MISTAKE #50: You don’t follow these 13 guidelines to design packaging to survive on the shelf
After clearing so many hurdles in the path of getting a new product to market, it has been disheartening to see clients make some significant mistakes related to packaging that compromise all of that other hard work.
While I’ll dedicate many more articles to packaging development and design, the intent of this article is to simply provide a checklist to make sure you’re not setting yourself up for failure by making any of the following rudimentary mistakes.
These have little to do with the art of designing magnetic packaging, but everything to do with practical considerations that frequently get overlooked. It is important to note that most of these mistakes can be easily avoided at little or no significant cost if they are planned for in advance.
Make sure that:
Your packaging is not begging to be damaged due to poor closure, sealants, or confusing information that encourages shoppers to open the package so they can see the actual contents. Stores shelves can quickly get plugged up with unsellable inventory that shuts down replenishment. Damaged packaging also tends to communicate a negative message related to product quality.
You don’t go cheap on your label material. Going with the lowest bid for printing, substrate, or other materials can give a poor quality impression that outweighs any money spent on building better equity. Low-quality materials also further increase the risk of damage.
You don’t design the package to simply mirror the poor design and wasted materials of existing items in the category. In some categories, standardized packaging across brands makes complete sense because it has been optimized (like 2-liter bottles or 12-ounce cans). In plenty of other categories, one brand's legacy packaging continues to be mimicked by other companies for no good reason. Perpetuating this ruins the opportunity to add a sustainability dimension to your selling story.
You don’t overlook the opportunity to use the package to be a point of difference, Before label design work even begins, the package should be viewed as an opportunity to be iconic. Without any written words, it can still deliver instant recognition and build positive equity associations that reinforce your value proposition.
Your dimensions actually fit the shelf: Retailers hate moving steel (that is, repositioning the height or size of shelving) because it is so labor intensive. Don't expect any retailer to adjust their shelf to fit your package.
The overall face dimensions of your product fit within category norms. Be ready to defend why your 9-inch wide package is justified when other products are only 4 inches wide…and be able to prove that your product will outsell the two competitive products that could fit in the same space.
Your package can be easily stacked if that is the standard shelf presentation. The stackable product can often be critical to emptying full cases and maintaining sufficient inventory to remain in stock.
Your item is recognizable regardless of which end is facing out. Don't expect minimum-wage employees working at 3:00 AM to be perfectionists when it comes to placing your product on the shelf exactly how you expect. Make sure at least one of each side clearly communicates the brand and version of your product should that be what shoppers see facing them.
Your item is stable and does not act like dominos waiting to topple over. Taller and thinner packages are more likely to act this way, which leads to a disorganized shelf, misplaced product, and damage before employees take the time to fix it. Some restockers fix this on their own by stacking packages flat, eliminating the product billboard you expected to showcase on the shelf.
If it is a large item, the depth of your package fully fits within the depth of the shelf. To avoid safety and damage issues, retailers will not let items hang off the front lip of the shelf.
Your case count allows the retailer to easily fulfill the pack-and-a-half policy within the number of facings you will have. Reordering when half a case is still on the shelf not only improves the odds that the item will remain in stock, but it makes the replenishment and restocking process much more efficient.
Your pack counts do not significantly exceed the expected item velocity. While larger case counts are typically more efficient for the manufacturer, they need to work for most of the retailer's stores. That means don’t ship 24-count cases for an item that sells an average of one unit per store per week and has a shelf capacity of only 8 units.
You take additional steps to minimize theft, particularly as the difference between the price and size of your item increases. Theft does more than just come as a cost taken out of profit. It can alter a retailer's decision related to how they carry your product, including how much inventory is maintained, where they shelve it, and how difficult it is for shoppers to access.
Hopefully, this list provides some new perspectives or watch-outs you haven’t considered before.
Hopefully, you’re reading this in time to quickly make adjustments before they cost you sales or a lot more money to fix.
Don’t try to save pennies on cheaper glue or thin cardboard or poorly-planned dimensions only to cost you millions in potential sales and ruin the presentation of your product on the shelf.