose between two packages, one, in a beautiful shiny paper box and another wrapped in a plain, dull-looking brown paper, which would you go for? The first, I guess.

This is because humans react to visual stimuli more than the other four senses. Science has shown that people are naturally drawn to aesthetically pleasing products and packages. In fact, customers feel valued when businesses go the extra mile to deliver.

It has also been proven in a study that dates back to 2013 that attractive packaging stimulates the reward-seeking areas of the human brain. And this area is what sponsors and triggers impulse buying.

If this is the case, attractive packaging is no longer an option but an essential marketing tool in the hands of eCommerce businesses. In essence, beyond the quality of your product, customers also appreciate businesses that pay huge attention to product presentation.

What are the Benefits of Premium Packaging?

Beyond monetary gain, premium packaging also purchases goodwill for a brand—something worth having. There are several benefits businesses, especially eCommerce businesses, stand to experience from offering premium packaging experience to their customers. Here are a few:

1. It Helps You Exceed Customers’ Expectations

By doing the unexpected extra when it comes to packaging, you ‘wow’ your customers on the first impression. And in selling, the first impression is as important as the last impression

Moreover, your packaging offering represents your brand’s promise to deliver a quality experience.

This implies that your customers will not necessarily return because your product was good, but because your packaging sells the message that you can always deliver premium value.

By exceeding your customers’ expectations, you easily set yourself above your competitors in the mind of your customers.

2. It Drives Sales

Packaging can influence sales both positively and negatively. Attractive packaging, for instance, has a positive effect on the customer’s perception of the business.

Also, the different elements of your design, such as the colors, imageries, etc. evoke strong emotional responses that can influence consumer buying behavior. Research has it that at least 1/3 of a consumer’s product decision-making results from personal preference as well as packaging.

Since humans are positively influenced by good visuals, premium packaging acts as a subtle advertising and marketing tool that helps to drive sales to the business. At least, about 52% of consumers will buy again if they are offered their orders with premium packaging.

3. It Promotes Your Brand

Your brand story, your brand identity, your brand values, and all it stands for reflects as a matter of fact in your packaging. This is especially true for eCommerce businesses.

According to a study conducted by Liam Curtley in Business 2 Community, it was discovered that the customer’s perception of a business’s packaging is always transferred to the product and the brand.

This means that a customer’s perception of your packaging is also indirectly transferred to the product and the brand.

So, if the customer considers your packaging to be drab, it’s almost impossible to convince him/her otherwise when it comes to how they perceive the product itself. It also goes on to make loud statements about how a brand perceives and values its customers.

More so, providing premium packaging is another way to garner word-of-mouth advertising, which we know is one of the most potent ways to sell a brand to the public.

4. It Improves Customer Loyalty & Retention

Customers become loyal to a brand when the brand provides them with great value. And it is this type of customers that businesses need. This is because loyal customers provide lifelong value to the business, unlike a customer that buys once and never returns.

5. It Can Promote Visibility & Recognition

Product packaging is something that helps a business stand out from the mammoth crowd of other businesses.

The need for recognition, differentiation, and visibility is even more necessary for eCommerce stores where the market is saturated, and customer loyalty is hard to develop as opposed to the regular brick-and-clay store.

According to DotCom, about 40% of customers would share a picture of their online order if the packaging were attractive. At the same time, about 90% of them will reuse the branded box if they found it attractive.

All of these provide a way for the business to go visible, easily recognized, and viral online and offline, without having to spend extra on marketing.

5 Ways to Use Packaging To Increase Customer Retention and Revenue

Below are some strategies e-commerce businesses can adopt while trying to increase customer retention and revenue:

1. Custom Boxes

Custom boxes, as opposed to the regular shipping boxes, is something trending eCommerce stores such as Amazon are keying into.

This packaging strategy helps to create a strong and lasting impression in the minds of customers and, eventually, goes a long way into marketing and establishing such a brand.

According to a survey conducted by DotCom, it was discovered that there’s a strong correlation between premium packaging and customer loyalty. In fact, customers would most likely make repeat purchases if the seller packages the product attractively.

When customers become loyal to a brand, the problem of customer retention is halfway solved.

2. Give a Thank You Card

Leaving a handwritten thank you provides a personal brand feel for the customers. And it has been shown that customers appreciate brands that offer their services in a more personal way. When this happens, they are most likely going to go on to become repeat customers.

3. Give a Small Gift

Including a small gift in their shipment helps you exceed the customers’ expectations. It also helps to provide higher value for the customers. By doing this, customers are “wowed.” And as we know, when positive emotions are triggered, purchases are the resultant effect.

