Americans love their food. That’s why most restaurants in our country pride themselves on serving portions massive enough to give an elephant a stomach ache. Because of that, many diners often find themselves stuffed full while still having some hefty proportions left on the plate. Since leftovers make great lunch the next day, sending patrons home with a “doggy bag” has become a treasured ending to the American dining experience.

That said, let’s take a quick second to evaluate that concept. “Doggy bag.” What does it mean? Going on just the connotation delivered by the name, one would presume a doggie bag is full of doggie food—meaning food fit for your dog. In other words, the idea of a doggy bag kinda/sorta implies that you’re bringing your pup foodstuffs you’ve deemed inadequate and, well, crumby. To further exacerbate the situation, many restaurants simply push their customers out the door with a doggy bag that looks like something someone would use for cleaning up after a dog instead of feeding one.

Restaurants are a tough business, one that’s usually only conquered by the proprietor’s passion for delivering an exceptional experience to diners. This experience doesn’t end once the bill is paid. It’s continued when the customer leaves and, most importantly, when they tell their friends and family about their dining experience. There leftovers factor into this experience, and so does the container with which they use to bring their leftovers home.

While t-shirt bags or something similar tend to be an unofficial standard for take-out bags, they’re more utilitarian than anything else. There’s no rule that’s says take-out bags MUST be practical (or even that they have to be bags!) Take home bags should add to the diners experience, not be a result of it. That said, there are some ways to punch up your take-out bag offering and, in the process, give your restaurant the reputation it deserves.

For starters, take a look at exactly what customers will be bringing home with them. Typically, leftovers come in containers that are flat. This will require bags that have bags that have a bottom gusset or flat bottom in order to keep the food level. Even though it wouldn’t be the restaurants fault if a diner spilled leftovers on themselves during the trek home, it may still give the diner a negative memory of the restaurant.

Next, think of how to class up the retail packaging as a whole. Whether it’s a small-time joint or has three Michelin Stars to its name, all restaurants have room for touch ups. Those leftovers are a representation of the restaurant—nibbled, half-eaten representations, but representations nonetheless! How do you want your food to be represented? As far as retail packaging and take-out bags are concerned, there’s a number of themes to choose from, allowing the restaurant’s proprietor to send the right message about their establishment and its offerings.

Finally, think about your brand. It’s a topic this blog has touched on time and time again, and that’s because it’s an important one. In short, a restaurant’s brand is its essence. On top of picking the type of bags that best represent the restaurant, consider placing the logo on the packaging as well—a little advertising via retail packaging never hurts.

When considering take-out bags and containers, there’s a lot more to think about than most people realize. But by keeping in mind the choices that will best represent the restaurant, proprietors can provide take-out bags and containers that will help their patrons carry their brand—and their passion for food—further.

What about you? Do you think some flair can make even take-out bags better?

A great philosopher named Kermit the Frog once said, “It’s not easy being green.” Despite that, the world seems content to try.

Over the past decade or so, everyone—from individuals to large corporate entities—have been doing their best to “Go Green,” putting the best interests of our environment and natural resources above all else. And why not? We’ve got a nice little planet here! We should take care of it!

The interesting thing about the “Green Movement,” as some call it, is that it’s completely scalable. Anything as simple as carpooling, as complex as redesigning soda bottles caps and everything in between has a positive effect on our planet, our environment and our future. Seeing as how so much can be done in such simple ways, it’s no wonder that the world at large has been quick to adapt to a new green lifestyle.

Retailers are no different. It’s now common place to build a reputation on customer satisfaction by listening to their eco-friendly sentiment and offering packaging made from recycled content, as well as reusable bags. Also, by adopting a green mentality to their stores, retailers can build a reputation for their eco-conscious ways—a nice compliment to a store’s reputation for stellar products and services.

In last week’s post, we discussed the idea of using the right packaging to carry your brand further. In this week’s post, we’re going to take that idea one step further by explaining how to use your retail packaging as a means to building your name as an environmentally conscious brand. Many major retailers are already using their packaging as a means of engaging customers into thinking greener while promoting their brand. By following that lead and taking it further to suit specific customers, retailers stand a good chance of boosting their brand–as well as their bottom line—while doing right by Mother Earth!

Here’s some steps to help get started:

Team Up!
All initiatives work better when the participants are on the same page. That said, the first thing to do is let customers know you’re with them about going green. There are a number of ways to do this, but one of the simplest is printing it on your custom-designed bags and boxes. Printing easy recycling ideas on the bottom of a box or the side of a bag is a great reminder to your customers, but also a way to proudly wave your green flag.

