How to Package Your Product
IN 10 EASY STEPS
How to Package Your Product
Designing packaging can be very exciting. Your package is intimately connected to your brand and you want it to proudly showcase your product.
Streamline your packaging process and avoid costly mistakes
10 Steps to Successfully Package a Product
1. Audience
Knowing your audience will help your graphic and structural designers create the most effective package.
2. Distributor Requirements
Your customer may be a distributor or retailer and have very specific requirements for your product.
3. In-Store Placement
The shelf location where a product is sold is a key factor in the design of a retail package.
4. Product Needs
Design your packaging to get your products to market safely and effectively.
5. Internal Handling
Review your practices involved in the processing, storing and shipping of your product.
6. Choose A Packaging Supplier
Your supplier can have a significant impact on your business and the relationship may be a long one.
7. Supplier Agreements
It is always good business practice to discuss all expectations and terms of the SUPPLIER AGREEMENT prior to placing your first order.
8. Budget
Take the time to prepare a budget for your packaging prior to pricing your product.
9. Distribution
Understand your customer’s distribution system and packaging specifications PRIOR to designing any of the packaging.
10. Graphic Design
Graphic designs for product packaging takes time and can be costly. Build realistic estimates into your project launch timeline.
How to Package a Product in 10 Steps
1. Define Your Target Audience
Understanding the consumer of your product will help your graphic and structural designers create the most effective package to promote your brand.
The more detail you can provide, the easier it will be to develop a package that appeals to your target market. For instance, does your product require tamper-evident seals, child-resistant caps, easy open or reclosable features, special labeling or multiple languages?
Clearly identifying your target market will assist in the development of the ideal package.
Providing your designer with this assessment will save you both a lot of time and effort and your designer will love you for it!
Demographics
Gender, Age, Ethnicity, Language, Ability, Mobility, Location, Environment
Motivation
Health, Fitness, Beauty, Image, Status, Convenience, Trends, Quality, Price
Buying Habits
Where, How, When
Influences
Customer reviews, Social media, Loyalty programs, Packaging, Return policy
2. Know Your Retailer or Distributor Requirements
Your customer may be a distributor or retailer and have very specific requirements for your product. Before you begin to develop packaging, it is important to understand these requirements so that you can cost effectively design to meet those needs.
This is equally as important when you acquire a new customer for an existing product.
All of these criteria are important to assessing the needs of your packaging. Providing this information at the outset will assist your designers and suppliers in the initial stage of development.
3. In-Store Placement
The shelf location where a product is sold is a key factor in the design of a retail package. Prior to developing a new package or redesigning an existing one, it is important to discover what is going on at the point of sale. It is equally important to know about pending changes being considered at the retail level.
Where and how the product will be displayed will help you choose the type of material and design of the package.
For instance, frozen products displayed in a stand-up freezer may be placed so that the front panel is facing the consumer or stacked so that the side panel faces out. Products might be hung on a peg or placed on a shelf. Items sold in retail-ready packaging will have to be shelf ready with the graphics displayed prominently. It is important to know the location to ensure the package maximizes shelf appeal and draws the attention of the consumer.
Another consideration is whether the retailer is planning to change the way products are displayed. Grocers are revamping stores to meet changing consumer buying habits and reduce operating costs. Some stores moved away from hanging cheese bags in favour of retail ready packaging and stand-up pouches as stocking them is time-consuming.
Ensure you know how products are, and will be, handled and displayed at the point of sale so that you can design a package that meets the needs of the retailer and provides optimal promotion for your product.
This is also a good time to conduct a competitor analysis to assess how your package branding and design will set you apart in the sea of other products. Take photos and share them with your designer.
4. Assess Your Product Needs
Packaging can assist you in getting your products to market safely and effectively. In order to create the ideal package, you must assess the needs of the product.
Things to Consider:
- Physical – identify what could potentially damage your product - odor, contamination, shock, vibration, static, compression, pressure
- Temperature – determine if and how the product is temperature sensitive
- Moisture – assess the importance of moisture and absorbency
- Barrier – identify barrier requirements to keep the product stable and extend shelf life
- Storage – determine protection required during handling, shipping, storage, and distribution
5. Internal Product Handling
While it is important to communicate your consumer and customer needs to your suppliers and designers, it is equally crucial that your expectations are identified as well. You can do this by reviewing your practices involved in the processing, storing and shipping of your product. This will enable your suppliers to recommend and create packaging that will perform to your requirements.
Here are some questions that will help you assess your packaging requirements as well as assist in determining order quantity and lead-time.
Communicating all of this information to your designers and suppliers will enable them to decide how to design and manufacture your packaging and allow them to provide you with accurate price quotations.
6. How to Choose A Packaging Supplier
Packaging is a critical supply item crucial to your product sales. It has to be what you need when you need it! Your supplier can have a significant impact on your business and the relationship may be a long one so it is important to know with whom you are dealing.
Packaging safety is a big responsibility. Consumers are placing increased emphasis on product safety and security. Does your packaging supplier meet your needs?