4. Discount Offers

Packaging inserts are additional items that online retailers include in their customers’ shipment. They come in different kinds. One very common insert is the discount offer. This has a good chance of convincing the customer to buy again.

5. Sample Products

Another popular packaging insert used by eCommerce businesses is this. This is one way to cross-sell other products without having to do much advertising easily. It also helps to improve the brand’s value-giving perception in the mind of the customers.

Conclusion

The success of any eCommerce business or any business, in particular, is depended on their ability to provide a satisfying and memorable experience for the customers. One of the ways they can achieve this is by offering premium packaging to them.

This trend has now gone beyond an option. It has become a necessity for any eCommerce business that wishes to thrive.

Packaging is becoming an increasingly common and high-demand utility for businesses around the world. For an e-commerce business, the first direct touchpoint that your brand has with your customer is when they receive the package and unbox it. Studies related to the psychology of shopping show that, “packaging plays a major, if not dominant, role in purchasing decisions.”

Providing a fulfilling packaging experience to your customer still remains a relatively under-utilized marketing opportunity and if used properly, it can have a huge impact on positively affecting the sales of your product.

Investing in a good packaging supplier is the first step. This decision can have a tremendously positive effect on your sales as well as revenue. But making this selection can be a daunting task as various factors come into play here.

We have made this job easier for you by answering 5 important questions for selecting the right packaging supplier for your business.

1. Do they offer custom packaging?

Custom packaging is a leading industry trend in 2020 and it is here to stay. By incorporating custom packaging, you are enhancing your brand’s value by multifold. Through customized packaging, you can build an everlasting connection with your customers by ensuring that they have an unforgettable unboxing experience.

Custom packaging strengthens your company’s branding. When your product’s package has your company’s trademark color, design, and logo, your brand creates a stronger identity, and customers develop a great brand affinity. This can ultimately increase sales and revenue for your company.

What takes the cake in customized packaging is that it makes room for innovation and creativity that allows your brand to apply a personalized touch to your packages. These personalized touches enable your brand to establish an emotional connection with your customer and make them feel valued, when they unbox the product. That is why it is imperative that when you select a packaging company, ensure that they provide custom packaging services.

2. What quality of packaging products do they use?

The quality of the packaging is as important as the product itself. If the packaging is made of lower quality material, your product is more likely to get damaged during the shipping process.

It is necessary to make an informed choice when it comes to selecting shipping materials. Ensuring that the material is safe enough and ensures an effortless unboxing process with minimal waste is also essential.

There are three main types of packaging:

Corrugated boxes
Chipboard and paperboard boxes
Polybags

To choose the best packaging for your business, it is crucial that you pin down and select the optimum packaging material that suits your particular product the best and then check if the packaging supplier you select offers that or not. Packaging can be very unique for different kinds of products that is why it is essential to know what kind works best for your product before making a decision.

3. Do they use sustainable and environmentally friendly products?

The sustainability of your packaging is just as important as what is inside the package. According to a recent survey on sustainable products and packaging, 80% of participants said they felt it was “important or extremely important” for companies to design environmentally conscious products.

As consumers are getting conscious about their carbon footprint, they are more like to support brands that share their values. At Arka, we are cognizant of this reality and our focus is on sustainably. We ensure environmentally friendly packaging through:

Using sustainable packaging that can be repurposed
Shipping items in bulk
Offering carbon-neutral shipping by offsetting emissions
Recycling on behalf of our suppliers and offer shipping-friendly items
Reducing the size of your packaging
Using compostable mailers
Working with wholesalers to reduce individual shipments and limit return shipping
Offering a returns program for your empty product containers

4. What is their pricing like?

Pricing is very important. Especially if you are on a budget. Look for packaging companies that provide the best offers. See if they sell in large or bulk quantities. Instead of using standardized box sizes, evaluate the sizes of your products, and ensure that the company you are selecting offers boxes of different sizes. This way, you won’t have to pay for the dimensional volume rate.

Furthermore, another great trick to save money on the packaging is by using custom stickers or custom tapes that have your company’s logo or trademark design printed on them.

Check if the company which you have selected offers these services. This way, you will be able to keep your costs low while also providing your customers with a great packaging experience that they deserve.

5. How is their customer service?

Good customer service is critical across all industries but when it comes to selecting the right packaging supplier, it is vital that you go with a company that has good customer service. If there is a shipment that is lost or an order that has to be refunded, a smart and skilled customer representative will cater to your company’s packaging needs instantaneously.

It is always a great idea to do a thorough background check of the kind of customer service that the packaging supplier that you are selecting offers and then make the decision based on that.