Encourage Creative Recycling
While some retailers encourage customers to bring back their packaging for reuse, there are more creative ways to recycle, some of which could potentially promote a retailer’s brand. For example, there’s a whole sub-culture of artists who work in the medium of recycled plastic and paper retail packaging (no, seriously! Take a look!) Hosting a contest to see who can create something new out of your recycled retail bags and boxes is an original way to encourage customers to go green while potentially spreading your brand. Imagine the attention a retailer could get if a customer made a handbag out of bags that had the store’s logo on it.

Donate to Re-users
While allowing customers to turn in and recycle their old retail bags and boxes can help the environment, a more charitable option exists: Donation. Many local charities, churches and even elementary teachers are willing to accepted recycled bags and boxes to use to their ends. For instance, many churches regularly host flea markets and bazaars, most of which use donated retail packaging for their goods. If your donated packaging already has your logo on it, that opens your branding efforts to a whole new demographic.

These are just some ideas to further your brand while pursuing a more eco-friendly agenda. As always, the secret to successful branding is creativity and flexibility. Fortunately, those traits can be used to help the planet at the same time.

What about you? What other ways do you stay “green” with your retail packaging?

In business, “branding” has become the new buzz word. Now, many may read that and, correctly, point out that this “new” buzz is anything but. The concept of branding is only a day younger than the concept of marketing, after all. But thanks to new tools and technology—social media, in particular—many companies are rushing out, trying their hardest to create the newest trends and tweets and blogs to get their marketing message across while forgetting about the fundamentals of branding and what it really means.

Branding, as one expert suggests, isn’t restricted to a company’s logo or its appearance online. Instead, a brand encompasses everything about that company: the aesthetics of the logo, the emotions its product inspires, the appeal those products have to the world at large. Everything a company does affects its brand.

Though it may not seem like it, something as simple as a bag can speak volumes about a company and the philosophy that company represents. Retail packaging plays a major role in this–that’s why you won’t find jewelry store customers carrying their purchases home in t-shirt bags.

The tricky thing about using retail packaging is that it’s such a practical need, that many people don’t consider how it reflects upon the retailer. This can serve a company to its advantage, if done right. Here are a few tips to remember when trying to find the best retail packaging support your brand:

- Know Yourself: Who are you, and how are your products/serviced perceived? Are you known for classing things up? Maybe you’re known for staying green? Your retail packaging is going to be one of the main outlets for reinforcing that perception.

- Know the Customer: Do they look for value? Do they look for luxury? The right bags and boxes can go a long way in helping them tell others what they, as consumers, believe in.

- Know the Experience: The most important thing to remember with branding is that you’re not selling just the products or services; you’re selling a sleek, customized experience that patrons take home with them (and hopefully re-use to carry your brand even further). They take this experience home in the packaging you provide—make sure the packaging is as memorable as the experience!

What do you think? Any lessons you’ve learned about branding that you’d be willing to share?

Bags, bags, bags! Create the packaging look your store deserves with custom printed bags from S. Walter Packaging. The most trusted name in retail packaging, S. Walter stocks a wide variety of plastic and paper shopping bags. Our on-site print shop is ready to take your custom orders. Our shipping times are fast and reliable.

For the best-looking shopping bags with the best service, choose S. Walter Packaging.

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.

S. Walter Packaging is now offering an affiliate marketing program. Our catalog includes approximately 4,000 high-quality retail packaging products, with full ranges of gift bags, merchandise bags, garment bags, jewelry boxes, gift wrap, colored tissue paper, and more. With the S. Walter affiliate program, you can market these popular products on your own website and get commission for every sale you direct to our site. Simply sign up with LinkConnector, an established and trusted associate manager, add links to your website, and begin earning referral fees now!

Visit our affiliate marketing page for more information.

Here at S. Walter Packaging we are firm believers in the importance of retail packaging for stores and businesses. There are multiple advantages to a coordinated in-store packaging program. Attractively branded bags connect customers to the store and thus engender customer loyalty. (See our previous blog post for more on this.)

Obviously, for in-store purchases, shopping bags have a distinctly utilitarian purpose: customers use their comfortably handled bag to carry merchandise from the shop. But once out of the store, shopping bags have an added impact. Spotted on the street, they provide free advertising for the store. When reused for other purposes, branded shopping bags remind customers of their purchases and forge a connection between shopper and shop.

This is relevant to a growing trend that has come to our attention recently: including a branded shopping bag in a shipment for an online purchase. With more and more customers doing their shopping online, and a large number still using catalogs to make purchase, it makes sense to try and increase brand loyalty with shipped as well as in-store sales.

