packaging ideas

9 Creative Small Business Packaging Ideas

Written by: Beichen Lu

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Time to read 8 min

To differentiate themselves in the competitive ecommerce market, small businesses can utilize customized packaging as a means of creating a memorable purchasing experience and fostering brand loyalty.

This article provides guidance on how to personalize both external shipping boxes and internal product packaging materials, including average costs, useful examples, and resources to aid in the process.

1. Completely Customized Packaging

Fully customized packaging refers to shipping containers such as boxes or mailers that are personalized to represent your brand both inside and outside. These packages extend beyond simply adding a logo and provide a more engaging experience for the customer.


While it is a pricier option, this type of packaging can make a significant impact on increasing brand awareness, particularly through social media shares and unboxing videos. Fully customized packaging is generally utilized for higher-end products or subscription services.

  • To create impactful fully customized packaging, businesses can incorporate a distinctive and creative logo that is not only eye-catching but also reflects their brand identity.
  • Experimenting with unique shapes, such as geometric designs, can add an elegant touch to the packaging
  • Incorporating textures that align with the company's color scheme can also enhance the overall presentation.
  • It is important to avoid copying competitors or successful brands as this can have a negative impact on the target audience's perception of the company.

Advices:

Be Interactive

In the realm of milk, the market is saturated, making it a challenge to make a distinct impression on the store shelf. To tackle this, the creative minds at Depot Branding Agency took a unique approach by employing a whimsical cat design that transforms the packaging into an engaging toy.

The portrayal of a blue cat is deconstructed into segments, spanning all four sides of the Milgrad milk carton, featuring a variety of designs. This packaging can be utilized akin to building blocks, allowing for the construction of various images. This innovative interactivity adds an irresistible and engaging dimension to the product.

Interactive

Be Attractive

The packaging design for Woolf Sung Scotch undoubtedly exudes a sense of darkness and enigma, effectively capturing the inherent character of whiskey itself.

The bottle is skillfully adorned with an artfully crafted label, featuring intricate and profound depictions of a man and a wolf on the front, along with an elegant map on the reverse side.

A label encircling the neck of the bottle imparts crucial details about the whiskey-making process, offering just enough information to educate while also leaving room for imagination.

The packaging exudes an aura of grandeur and elegance, a sentiment that carries through to the box enfolding the bottle. A matte black box, embellished with a modestly ornate metal-plated engraving of the brand name, enshrines the whiskey in a compelling shroud of darkness.

This design masterfully accentuates an aura of secrecy, successfully invoking intrigue. If you're in search of a refined bottle of scotch, your quest ends here.

Attractive

Be Funny

Craft beer is currently enjoying popularity, and the same holds true for craft cider — and this is where Ciderie Milton steps into the picture. This Canadian brewery takes cider seriously, and its commitment extends to its packaging choices.

The designs exude a gentle, understated elegance, contributing to an enjoyable drinking experience from the moment the cap is removed until the final sip is taken.

The neck of each Cid cider bottle is adorned with a vibrant orange label showcasing the bold 'Milton' wordmark in white font.

Encircling the base, a label with a matte finish enwraps the bottle. The color varies according to the cider type — silver, pink, green, or black. This simple yet refined label immediately invites and captivates.

The focal point of this label is a delicate and intricate design, rendered in soft white and grey shades. The term "Cid" gracefully blends into the background using a playful, curly white font. Positioned below the illustration is the cider type, presented in a commanding serif font.

This design finds the perfect balance between playfulness, simplicity, and enjoyment.

Funny

Be Trendy

Crafting your package using trendy elements presents an excellent opportunity to captivate the attention of your customers. Take, for instance, the utilization of color gradients.

Color gradients have emerged as a fashionable design choice in recent years, not only within packaging but also in the realm of product design. This ingenious approach seamlessly blends two colors, potentially even giving rise to an entirely novel shade. By doing so, packaging gains a distinctive edge, introducing a fresh dimension to the design and infusing a sense of authenticity into the object. To put it simply, gradients introduce a sense of depth.

The allure of a color gradient lies in its ability to capture the gaze through subtle shifts in color. This phenomenon is rooted in our evolutionary development, where our survival hinged on distinguishing even the most minute variations in color—crucial for distinguishing between edible and poisonous berries, for instance.

However, it's important to exercise restraint. Opt for a dual-color scheme and avoid excessive complexity.

Trendy

Be Creative

If your customer has an affinity for both apparel and tea, this packaging solution could be an ideal fit. Referred to as "Hanger Tea," its design is so exceptional that you might find it challenging to revert to conventional teabag storage methods. What's more, these tea bag hangers serve a dual purpose – not only can they store your tea bags, but they also function as handy hooks to suspend the tea bag within your cup or mug!

Creative


Customizing

2. Put designed stickers on your boxes

To increase appeal to potential customers with customized boxes, businesses can consider using custom stickers. By tailoring the stickers to the target audience, businesses can create a more engaging experience.