Conclusion

Packaging has numerous benefits for your company, your customers, and even for the environment, as light packaging reduces the carbon footprint. That is why if you already haven’t selected a packaging supplier, now is a great time to start and these helpful tips will make your decision-making process easier.

For more information, check out this free of cost course on the packaging. The course is taught by Philip Akhzar, CEO of Arka. It helps you navigate through the nuts and bolts of the packaging industry and also allows you to learn the best practices about packaging your product.

Happy customers mean a happy business. It seems overly simplistic, doesn’t it? But unhappy customers often abandon their relationship with a company they’ve had a bad experience with. For many eCommerce companies, a product being out-of-stock is enough to drive customers away. That’s very costly, but also preventable.

eCommerce SMBs typically use spreadsheets, emails, and free tracking tools stitched together to manage their inventory and keep their supply chain intact. This is cost-effective in the early days, but can be ineffective as the business grows and operational complexity increases.

Accurate inventory management allows eCommerce brands and retailers to fulfill orders accurately and on-time. And as they outgrow their small warehouse space and move into larger 3PL facilities, so does their need to effectively manage inventory and customer relationships.

The Benefits of Effective Inventory Management

“Good enough” has gotten you this far, but it won’t propel you into the future. With a better inventory management system in place, you open yourself up to continued growth.

That growth comes from realizing five key benefits.

1: Increased Accuracy

Inventory management is a constant tightrope walk, with having too much of a product on one side and too little on the other. The first means paying for storage on products that aren’t selling while the second means missing out on sales when items are unavailable to customers.

Accurate inventory management means:

Not overstocking items, reducing the potential for holding on to too many products, tying up your cashflow
Not understocking items, having enough on hand to fulfill customer demand

You can reinvest cash from reduced storage costs and increased sales into your business. Losses due to damage or theft can also be accounted for.

2: Increased Customer Satisfaction

Marketing generates leads and attracts customers. Therefore, inventory management is responsible for making sure their experience creates loyalty and advocacy.

Inventory management impacts customer satisfaction by:

Providing real-time inventory counts, avoiding overselling out-of-stock items and identifying overstocked items that could be discounted to spur sales
Identifying high-demand items that should be reordered quickly to meet customer expectations and increased sales

Meeting customer expectations through effective inventory management is the first step to creating customer satisfaction. That results in increased sales, repeat business and a positive reputation that helps attract new customers.

3: Increased Efficiency

The spreadsheets and paper forms used by early-stage eCommerce businesses have two things in common: they’re time-intensive and prone to errors. As a result, both are inefficient and can negatively impact the chances for growth.

Advanced inventory management solutions increases efficiency by:

Automating certain processes, including reducing inventory counts as soon as an order is fulfilled and calculating the value of both items on hand and what’s been sold
Reducing time spent, especially as employees don’t have to manually count items and other labor-intensive tasks

Substantial resources become available when staff are no longer responsible for data entry and error reconciliation. You can redirect resources to other growth-oriented areas of the business.

4: Better Future Planning

Forecasting for the future and making strategic decisions is possible, but difficult, with manual inventory management solutions. The necessary data may be there, but pulling it out in a usable way takes time better spent on other activities.

Better inventory management brings the future into focus by:

Predicting demand, showing which products need to have orders increased or decreased
Identifying trends and patterns, including customer information and habits that may impact how marketing and promotions are run and targeted

With easy access to accurate and timely data owners can make informed decisions about the future. That’s a necessary part of growing the business instead of falling behind.

5: Growing the Business

It all comes down to this. Effective, advanced inventory management practices prime your business for growth by:

Improving the accuracy of inventory counts by showing what’s available and what’s needed
Increasing customer satisfaction by ensuring meeting expectations and filling orders
Increasing efficiency by automating tasks and reducing time spent
Providing the insights needed to accurately forecast future demand, challenges and more

An advanced inventory management solution acts as a single repository everyone in the company can access. It provides accurate, timely insights and data on all aspects, from sales and marketing channels to customer demographics and behaviors and everything in between.

Final Thoughts

It’s also crucial to partner with third-party logistics partners (3PL) that understand the importance of inventory management. A deeply experienced 3PL partner has the knowledge, experience, tools, and technological integrations with platforms (like TradeGecko) to simplify management of inventory, enhance warehouse efficiency, and customer happiness.

TradeGecko is a commerce operating platform that gives entrepreneurs, founders and independent brands the commerce superpowers they need to build an amazing business. TradeGecko integrates with Fulfillrite, so you can easily sync your data across your supply chain ecosystem.

