One critical aspect of your sales and marketing strategy is choosing the right packaging for your products. It has to tell a good story, and must be inviting that it drives people to buy instead of just merely looking at your offerings.
So, how do you choose the best packaging for your products?
Choosing The Best Product Packaging Design With Prototyping
Product packaging goes beyond aesthetic appeal. It protects your products and their materials during transport (locally or abroad), distribution, and storage. In manufacturing applications, prototyping products and packaging is done to end up with the best design. It’s a part of the initial product packaging design process wherein prototypes or “close to final products” are manufactured, paving the way for packaging testing before it is mass-produced.
One prototyping process is plastic molding, which shapes plastic using a rigid mold or frame to create containers, car parts, and other items. In product packaging, it aims to create durable packaging in different shapes and sizes.
Plastic packaging can excellently hold and protect bulk materials, loads, and cases for individual products for shipping. It is a receptacle to hold items in a discreet order and organize automated or static systems.
Evaluate Your Product’s Packaging Needs
When assessing the packaging needs of your products, you should utilize your creative ideas. Of course, you want something durable, one that won’t alter the shape and materials of the product, and would protect it from external pressure caused by logistics.
Here are some essential considerations when evaluating the packaging needs of your products:
Size And Weight: Will your prospective packaging hold the weight and accommodate the size of the product? Does the packaging need to follow the shape of the product, or does it need to be stiff and require bubble wraps to ensure protection?
Customizing your packaging allows you to follow product specification better and save on costs. Often, many business owners use packaging that is too big for their product. This necessitates the use of more fillers, which means more costs and wastes and more room for the item to jolt inside and possibly get damaged. Customized packaging allows you to choose the perfect size for your product, select the packaging material you want, and use your own design.
Form Of Matter: Is it in solid, liquid, or gas form? Perfume, cologne, and other gas products are usually placed in aerosol containers. Liquid products should be placed inside spill-proof containers.
Properties: What are the properties of the product you want to preserve? Is the packaging suitable for preserving the chemicals or the color of the product inside? Do you need an opaque container to protect the product against ultraviolet rays or light sources?
Environmental Impacts: What are the effects of the plastics used for your product’s packaging to the environment? Is the packaging reusable, recyclable, or biodegradable? You might want to use sustainable product packaging to avoid plastics filling in landfills, most especially if your company’s core value includes environmental protection.
Choose The Best Material For Your Product Packaging
The most common product packaging material is plastic, which comes in many forms. You can talk to the product packaging company for available options that you can choose from.
Here are the different types of plastics used in prototyping and manufacturing plastic product packaging options:
- Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE ): It’s a transparent plastic that is durable and is commonly used in making food and beverage product jars and bottles. Also, this plastic is used in making ovenproof plastic wrap and microwaveable food trays. When recycled, PETE becomes part of carpet yarns, new plastic containers, polyester textiles, molds used in engineering, and strapping materials.
- High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE): This type of plastic is used on packaging items needing light protection and a stiff, durable container. Some examples of HDPE product packaging include milk jugs and opaque plastic bottles to hold household bleaches and detergents. Also, it is used in plastic bags for retail items and carrying food, cable and wire sheathing, reusable shipping containers, flower pots, and plastic containers.
- Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): While this plastic is usually used for rigid goods, such as framing, fencing materials, piping, blister packaging, and clamshell packaging, it’s also used for creating heavy-duty packaging bags, blood bags, films, and medical tubing.
- Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE ): It’s a flimsy thin plastic used in protecting dry cleaning products, as well as in creating bags for bread, newspapers, and produce. Also, it coats disposable cups and plates, and food cartons. This type of plastic is popular for manufacturing heavy-duty garbage bags, trash cans, floor tiles, lawn furniture, and paneling.
- Polypropylene (PP): This plastic endures high heat during superb rigidity. Some examples include containers and bottles for foods, medicines, and automotive products.
- Polystyrene (PS): It is popularly called Styrofoam, which is a brand name for this type of plastic.
Conclusion
When choosing the appropriate packaging for your products, it’s important to assess the properties that the packaging should have to protect your products in the best way possible. That’s why as early as the product packaging design stage, prototyping should be carried out. Also, you have to choose the best material while weighing out the benefits when it comes to functionality or usefulness and environmental impacts.
