We were recently involved in an interesting online discussion with some packaging professionals about the essential things people should know about packaging. Most of the contributors were designers or salespeople for wholesale packaging, the type you’d see on a store’s shelf, rather than the retail packaging with which you’d carry those items out the store. Nonetheless, some of the wisdom imparted by these packaging experts is useful for consumers of retail packaging and anyone who wants to know more about choosing packaging.

Here are some nuggets:

• Consider the entire life of the package. Make it a suitable strength. Choosing cheap packaging that proves non-durable will not satisfy you or your customers.
• Packaging and marketing are closely linked.
• Choosing the right packaging involves a mix of marketing goals, cost, sustainability, and packaging objectives.
• Innovation and color are key. Choosing eye-catching packaging will attract customers. However, eye-catching packaging can be simple. A fancy, expensive, out-of-the-world solution is not always best.
• The right packaging varies from business to business. If you don’t understand the needs and uses of the products you’re putting in the in the packaging, you won’t choose the optimal packaging.
• The end user of your packaging wants something that provides a positive experience with the final product.
• Packaging adds value, not waste, to consumers’ lives.
• The packaging will be influenced by many factors: manufacturing process, geographical location, supply chain, marketing/brand strategy, customer & consumer need/insights, and environmental sustainability. So when a consumer holds a simple but attractive bag she will directly or indirectly appreciate all the above elements.
• Rather than thinking of packaging as a necessity, think of its possibility as a media. Packaging can be a very persuasive and cost effective media. We share our life with packaging and it is an important part of a business, yet we don’t seem to pay much attention to it.
• There are three things businesses look for in packaging: 1. Quality, 2. Speedy design and delivery, 3. Low cost. Generally you can have two, but not all three.  Good quality and fast = Not cheap. Really fast and cheap = Less quality.
• Remember the natural resources and cycle behind your packaging.
• Consider packaging’s “value:  value to your business, value to the consumer, value to the environment, value to society.
• In this cost conscious economy, custom packaging is still valuable. Choose packaging that sets your business out from its competitors.  Save where you can, but remember packaging’s worth.
• Knowing packaging is knowing the products that will be packaged, packaging materials, equipment used to make that packaging, shipping and storage conditions, cost, and end-use. Packaging is based on fundamentals of process engineering.
• It’s impossible to know everything about packaging

Contact S. Walter customer service today at 1-800-429.5673 or shop@swalter.com to speak to someone who knows packaging and can help you choose the right bags, boxes, and other retail packaging essentials for your business.