For more information, please visit www.tradegecko.com

Automating certain processes, including reducing inventory counts as soon as an order is fulfilled and calculating the value of both items on hand and what’s been sold.
Reducing time spent, especially as employees don’t have to manually count items and other labor-intensive tasks.

Manufacturing is at the heart of many businesses. Whether you’re making kitschy Etsy crafts or Silicon Valley high tech devices, the manufacturing process will be a huge part of your success. It is, after all, where your products are turned into physical reality. This is true whether you’re making something with massive machinery or with your own two hands.

Even as early as the manufacturing stage, you need to be thinking about logistics. You can optimize and tweak the supply chain after a product is created, it’s true. Yet there are few opportunities where simple smart decisions can make such a massive impact quite like what we’re about to talk about.

Reducing Item Weight

Nothing tips the scales on price like weight. At least, this is true for the supply chain process. Whether you transport cargo by air, sea, rail, or road, you will be billed by weight. Not all means of transportation are equal when it comes to price, time, or quality of service, but this rule remains the same.

Once your inventory arrives at a warehouse, you’re not out of the woods. Not by a long shot! Indeed, whether you store goods in your own warehouse or use a third-party service like Fulfillrite, order fulfillment costs are driven by weight as well. When you send goods through a carrier like UPS, USPS, FedEx, or DHL, they will always ask you the same question. “How much does it weigh?” Weight will drive cost there, too.

At the manufacturing level, you have the ability to dramatically cut costs. The difference between a 4.5-pound product and a 5-pound product is huge. For bulk shipments in freight, you can pay a lot less because your 5,000-unit shipment of products weighs 10% less than it otherwise would have. Once it’s time to fill orders, you’ll save once more on postage costs.

In short, even at the manufacturing stage, you need to ask yourself: “how do I make this shipment as light as possible?”

Reducing Item Size

Packing cargo for transportation is a giant game of Jenga. Individual items are packaged after manufacturing, usually in boxes. Those boxes are then put into master containers. The master containers are then loaded into standard-sized shipping containers. We’re referring to the big 20-foot metal containers, as well as containers better suited for different modes of transport. The larger your product is in terms of volume, the more containers you will use, and the higher your bill will be.

Again, it doesn’t stop there. Carriers like UPS, USPS, FedEx, and DHL are also playing cargo Jenga. The more room you take up on their trucks and planes, the higher the postage costs will be. This is unavoidable no matter how you choose to fulfill orders.

Once again, subtle differences made at the manufacturing level can go a long way. A product whose longest dimension is 7 inches will cost more to ship than a product whose longest dimension is 5 inches. Some people even design products around the size of USPS flat rate mailer boxes. That’s how big of a factor physical size is when shipping.

Cost-Efficient Transportation Tips

One of the biggest trade-offs in supply chain management is time vs. cost. You can air ship goods from anywhere in the world far faster than sea shipping, but it costs a lot more. Likewise, sea shipping can take two months or more, but the cost is very low compared to everything else.

Why does this matter when manufacturing goods? It’s simple: where you manufacture goods determines transportation cost. Many businesses like to use landed cost to evaluate different manufacturing and shipment solutions. The landed cost includes the original price of the product, transportation fees (both inland and ocean), customs, duties, taxes, tariffs, insurance, currency conversion, crating, handling, and payment fees.

In plain English, it may be cheaper to have goods manufactured near you. The labor costs may be higher, but you avoid excessive transportation fees and customs.

The ways to transport goods are as follows, from cheapest and slowest to the most expensive and fastest:

Sea shipping
Rail shipping
Truck shipping (less-than-truckload or full truckload)
Air shipping

Which transportation method or methods you choose for your business depends on how long you can wait, how far your goods have to go, and what you’re willing to spend. Imagining the entire process of shipping from start to finish may decide where manufacturing takes place.

Regulations, Compliance, and Customs

Nothing can break an otherwise efficient supply chain quite like exports and imports. Let’s be completely clear about this: if you are not following all laws and regulations for your industry, your shipments will be delayed. At the manufacturing stage, the single best thing you can do from a logistics standpoint is to obey the law.

It sounds unbelievably obvious when stated like that, but the implications are more complicated. If you’re not sure where to start, find out the tariff code for your product. Then figure out applicable regulations from there.

Another piece of the puzzle that can derail an otherwise cost-efficient supply chain would be customs fees. Based on your tariff code, customs fees or taxes may be levied upon your inventory. You have to pay those fees one way or another. Sometimes your supplier will pick up the tab and then bill you for it later. Other times, you have to pay a freight forwarder or a customs broker. It depends on the specifics of your situation.

