By 2040, it’s estimated that 95% of purchases will be through e-commerce. 

Plenty of options, quality products, easy exchanges, and returns, are just a few reasons why consumers prefer shopping online. 

Ecommerce packaging is a type of packaging that is specifically designed for products that are directly shipped to consumers. With more people shopping online, brands have the opportunity to design packaging that extends their brand identity.   

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There might be 3 reasons why you are researching e-commerce packaging design:

• You want to successfully launch a new product range on an e-commerce platform.
• Your product is not performing well compared to competitors.
• You’ve received feedback or reviews from consumers saying the packaging design is not effective.
  

Conceptualizing e-commerce packaging design for your products involves a lot of thought. Unlike products distributed in stores or supermarkets, your target audience is much wider and there are more competitors.   

While the established processes such as understanding design styles, building a creative brief applies for this type of project, let’s explore 3 tips to differentiate your packaging design.

3 Packaging Design Tips For E-commerce Brands

Tip 1. Focus On The Information Architecture  

When consumers are browsing online, it takes only a few moments for your product to attract interest. If your product packaging design fails to make a great first impression, a similar product is only a click away.

The front label needs to display just the right amount of details in a concise hierarchy of information. Rather than bombarding consumers with information, simplify their buying decision by offering details that suit their immediate needs. 

The front label needs to pass what our team likes to call the ‘thumbnail test’. 

If you’re launching a new product range, create different packaging designs. Then place them in the same format as an e-commerce platform with other product images and conduct a user study to measure the number of people who will click on your product image.    

Product images on e-commerce platforms vary in size and are displayed with other similar products. If they pop out of the page, then consumers are bound to pick the other product.   

Key Advantage

Once the consumer has clicked on your product, there’s plenty of space to display more information. You can communicate features, benefits, comparisons, incentives, and additional images on the product pages.       

Tip 2. Experiment With Branding

According to a study, if a product appeals to them, 70% of consumers shopping on their mobile will come back within an hour to purchase it. 

Experimenting with packaging designs will offer insights into your target customer’s behavior. Some brands design special packaging that echoes their brand identity with festive or variant elements. You can try testing with different colors (variants), typography, or imagery.            

Key Advantage 

Unlike offline shelves, it’s easier to get feedback from online consumers. When you experiment with your packaging design, you will immediately receive actual user experience feedback and it will help you to understand if your packaging design is working or not.    

Tip 3. Showcase Experience, Not Just Products 

It’s stated that over 90,000 people type 'unboxing' into YouTube every month. Consequently, unboxing has become a must-have for brands. However, 80% of consumers in a survey said that had stopped doing business with a company due to poor customer experience. 

Therefore, when the product is delivered to a consumer, it’s important to continue the shopping experience. It will increase the chances of retaining consumers and they will recommend it to others. 

Key Advantage 

Establish brand recall through a packaging design that is ‘sharable’. 

E.g, take the example of FabFitFun, which is a subscription service that delivers beauty, fashion, fitness, and lifestyle products to the consumer’s doorstep. Consumers and influencers alike love to share the FabFitFun box through their social media channels. 

The Final Takeaway 

Custom packaging design for an e-commerce platform is an important part of extending a brand’s identity.   

As always, your packaging protects your products so be sure to build transport-ready packaging. Memorable packaging will not only protect your products but also go a long way towards loyal and repeat customers. 

When it comes to designing e-commerce packaging, let the experts at Artwork Flow, an artwork management platform, guide you toward the right solutions. From planning to branding and production, we have helped many brands make the right choice!

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