At first glance, including a shopping bag with a shipment of clothes or other merchandise may seem counter-intuitive. After all, the customer is receiving the shipment in his or her mailbox, not carrying the products out of a store. But what if the shipment is to be used as a gift? A gift bag makes a ready-made gift package. And a shopping bag in a mailbox has all the add-on value of one carried from a store: customers are likely to reuse it, providing advertising and increasing customer loyalty.

Good retail packaging is not just for stores these days!

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S. Walter Packaging offers a full selection of paper and plastic shopping bags in a range of sizes, styles, and colors. Browse our online catalog or contact a customer representative to learn how packaging can carry your brand further!

Your leading supplier of quality retail packaging can be found in-person (via our awesome troupe of customer service representatives, 1.800.523.8888), online (at SWalter.com), and now on your favorite social site, Facebook (click image to right to “like” us… sorry, there’s not yet a button to “love” us!). We’ll update the site with the latest news, products, and deals; and you can let your friends know how important S. Walter is to your business! Like it.

You can also “Follow Us” on Twitter @swalterpkg, where we tweet with deals and news. As they say, “Get short, timely messages from S. Walter Packaging”!

Web 2.0, yeah!

There are many factors that make a good and successful clothing store. The clothing is important, of course; customers want the latest fashions, a fresh or familiar look, a changing inventory, good materials, and affordable prices (customers want it all, don’t they!). The space is key too; the store should feel comfortable and airy, with plenty of light and a simple to navigate layout. Store arrangement is also important; a new display, a nicely attired manikin, and an inviting window set-up can make all the difference between a passerby and a purchaser. And no one could forget how crucial it is to have friendly and helpful salespeople, willing to approach the customer and able to give knowledgeable, helpful advice.

Other attributes could be added to this list: clean, spacious dressing rooms; a bright or subtly attractive store sign and logo; good use of advertising and press relations; location, location, location; word-of-mouth; and, well, luck. At S. Walter Packaging we think one consideration should be near the top of any clothing store’s list: retail packaging.

As a purveyor of fashion, clothing retailers understand the importance of appearance. Fine quality retail packaging boosts a store’s image as surely as a well put-together outfit boosts a person’s. Color coordinated bags and boxes are a must; packaging customized with a store name and brings added brand awareness and long-term advertising.

The necessary packaging for clothing stores includes shopping bags (either paper or plastic), apparel boxes (and perhaps hat boxes, tie boxes, or other specialty clothing item boxes), tissue paper to line an apparel box or shopping bag, ribbons to tie to bag handles or around a box, and bows to finish off bags and boxes. S. Walter carries a full selection of all these items, with many different sizes, styles, and colors. Browse our online catalog or contact customer service and find the packaging look right for your clothes store. Good packaging doesn’t just carry your clothing, it carries your brand.

Earth Day 2011 is just around the corner (April 22nd). At S. Walter Packaging we are committed to taking care of the world around us. That is why you’ll find many products in our catalog made from recycled paperboard and other post-consumer materials, and a selection of reusable bags for environmental peace-of-mind.

As a user and supplier of plastic bags for retail, we would like to encourage the recycling of plastic bags by retailers and businesses who use these products. That is why we are offering our Recycling Program Kit at the new everyday price of just $9.99.

Show your commitment to the environment by having a customized recycling box in your place of business. We will include labels with your store name and environmental statement! When your box is full of clean, dry, plastic bags ready to be recycled, simply place them in pre-addressed shipping container and mail them to S. Walter. We will do the rest!

This Recycle Kit includes a sturdy container with slogans announcing “Recycle here!”; space for two personalized labels; a lid giving details of the program (plus the statement “Please Recycle!); a window sign; and the first two return bags. It’s simpler than ever to show your commitment to the environment. Order yours today and show your consumers you care!

A Little About Earth Day
In the heady era of the 1960s, environmental awareness was just one off-shoot of a vitalized political idealism and urge for social justice and peace. The first Earth Day, organized for April 22, 1970, was designed as a “teach-in” about the environment, mimicking popular teach-ins about the Vietnam War. The day was picked to coincide with the date of the Spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, and also falls on Arbor Day in some states, a similarly nature-centered day celebrated since the early twentieth century.

Earth Day anniversary celebrations in 1990 and 1995 gave new life to the environmental movement, and the day is now a recognized and celebrated annual event, a time to ponder humans’ place on the earth and consider our footprint. 2011 marks the 41st anniversary of the original Earth Day, and the occasion will be marked in countries around the world.