The point is that customs fees need to be baked into your cost estimates. It may even make it more sensible to commence manufacturing within the borders of your own country.

Labeling for Warehouse Use

Scannable bar codes are the backbone of order fulfillment. There’s a reason why nearly every product you purchase has one of these labels on them. Items must be uniquely identified, and bar codes – which are nothing more than a series of numbers represented by bars and spaces – help all sorts of companies do this. These companies range from distributors to retailers to order fulfillment services like Fulfillrite.

Each individual item must have a scannable bar code. That means you need to buy a bar code from either the GS1 or a reputable bar code reseller. Your packaging or, in some cases, the item itself needs to include the bar code. The bar code must also be large enough to be useable, which is at least 1.175 inches wide and 0.816 inches tall (for the commonly used UPC-A codes).

Why is this relevant during manufacturing? The reason is simple: it’s far easier to get this right early than to pay a company to apply labels later. At Fulfillrite, for example, we charge $0.39 per item to affix labels. This can be a lifesaver if you’ve made a critical mistake, but it can add up quickly. It’s an expense most business owners would rather avoid.

Outsourcing Fulfillment to a Third Party

Fulfillrite is an order fulfillment company. We warehouse your inventory, fill orders, and generally make your day better. In fact, we had a whole post recently that explains how we and our peers can make running your business a lot easier.

If you decide to take the plunge and use Fulfillrite or a similar company’s fulfillment services, you naturally want to get the best bang for your buck. How can you do that? Turns out there are a lot of ways, many of which happen at the manufacturing level.

As we had mentioned above, you want to make your items as small and lightweight as possible. Naturally, you’ll also want to apply bar codes correctly. Avoid using hazardous materials, if at all possible.

This last point is especially valuable: if items are sold as a set, manufacture them as a set in a single box. It is possible for a fulfillment company to bundle common items into a single package to send to a customer. This is called kitting and the process is labor-intensive. If you manufacture sets of items to be stored in a single box, you’re basically kitting items without having a fulfillment company do the kitting for you. It’s not always feasible, but when it is, it’s a big money saver.

Final Thoughts on Manufacturing & Logistics

Even at the earliest stages of making a product, you need to be thinking about logistics. All products which are created must be stored, transported, and sent to customers. A little bit of forethought can make this process smooth and cost-effective.

This won’t just save you money on the margins. An effective supply chain, especially one backed up by companies like Fulfillrite, can become a major competitive advantage for your business. Keep your items light, compact, legal, labeled, and ready to ship. You’ll be glad you did!

Listed from cheapest & slowest, to most expensive and fastest:

Sea shipping
Rail shipping
Truck shipping (less-than-truckload or full truckload)
Air shipping

Some people were born to become accountants. Some plumbers, some electricians, some office drones, and some – like your humble narrator – marketers. Then there is David Silva. He was born to create dinosaurs and sell them on the internet.

This is not an exaggeration. In 2016, David launched his product line, Beasts of the Mesozoic: Raptor Series Action Figures on Kickstarter. Over the course of the campaign, 2,661 backers pitched in over $350,000 to help him make his dream become reality. Thus, Beasts of the Mesozoic – a line of “1/6th scale scientifically accurate dinosaur action figures, with great detail and articulation” was born. He plans to launch another Kickstarter on September 17, 2019.

(Don’t feel like waiting? You can buy his dinosaurs right now!)

At Fulfillrite, we have the pleasure of fulfilling all kinds of projects – many of which are incredibly creative. As David is a client of ours, we thought “why not do an interview? He has a fantastic story!” Simple as that, I had him on the phone for about half an hour, talking about how he got into this paleontological business, what his days look like, and more.

With this in mind, please enjoy this bio of David Silva of Creative Beast, LLC.

Who is David Silva and What Does He Do?

David has a storied background in the toy industry. He has previously worked for Hasbro and McFarlane Toys, and currently works for NECA. He makes dinos by day and toys by night.

The dinosaur you see pictured above, and indeed, every other one you see in this post was made by David. He designs and sculpts the original castelline* models for each dinosaur. The sculpted parts are then molded and cast into resin in the US. The resin parts are shipped to the factory and metal tooling molds are created. From these metal molds, parts are injected in plastic and then painted and assembled into action figures.

The entire process can take between 6 and 12 months, sometimes longer depending on the amount of figures that need to be made. The final products are then sent to our warehouse where they are stored. When orders come in, we fill them.

Every single dinosaur is carefully crafted. David got his start by learning about dinosaur anatomy, then branching out from there. David hopes to eventually branch out into wildlife and fantasy creatures. Having spoken with him and heard the outline of his resume, I can see it happening. Not only does he create the products himself, but he also designs the packaging and handles quality assurance. He’s not merely creator, but a savvy entrepreneur as well.

