Rightsizing seems self-explanatory: You pick the right size package for your product. Luckily for brands, there’s more to it. One benefit of that it can result in unusually shaped (even quirky) packages that drive brand identity and customer loyalty.
Easily molded into different shapes and sizes, paper packaging has inherent versatility that can cut down on material costs and boost economies of scale—making packagers’ dreams come true.
Shape and Materials Matter
Shape can conjure an emotional response and affect the perceived attractiveness of a brand. For example, a small package with a unique shape or graphic design can be seen as having higher quality than a larger, bulkier package. It’s easy to see how rightsizing with paper packaging can cut costs and add value at the same time.
Furthermore, according to a 2020 McKinsey & Company survey, 60 to 70 percent of U.S. consumers would pay more for sustainable packaging. Plus, in the same survey, U.S. participants believe paper-based cartons to be the most sustainable packaging.
See It for Yourself
Studies show 70% of consumers form their impressions of brands based solely on packaging. Cosmetics and makeup is a space begging to capture these impressions, and certain brands are doing so by rightsizing their packaging with paper.
In the Better with Less Challenge, participants from around the world were invited to use paperboard to develop practical packaging to improve customer experiences while reducing environmental impact.
Design firm Capsule helped an outdoor apparel retailer reimagine and redesign packaging for its base-layer clothing after the retailer noticed a decline in product sales compared with its competitors. The resulting hexagon-shaped package was created with 100% post-consumer waste corrugate material and without any glue or adhesives required to assemble. The redesign served customers—making it easy for them to access and touch the material inside—as well as the brand, by delivering a clean on-shelf look using the natural corrugate and minimal printing and stickers.
“The project was considered a success, not only because of the 70% increase in month-over-month sales but also because it removed the need for a poly bag as a shipping package not seen by shoppers from the factory to [the brand’s] stores and other retailers,” says Capsule founding partner Aaron Keller.
Given that 40% of the average package is empty space, there’s plenty of room to innovate. Rightsizing with paper packaging presents an opportunity for businesses to save on material costs while also making a splash with style.
