Packaging was once critically important to getting your product, on the shelf, noticed and bought. Packaging was the “point of purchase” advertisement with the call-to-action being “put it in the shopping cart.” Improvements in packaging and an immediate impact on sales.
As shopping moved to mail order, though, the need for packaging because less apparent. The information on the website was what motivated customers to purchase. If the product came in a brown box or plastic bag, it was no problem. It was already sold. All that was needed now was that the product performance met expectations.
Now, though, things have changed again. Packaging matters. Amazon makes returns so easy that there is a much higher probability that a customer will receive the product, and for reasons often uncomprehensible, return it. In the past, we might go into a clothing store, try something, on, then put it back on the shelf. Now, we order it, try it on, and bring it back to a return hub.
New packaging needs to remind the customer why they bought it in the first place and ‘sell’ the product all over again; giving the customer a reason to keep it. The package needs to scream “Don’t return me!” This might mean showing photos of families happily assembling a complicated product, getting easy service help, or keeping it for future generations. Or it might be about reminding people why they bought it in the first place. If they bought it from a certain ad that called to them — remind them of the ad. Perhaps there’s a model for “Dynamic Packaging” that changes based on the source of the sale.