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There have been many claims against the online retail giant, Amazon, for the excessive use of product packaging. Many consumers have taken to social media and various news outlets in a bid to raise awareness of the volume of packaging used for each product delivered to the door. Amazon have shaped the way many consumers shop, as many of us turn to the platform on a regular basis for convenient and stress-free purchasing, but, is the volume of packaging used too extreme? And how can businesses learn from their mistake?

We discuss below, how minimalist packaging, both in design and size, will be the future for all products.

Three products with excessive packaging.

How to Choose?

When deciding on what packaging to use, there are several features businesses need to consider. For example, is the packaging usable, does it offer adequate protection of the product, how does it look, how much does it cost and what is the impact on the environment. Some of these vital features may be conflicting of one another. For example, a packaging solution that looks great, may provide enough protection for the product. There will be compromises to make, but it is important to try and keep these compromises to a minimum.

By choosing a tight-fitting packaging, such as Polyolefin shrink wrap, the product will be easily accessed by the consumer and will provide the product with a high level of protection. Shrink wrapped goods also looks appealing, the transparency of the wrap allows consumers to see through to the product or the box it is contained it. It is also light-weight, making it much more cost effective to transport, this also results in lower fuel cost.

Consumer

Minimalist packaging in both design and size, can stand out to the consumer in a store or market condensed with over-designed and over-packaged products. A simply packaged product is easily identified by the consumer, both what the product is and what it does it understood within seconds. This contributes to the speed of decision and purchase. If the packaging can remove any confusion, it promotes a faster decision making process.

Environment

Having the bare minimum packaging also suggests to the consumer that you are an environmentally friendly brand and business. The minimalist approach can suggest that the company is environmentally aware a they have chosen to reduce the packaging they use. It is proven, that consumers who are environmentally aware, are more likely to gravitate to a product that has minimal packaging, as the less there is, there less there is to throw away or recycle. For food products, shrink wrap increases the life cycle of the perishable item, promoting the freshness of the food, for much longer. It is said that wrapping food in this way, outweighs the cost of shrink wrap on the environment as the infinite resources needs to produce the food are far greater than that of wrapping the goods to increase its shelf-life.

Cost

A space that is not filled, in either a warehouse, a store or the consumer’s property, is a waste in resources. Having void spaces in transportation such as lorries, planes or boats, is costing, both the environment, the consumer and ultimately, the business. As the more packaging there is, the higher the need for more vehicles or cargo to transport the goods. By reducing this space, the packaging needs to be streamline and as minimal and light-weight as possible. Creating the right packaging solution can cut the cost of employment and transportation, reduce waste, save space and reduce assembly times.

How will your business adapt to the increasing pressure to reduce packaging? Let us know via our social media channels.