* A type of wax-based clay

Linheraptor exquisitus

A Typical Day in the Life of a Dinosaur Designer

David’s days are long but satisfying ones. He wakes up around 7 am, answers some customer service emails, and takes care of small errands. He dedicates the next few hours to sculpting. After that, he exercises and goes to his job at NECA and works a full shift. He returns to home at about 10 and goes to sleep a few hours later.

David works long hours and has a lot of products to ship. You’ll notice that he doesn’t have to ship his own items too often – we handle the highest volume products for him. Specifically, we fulfill the Beasts of the Mesozoic Raptor product line. Otherwise, the strain of filling orders would cut into something else – dedicated sculpting time, the day job, or personal time.

As if that weren’t enough, he told me he doesn’t have room to warehouse all the dinosaurs. I can’t blame him – a man’s home shouldn’t have to function as a museum!

Digging for Fossils on Kickstarter

David tried to get established companies to carry the action figures, but their business models skew heavily toward licensed products. As high-quality and in-demand as the dinosaurs may be, they never quite fit in the portfolio. So he took it to Kickstarter and the rest is history.

His Kickstarter says it best:

Beasts of the Mesozoic is a line of scientifically accurate, highly detailed, and articulated dinosaur action figures. Being a serious toy collector myself, I’ve seen great advancements in the toy market the past several years with innovative companies raising the bar of what’s possible with detail, articulation, and value. However, despite my love for dinosaurs and for toys, my dinosaur toy shelf is surprisingly small compared to the other collections I have.

Why? Well, they simply haven’t changed much at all in the past several decades and honestly aren’t that good compared to other action figures. It just doesn’t seem like you get much for your money. I for one am ready for some good dinosaur toys worthy of my shelf space and my money, aren’t you?

Keep Up with David Silva

If you like David’s story or the dinosaurs that he has created, there are a few ways you can keep in touch. As I mentioned above, he plans to launch another Kickstarter on September 17, 2019. Keep an eye out for that! He’s also coming to Comic-Con in San Diego. You can find him in B-03!

You can also follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

A type of wax-based clay.

For private label brands who understand the value of a strong product brand, there has never been a better time to leverage your product brand on Amazon.

Whether you’re an established Amazon business with great sales or an emerging seller just starting out, there’s one fact you cannot ignore: If you want enduring success in the ever-changing world of Amazon, you can’t ignore the importance of having a strong brand.

Just ask sellers who have seen reliable, consistent growth on Amazon how they achieved success. They’ll likely tell you that optimizing their listings, using the right keywords, and hiring a listing expert got them to the top, but it was their brand that helped them stay there.

Because when people form genuine relationships with your brand and connect emotionally to what you’re selling, they’re bound to become loyal customers. And because once you’ve done all you can to maneuver Amazon’s algorithms, get to the top of Amazon’s rankings, and control who sees your product, when, and how often, one simple fact remains: Products don’t sell. Brands do.

Once you have a brand and not just a product, the opportunity you have to leverage Amazon’s platform to build your brand and compete with large, established brands is staggering. Just consider the following statistics:

– 80% of shoppers use Amazon to discover new products or brands

– 53.4% of shoppers are more willing to buy a brand they’re not familiar with on Amazon than they would be on any other store.

That means that if you’re a small brand looking for big sales and long-term growth in the ever-changing, ever-profitable Amazon ecosystem, now’s the time to leverage Amazon’s platform to build your brand. And you won’t even need a 100K+ marketing budget to do it.

Wondering how, specifically, a solid product brand will help you reach your goals? Here are 6 reasons.

1. A strong brand allows YOU to control buyer perception.

Your business isn’t what you say it is—it’s what they say it is. With a strong brand, people will have fewer misconceptions about who you are, what you represent, and the unique benefit your products offer them. A clearly defined brand identity ensures you’re seen the way YOU want to be.

2. You can charge a premium.

Weak brands often end up stuck in un-winnable price wars. But while they’re competing on pennies, they’re losing dollars. With a good brand that customers connect to, your perceived value will be higher, and you can charge more. In short, give customers a great experience, and you beat the competition, at any price.

3. You’ll attract more of the right customers.

As the playing field becomes more saturated, those without strong brands increasingly struggle to acquire new customers. But successful brands understand that customers buy products based on emotion, not just logic. If you understand who your target customer is and arm yourself with a powerful brand that resonates with them, you’ll stand out from competitors and get more new customers in the door.