For example, for masculine products, adding vinyl stickers with puns or sarcastic jokes can be effective, as research indicates that men are drawn to products with humorous packaging.

On the other hand, for feminine products, glossy, elegant, or floral stickers can be more appealing, as women are more likely to purchase products with these types of designs on their packaging.

Put Sticker

3. Inner Packaging

To enhance the product packaging and give it a personalized touch, small businesses can wrap individual products within their packages. This demonstrates to customers that their order is important and valuable, and that the business took care with their purchase. This attention to detail can differentiate the brand from competitors and provide an additional opportunity to incorporate branding through customized materials.

For example, clothing can be wrapped in tissue paper, glass goods can be placed in well-protected boxes, and jewelry can be packaged in small, cushioned containers. Some products may require extra protection, while others may simply look better when wrapped.

Inner Packaging

4. Small Gifts or Free Samples

One of the most effective ways to make an impact on customers is by offering free products. Adding a product sample or a small gift to your packages can increase overall customer satisfaction, and provide a great opportunity to promote your brand further.

Product samples allow customers to try out your offerings and encourage repeat purchases as well as increased basket size. Simple gifts such as decals, koozies, or keychains can be customized to display your logo, turning customers into brand ambassadors wherever they go. Additionally, such bonuses promote a sense of value and encourage a connection to the brand.

5. Cards or Thank-you Notes

One simple and affordable method to personalize your small business packaging is by including a handwritten thank-you note, a preprinted card signed by you, or a coupon voucher for your customers' future purchases.

These cards and notes provide a chance for customers to connect with your business and help them to remember your brand in the future. It also adds a personal touch to ecommerce orders, strengthening an emotional connection.

Thank you Card

6. Clean and Simple Minimalist Designs

Minimalism has been present in the art world since the 1950s and has been embraced by brands like Apple and Nike from their very beginning. While the minimalist trend has experienced fluctuations, it has now found a permanent place in specific consumer packaged goods (CPG) categories.

Minimalist packaging designs offer a straightforward and uncluttered experience with a product. They avoid overwhelming customers with elaborate designs or patterns, instead focusing on a direct and concise presentation. These designs convey a sense of cleanliness, orderliness, organization, and clarity, which elicit positive emotions in consumers.

However, the challenge with minimalist designs lies in distinguishing your brand from others in the same category. It becomes difficult to stand out when the category theme features a plain, white layout with a black serif font, and your packaging follows a similar pattern.

To address this challenge, many brands incorporate color into their minimalist designs to create differentiation. For instance, brands like Denada Sugar-Free Ice Cream utilize alternating natural earth tones, combining two design trends to make a distinctive impact. In contrast, others like Quaker Oats take a brighter approach by adding vibrant colors to their minimalist designs, ensuring they capture attention on store shelves.

Clean


7. Transparent

In today's market, customers have a heightened concern for the ingredients in the products they purchase. Consequently, there is a preference for transparent packaging that allows consumers to inspect the product before making a purchase. This holds particularly true in the beauty and cosmetics sectors.

For brands utilizing clear packaging, it is essential to find a balance between transparency and providing enough space for labels. Achieving this balance can be challenging, but when done effectively, customers will value the transparent packaging while the label successfully conveys your brand messaging.

Transparent

8. Earth Color

The demand for eco-friendly packaging is constantly increasing, with a strong emphasis on authentic ethical practices and biodegradability. Brands are now demonstrating their commitment to a sustainable future by using materials and inks that are ethically sourced and have minimal impact on the environment as the packaging biodegrades.

The availability of eco-friendly packaging options continues to expand, which is a positive development, especially considering the global efforts and regulations being implemented to address climate change.

Earth Color

9. Carton Style

The trend of cartoon-style package design refers to the use of cartoon-like illustrations or graphics as the primary element in packaging design. This trend is characterized by its playful and whimsical style, featuring vibrant colors and exaggerated characters or imagery. Incorporating cartoon-style graphics adds a sense of fun and light-heartedness, making products eye-catching and appealing to younger demographics.

The versatility of the cartoon style package design trend is one of its main advantages. It can be applied to a wide range of products, including snacks, candy, household items, and personal care products, making it a popular choice for various brands. Additionally, this trend has the ability to evoke feelings of nostalgia or childhood memories, creating a comforting and familiar association for consumers. It also serves as an effective way for brands to establish an emotional connection with their target audience.

Carton Style

Conclusion

Now you get 5 creative small business pacaking ideas.

It's time to boost your sales, build your brand identity. 

If you want to buy thermal labels or sticker paper, you can check out more on our store

Products Featured In This Blog

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these waterproof?

No. Those stickers are made of paper that are not waterproof. 

Are these handwritable?

Yes. Those sticker are made of papers so they are handwritable. 

Are these compatible with Other printers?

Yes. Those stickers are compatible with most laser and inkjet printers. 

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