Custom packaging is an affordable yet amazing and effective approach to wow your customers and also to leave a lasting impression for your company. This leads to good word of mouth for your company, greater loyalty to your brand, and rising revenue growth.
But the catch is that custom packaging encompasses much more than just printed cardboard or other product-related materials. To know everything about custom product packaging, go through the article below and learn how to navigate the whole process smoothly.
Types of Custom Product Packaging
Behind the typical box are a variety of packaging choices, including:
- Padded or Bubble Mailers: Padded or bubble mailers incorporate a good protection into the design of the packaging.
- Mailer Boxes: They are smaller packages with square edges that are roughly the size of document wrapper.
- Custom Mailer Envelopes: Regular, traditional, flexible mailing envelopes are known as “mailer envelopes.”
- Rigid Envelopes: To increase the package’s rigidity and durability, these envelopes use a paperboard covering.
Consider the items in your box, their fragility, and their sizes when choosing the type of packaging you’ll employ. The conventional box mailer might be the ideal choice if the object in question is bulky and fragile. You can incorporate custom printed tape into your chosen mailer to introduce your products in a unique way.
Picking a Packaging Printed System
Once you’ve decided on the type of packaging you want, you can start considering how you want it to be made. There are three main types of printing techniques that are utilized for custom packaging:
- Digital Printing: For smaller orders, it is more typical. Digital printing might be similar to using your typical home laserjet printer. The design and color are applied to the box immediately by the machine after it has mixed the inks.
- Flexographic Printing: The most popular type of custom package printing uses flexographic printing. It operates similarly to a large-scale rubber stamp in that a printing plate along with the design of your box serves as a big ink pad that rotates on a spinning drum, scooping up ink before stamping it onto the corrugated box.
- Litho Label Printing: It is also known as lithographic printing, and offers a much clearer, higher quality print that works something like wallpaper. In contrast to printing that takes place on the actual box, this printing involves printing on a paper sheet, processing it, cutting it, and then attaching it to the box using an adhesive. A “full label” is a litho label that covers the entire surface of a box, whereas a “spot label” is one that just covers a portion of it.
Choosing the Ideal Size
The second stage of the procedure is selecting the ideal packing size. Size also matters greatly for delivery, not simply for the items within your box. For instance, if you’re willing to use the rates of USPS cubic shipping, the size of your package might have a significant impact on the pricing tiers into which it is placed.
Typically, the most economical way to ship any subscription is using USPS cubic shipping. Pricing for cubes is determined by volume rather than weight. Use this formula to determine USPS cubic shipping costs:
Cubic Rate = Height x Width x Length / 1728
Make sure not to exceed the dimension of 18 as it is the longest one.
Creating a Design
You can begin working on a design once you’ve decided on your size and packing type. The following step in the process, selecting a manufacturer, will probably happen concurrently with this one. This is primarily because you’ll require the PDF version of the package that is precisely sized to the right dimensions.
Finding the Right Manufacturer
As you design the box, you should keep a manufacturer in mind due to the benefits you’ll receive from involving them in the process. The factors you need to consider before selecting a manufacturer are as follows:
- Location: Finding a nearby manufacturer is advantageous because you can observe the production of your boxes and also because you might save money on shipping and freight.
- Price: When requesting a price, you should have a certain size and order number in mind. You need to compare manufacturers mainly on pricing, but be wary of those who promise much cheaper prices; they may be able to do so by lowering the inner as well as the outer liners.
- Fulfillment: Some manufacturers offer fulfillment services. By collaborating with them on box production as well as fulfillment, you may eliminate all shipping/freight expenditures for boxes by keeping everything under one roof.
- Turnaround Time: Generally, it might take three to four weeks to build your tooling and complete a box order. If the manufacturer is not local or nearby, you will also need to add one to two weeks for shipping. While communicating with manufacturers, keep turnaround time in mind while considering your ship date.
Placing an Order
Once you have chosen a manufacturer, you will need to negotiate the best possible price. You need to keep in mind the category of printing. Digital and lithographic label printing will incur higher expenses, especially for lesser quantities.
Consider the box and ink quality – sustainable or recycled packaging and inks might be more costly, but they may make your brand stand out. As there are various varieties of the board, based on the contents of your box, ask your maker which flute they recommend for your box.
When obtaining custom packaging, you should strive to spend less than 2 dollars per box, especially if you’re ordering over 1,000 boxes. As you negotiate rates with manufacturers, keep careful records of the factors that impact the price of the product, including flute type, quantity, board type, and deadlines.
Final Words
Choosing the appropriate packaging for your goods might be difficult. But, as there are several options available to pick from, you can only find the ideal one for your company if you are willing to explore. Whether designing custom product packaging for a small firm or a large corporation, it can have a significant impact on any brand. So, make sure to remember the suggestions and tips you just learned and incorporate them into designing your product packaging to get the best result. Best of luck!