4. You’ll be more memorable.

In today’s noisy marketplace, dull, weak brands lack that X-factor blend into the background. A strong, consistent brand, however, sticks in the mind and makes a lasting first impression, so you’ll be at the top of their mind next time they need your product.

5. You’ll build loyalty—and profits to match.

Without a strong brand, you need to constantly pour money into your marketing to stay in front of customers. With customer acquisition costs constantly on the rise, you’re likely hurting not just your margins, but also your long-term growth. Strong brands engender loyalty, and loyal customers are by far your most profitable. When they like and trust you, they’ll keep coming back again and again—and tell their friends about you, too.

6. You’ll gain independence and opportunities for growth.

Leaving your business’s success in the hands of a third party may be stunting your growth—and leaving your business vulnerable. With strong, healthy brand, you don’t need to be dependent on an overcrowded third-party platform. You can build a thriving business and customer base on your terms, and ultimately extend your opportunities way beyond Amazon.

The Bottom Line for Amazon Sellers

Ultimately, Amazon sellers are in need of a paradigm shift: rather than consider themselves Amazon sellers, they should consider themselves a brand; and Amazon as their primary distribution channel. In this model, every customer touchpoint, rather than being just another step in the sale, becomes another opportunity to communicate their brand message/story and cultivate more loyalty toward their brand.

When you focus on building your brand the right way, you can be sure that you’ll not only grow your sales in the short term, but you’ll be setting up your business to succeed far into the future.

Want to learn how to implement some of these branding techniques into your current Amazon business? Check out Meny Hoffman’s free guide, “7 Simple Ways to Build Your Product Brand on Amazon.” The guide offers practical tools and tips for leveraging your product brand on Amazon’s platform, so you can stand out and sell more.

Ready to dig deeper? Schedule a free 30-minute “Brand Audit” with Meny Hoffman.

Meny Hoffman is the CEO of Ptex Group, an award-winning marketing, branding, and business solutions agency headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. A lifelong entrepreneur, he is passionate about collaborating with growing businesses to create winning strategies that allow them to lead and flourish. Meny is also the founder of the LTB (Let’s Talk Business) platform, which offers business education to entrepreneurs and businesspeople looking to learn, grow, and lead. He is a proud husband and father of seven.

Allows you to control buyer perception
You can charge a premium
You’ll attract more of the right customers
You’ll be more memorable
You’ll build loyalty – and profits to match
You’ll gain independence and opportunities for growth

The following is a guest post by Beth Owens of noissue. Noissue specializes in custom packaging that is gorgeous, unique, and eco-friendly.

Packaging is an important consideration for any business, but especially for eCommerce operations. Shipping orders is a huge expense, so you want to make sure that your packaging design is as effective as it can be. But this isn’t just about saving money where you can. It’s also about making sure that you are delivering the right impression to your customer. Here are our top 3 tips for choosing a packaging design that benefits your order fulfillment strategy.

1. Keep it light

Being able to build up a global customer base is a massive boon for eCommerce companies. But it does come with some drawbacks too. Namely, shipping costs will be one of your biggest expenses. However, this expense is at least partially dependent upon your packaging design. The fact is, the larger and heavier your packages are, the more they will cost you to send!

Choosing a cost-effective design comes down to evaluating your own needs carefully. How fragile are your products? What is the average weight/size? Where are the majority of your customers based? These questions are important to consider, as the best packaging designs rest on one principle: efficiency. You need to cut down on the bulk as much as possible, whilst still maintaining the integrity of your design.

Box sizes

One of the most common mistakes that businesses make is choosing the wrong box size. Many end up with boxes that are too big for the products they are shipping. This isn’t expensive just from the perspective of postage costs. There is also the cost of filler materials to stop your products from rattling around. By choosing a smaller size, you can limit the need for filler, creating a more cost-effective design.

Return-ready packaging

Buying online comes with its own risks, namely that customers can’t examine a product before purchasing. This means that an easy returns process is something that customers value highly. Surveys show that 92% would buy again from a brand with a straightforward returns process. This doesn’t just mean terms and conditions, but also the means to return goods. By choosing packaging that can be sent straight back to your warehouse, you eliminate the need to provide extra materials for this purpose.

Using mailers

Some businesses don’t even need to use boxes at all! Boxes make up a huge proportion of packaging costs. So, cutting these out completely, or even partially, will save you a lot of money. If some of your goods are small or lightweight, mailer envelopes are a really great option due to their low weight and cost. Noissue’s mailers are also 100% compostable, providing an easy solution for both businesses and their customers.

2. Give your customers a custom-branded experience

Our customer The Sabah Dealer using noissue custom tissue in their gift box.

