Environmentally Friendly Initiatives

The development of innovative packaging designs is being driven by increasingly demanding environmental and sustainable requirements. It’s no longer sufficient to demonstrate environmental awareness; you have to show that the materials used have been manufactured in a responsible way. This will help play a pivotal role in reducing global food and product waste.

There are government incentives in place for businesses, including tax relief, to encourage them to operate in a more environmentally friendly way and curb their carbon footprint.

Ethical shopping has also become more prevalent, with consumers choosing suppliers that are making reasonable efforts to be green. A study by Unileaver this year revealed 33% of consumers are now choosing to buy from brands they believe are doing social or environmental good.

Marketing element

Consumers are more savvy to advertising than ever before. Packaging, however, is a core marketing element and businesses can utilise this to make an impact and communicate a brand effectively.

Small but mighty

More and more businesses are being condemned for the amount of packaging they use. Only recently Amazon hit the headline for posting a tiny battery in the size of a shoe box. The battery was reportedly a quarter of 1% of the volume of the box which sounds somewhat ludicrous.

That being said, we predict that smaller packaging will become more apparent in 2018 – correlating with the above trend to reduce packaging waste and impact on the environment.

However, don’t be fooled; it’s not the size of the cardboard box that counts but how powerful your brand’s messaging is.

Tough e-commerce marketplace

Increased online shopping will trigger brands to reinvigorate their shipping packaging.
Ecommerce is growing 23% year-on-year; with men and women both spending 5 hours per week shopping online.

Therefore online businesses will need to review and improve the cardboard boxes they use in order to enhance their customers’ Ecommerce experience in what is a congested marketplace.

Contemporary taking centre stage

As mentioned, more shoppers are going online. Consequently, brands will need to modernise their packaging formats to help revitalise the centre of brick-and-mortar store aisles that are less visited by younger consumers.

Buyers are much more aware of store parameters, so businesses need to capitalise on unique box shapes, colours and contemporary design to draw consumers in.