Choosing a Packaging Supplier - 4 Points
Stability – you may have invested in design tooling such as printing plates, cutting dies or forming molds that are specific to a supplier. If the supplier goes out of business, you may have to pay for these again. Finding new or changing suppliers can be risky and take time, crippling your ability to meet your customers' demands during the transition.
Reliability – investigate their quality and service levels and, most importantly, discuss their guarantee of supply. You can consult with other companies and even ask the supplier for references. Find out why companies chose that particular supplier and why others did not. Research their reputation in the market.
Credibility – there may be specific certifications required for your product. Ensure the supplier meets these requirements.
Professionalism – assess their responsiveness to inquiries for quotes, designs and samples.
Retail customers are putting more responsibility on their suppliers to deliver a safe, quality product on time. They do not want to hold inventory, so order lead-times are shorter than ever. For you to compete, it is essential that you have reliable, dynamic suppliers that can meet your current needs, help you grow and keep you competitive.
7. Supplier Agreements - What You Need to Know
It is important to know your packaging suppliers and their capabilities so that you can decide how to order, understand all the costs, and are comfortable that the packaging will be received when and how you need it.
Packaging is a critical supply item - one that you cannot go without. Ensuring you understand your supplier's abilities will allow you to plan accordingly.
It is always good business practice to discuss all expectations and terms of the SUPPLIER AGREEMENT prior to placing your first order.
Questions to Ask Your Packaging Supplier BEFORE Your First Order
8. Budget For Your Packaging
Take the time to prepare a budget for your packaging prior to pricing your product. There are numerous components to consider and, as well as the actual cost of the materials, there can be additional tooling and design costs. You will want to consider all of these prior to committing to a price for your product.
Budgeting will enable you to make the right packaging choice that will fit your cost structure. The Budgeting calculator is designed to give you an idea of the items to include. Your suppliers can assist you in choosing packaging that will fit your particular needs.
9. Designing the Package
The various types of packaging required to get the product through the distribution system are interdependent. This is because the size, shape, density, weight, and case count of the primary and secondary packaging determines the type, strength, and size of the shipping container. It also impacts the pallet configuration.
There can be significant reductions in shipping costs by designing the structure of the primary package along with the master shipping container.
This is why it is important to understand your customer’s distribution system and packaging specifications PRIOR to designing any of the packaging.
Getting products through the distribution channel to the end consumer can be quite a journey and the products may be handled numerous times using various methods, potentially causing damage. There are a number of options and materials available to optimize the safe containment, handling, transport, and storage of your product. Incorporating these into your packaging design will reduce costs and ensure your product reaches the point of sale safely and intact.
Optimize the Safe Containment, Handling, Transport & Storage of Your Product
Type and size of pallet
Pallet configuration (how the items are placed and stacked)
Maximum/minimum pallet height
Pallet load weight (stacking strength)
Stacking (slip sheets, caps, layer sheets)
Unitizing (stretch wrap, shrink wrap, strapping, corner posts)
Master shipping container (tray, box, bin, crate, etc.)
Material specifications (moisture resistance, strength)
Design specifications
Protective packaging (bubble wrap, foam, inserts)
Depending on your customers' needs, varying specifications may require customized sizes and materials which can increase the number of packaging units and cost. It may be more cost-effective to design for one common container that will meet all the specifications, but this will depend on a number of factors including sales volumes and shipping costs.
It is also important to know how and where your customer will be distributing the products as the packaging has to stand up through their distribution system as well.
Once you have a clear understanding of exactly how your product will be handled you can tap into the skills, knowledge and experience of packaging designers. They will assist you in determining the best method of protection through the distribution system.
Adequately protecting your product from manufacture to the point of sale will ensure that you meet the needs of your consumer and your customer eliminating unnecessary costs for returns and/or product losses.
10. Graphic Designs for Packaging
Creating new graphic designs for product packaging takes time and can be costly so it is important to build realistic estimates into your project launch timeline. You need to include time to carefully and diligently proofread all of the information on the package because you take the responsibility when you sign off on the final proof.
To achieve the best results, use a packaging designer!
Build in adequate time for the development process and do not commit to a product launch date until the design is in the final approval stage. If a launch date has been predetermined, be sure to work backwards from the delivery date, factoring in the printer’s lead-times.
Realize that graphic designers bill by the hour. A designer will likely build minor revisions into the initial quote but major revisions and redesigns can be costly. Be sure to establish a clear understanding of which revisions the designer will include and which will require an additional charge.
Use a packaging designer familiar with the printer's specifications.
Try to avoid revisions.
Steps to creating graphic designs for new products:
- Determine product and packaging, including all containment and shipping containers required to bring your product to market
- Select packaging supplier(s)
- Appoint a graphic designer (preferably one familiar with packaging)
- Develop ingredient/nutritional information
- Determine labeling information/symbols and processing time for approvals
- Request UPC code
- Schedule time for the designer to conduct a photo shoot of the product or select images
- Supply printer die line and specifications to the designer
- Review, approve or revise design proof
- Send proof to packaging printer for approval
- Proof all copy (professional proofing recommended)
- Approve final artwork
Once the artwork is finalized the:
- Design studio sends final art, signed colour proof and drawdowns to printer
- Printer outputs pre-press colour proof
- Designer may schedule a press side approval of the first printing if colour matching is critical