Let’s look at two different scenarios:

Example 1: Your product arrives in generic packaging
Example 2: Your product arrives in attractive, premium packaging with branding elements

Which one do you think is going to engage your customer the most, and stick in their mind long-term?

Packaging feeds brand perception because it’s the first real touchpoint that customers will have with your brand. So, first impressions really do matter! Custom-branded packaging is effective because it tells your customer something about your ethos. It says that you are different and that you want every interaction with your brand to be memorable. By comparison, what does generic packaging say about your brand? Nothing at all. And when you are trying to stand out to your customer, that is a problem.

Unboxing, or the attractive, curated presentation of products, has become a phenomenon because it occurs when your customer is at their most amenable. They have already made the transaction, and are eagerly awaiting delivery. So, anything they receive besides the product carries a “value-added” perception. This makes unboxing a genius piece of post-purchase marketing. Because it occurs AFTER the sale, it represents a deeper level of care and attention to detail. This is what makes unboxings interesting and thrilling for customers.

Creating a custom packaging experience sounds intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Even small additions, such as customized stickers or packaging tape, go a long way towards personalizing your delivery. Custom tissue paper also offers a really versatile option. As well as adding some flair and dramatism to your package, it also provides a big canvas for important branding elements, such as your logo or selling channels.

3. Be environmentally responsible in your packaging design

This last point doesn’t always get discussed in relation to fulfillment. But in 2019, it really bears thinking about. The fact is, packaging is responsible for a lot of waste. According to a 2015 study by the EPA, packaging materials make up around 37% of all landfills. Consumers are much more environmentally-conscious than they once were, and they want to know what businesses are doing to reduce their footprint. According to a Cone Communications Study, a whopping 91% of consumers now expect businesses to take steps to address both social and environmental issues.

The takeaway: All businesses are now expected to take steps to become more sustainable, even if “sustainability” isn’t a part of their brand image. And let’s be honest: this is something we all have a responsibility to invest in.

Your packaging design presents one of the most straightforward ways for you to channel a more sustainable approach. In fact, over a third of consumers consider both the type and amount of packaging to indicate a brand’s stance on environmentalism. This makes packaging an important marketing channel for your sustainability efforts.

3 ways to make your packaging design more sustainable

Reduce: Don’t over-package

Multi-layered packaging is a strategy used by brands to channel a more luxury feel. But to today’s more environmentally-conscious consumers, boxes within boxes or endless layers of cellophane is unnecessary and wasteful. Naturally, this doesn’t spell good news for your brand image. Moreover, reducing the amount of resources your design needs is the first step toward greater sustainability. By channeling a more minimalist approach in the first instance, you are cutting down on the amount of materials that need disposing of.

Reuse: Reusable packaging

Most packaging has a very short life cycle – it has served its purpose once the customer receives their order. After this point, it’s destined for disposal. So, if we choose packaging with more than one possible use, we can create a circular economy of reduced waste. Most of us keep some empty boxes handy from online orders because they are useful for organizing or transporting things. This outlook can be easily applied to other packaging elements as well! Using cloth pouches to hold your products, for example, has many applications in comparison to single-use soft plastic. It also gives your brand a much more premium look!

Recycle: Maximise the use of renewable materials

Many conventional packaging materials cause environmental issues. Why? Because they aren’t designed with the environment in mind. Soft plastics and polystyrene are not recyclable and are extremely slow to biodegrade. This leaves few responsible disposal options available to consumers. Limiting these materials where possible and maximizing sustainable alternatives will go a long way towards lowering the impact of your packaging. Papers and cardboard, for example, provide multiple reuse and recycling options for consumers. For this reason, 71% of consumers said they were more likely to buy from brands who use paper or cardboard packaging. Newer innovations, such as biodegradable packaging materials like corn starch and sugarcane, also present new opportunities for brands to show off a more eco-friendly approach!

Final Thoughts

Today, packaging design isn’t just important in terms of keeping your orders safe and lowering your shipping costs. It’s also about the brand image it represents. In eCommerce, packaging is a vital touchpoint with your customer base. This makes it a powerful tool for shaping brand perception. The materials you use and whether it reflects your brand all play into how your customer perceives you at the moment of delivery. If you invest effort into this area, you stand to gain far more than just cost savings!

Beth Owens is the Content Strategist and resident unboxing expert at noissue. Their premium custom tissue paper is acid-free and FSC-certified as being socially and environmentally responsible in its production. Their low minimum order quantities and quick turnarounds mean that they are suited to help everyone, from small independent businesses to Fortune 500 companies.