When bringing a new product to the retail market, it’s important to be on top of the latest trends in retail, and without a doubt retail-ready packaging is a key component of getting your product onto store shelves and into the consumer’s cart. As a start-up, you have the luxury of strongly branding your new business from the beginning, and retail-ready packaging can play a key role!
Retail-ready packaging is packaging that moves directly to the store shelf or pallet from the shipping container. It can be used to hold products individually packaged in bottles, smaller boxes, paper or plastic envelopes, or even products that have no extra packaging at all. This takes the form of a corrugated box that is perforated so that the shipping box can be converted into an open display, or secondary display boxes that can be lifted from the shipping box and placed directly onto the shelf or pallet.
Ironically enough, adding this extra layer of packaging can actually save you money as you start your business, always a great incentive! For instance, if you are developing a line of spices, without retail-ready packaging each unit needs to be packaged in either a cardboard box, probably with an envelope inside, glass jar, or tin. However, with a retail-ready display, the spices can be packaged in just an envelope, costing much less per unit, and fitting more units into a smaller space.
No matter the size of the store that you want to stock your products, retail-ready packaging is a great selling point. Instead of having to place a dozen or so individual boxes or jars on a store shelf, the employee just lifts and puts in place one display box holding all of the units. This saves time and money for the retailer, and your spices are thus more likely to get a place on their shelves. Using retail-ready packaging is already a requirement for stores like Costco or Walmart.
Once your new product is on the shelf, you want the customers to choose it, and retail-ready packaging gives you an opportunity to advertise your product at the point-of-purchase. While the packaging of each unit can- and should!- be a mini-ad all on its own, the larger surface of the display box can provide more inducements to buy the product. It also makes adjustments to merchandising strategies much easier to implement: without having to alter the basic unit packaging, the display box can be changed to respond to feedback for improvements or reflect a special holiday theme.
When just starting your business, you of course want to make the biggest splash for the best price, and retail-ready packaging can help you achieve that goal. At the most basic level, for instance, being able to choose lightweight envelopes for your spices instead of bulky and heavy jars or tins will save you money every time that you ship out a package to a store. This makes investing in retail-ready packaging even more attractive as you finalize your packaging choices to get your new product on the market.
You want to use materials that are lightweight, sturdy enough to survive the daily wear-and-tear, and then can be easily disposed of. Corrugated cardboard is ideal; you need only decide between such options as flexography and the latest development, digital printing, to determine what image you want your retail display to convey, and at what cost. Packaging suppliers can help you make the right decisions for your start-up, based on your product, intended market, and target stores.
Retail-ready packaging will get your start-up off to a great beginning: you will save money in packaging, get your products onto store shelves more easily, and appeal more directly to the consumer!
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