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Luxury Packaging to Augment the Online Shopping Experience

With the growth of the online shopping trend, brought forward by the pandemic, brands are looking for ways to add value to the customer experience. This is particularly true in the luxury market where the in store experience has been lost during the pandemic – the personal interaction, the ambience and atmosphere of the store or studio and the added service or products, all which make the buying process feel special. Therefore, the experience of receiving their product delivered direct to their door needs to recreate some of this lost joy by providing the anticipation of opening their item and the packaging with which it is enclosed.

There are so many techniques that can augment this experience, starting with creating anticipation pre the arrival of the product to the presentation of the product using materials, finishes and formats to create a sensory experience.

Carrier the tailor-made luxury travel company used fragrance in one of their brochures to recreate the sensory experience of a holiday. Partnering with innovators in scent marketing, Carrier had a bespoke scent crafted that would transport the audience to far flung destinations. The ink used to print the brochure was infused with the fragrance, and whilst turning the pages, the smell (the sense most linked to our emotional recollection) was released to lift peoples moods, revive memories of past holidays and ignite the positive feelings created when we’re travelling.

Engaging more of the senses helps communicate the brand in a deeper way. Research has shown when packaging appeals to three or more senses, and therefore different parts of the brain, impact and engagement increases by 70%. This attention to detail is synonymous with luxury, although not exclusive to luxury. The use of different formats and materials help create the anticipation and augment the value of the product enclosed, from foiling to embossing on the packaging and accompanying materials to a layered approach creating a journey to opening the product.

There are other ways to increase engagement and create surprise which in turn adds value, by using personalisation, from simply using the customer’s name in print or foil to changing the imagery used to represent their purchase or interests. Digital printing means that each item can be totally unique involving every aspect of the content. Vashi the British luxury bespoke jeweller use this personalisation in their packaging for engagement ring purchasers, to add value and create surprise by including a personalised hand written name on the outer and personalised photo postcards.

Using technology in your packaging is a great way to build interaction and link the offline and online journey. From simple video content using a QR code or a video embedded into the packaging, book or brochure to 3D experiences using augmented reality, these will all enable you to engage more of the senses and add some storytelling.

Furthermore the most obvious of all things to consider in creating that experience in the home when a consumer receives their product….quality. The packaging needs to protect the product so it arrives in perfect condition, the packaging needs to survive that journey and it needs to evoke the brand values. So many times, as most of us have experienced, we receive an item where the product or the packaging is damaged affecting those first few moments of anticipation and experience.

It would be wrong to end this article without involving the topic of sustainability, and as the first CarbonNeutral® printer in the world it’s very close to our hearts. 63% of European consumers prefer paper and cardboard packaging for being better for the environment. The brilliance of paper and its sustainable credentials means that your packaging can be sustainable and you can communicate that with your consumer. Paper is so versatile, strong and recyclable that we can ensure we are creating that experience without impacting on the environment. There are many paper and board innovations including paper made from recycled coffee cups previously destined for landfill to being able to carbon balance your project with the World Land Trust. And of course there is the option of making your packaging reusable, Susie Mermaid a luxury organic skin therapy brand design and then promote their packaging’s afterlife to avoid it ending up having a single use purpose.

Our packaging and print experts can help you create these moments of anticipation, creating surprises, building interaction and ensuring quality, through their experience with brands across multiple sectors both luxury and non-luxury and in a sustainable way.

Find out more about our luxury packaging services or get in contact today with a specific project