Recently updated on May 26th, 2023 at 10:27 pm
Green custom packaging is the new norm in the retail markets. By switching to sustainable gift boxes, there is a higher chance of meeting customers’ anticipation regarding cleaner materials.
What are gift boxes and what makes them essential?
Customers expect special treatment from companies. The past 2 decades have seen a drastic shift in customers’ engagement with corporates. The shopping experience now involves more personalization and greater consideration of buyers’ preferences.
Gifts have endearing intrinsic value. Everyone loves receiving specially packaged boxes. They make even generic goods look exquisite. Brands are now rapidly employing gift-like boxes to package their products. It helps to captivate the audience and gives them a compelling reason to buy from the brand.
However, special care needs to be taken when selecting the gift box material. Due to customers’ inclination towards eco-friendly packaging, brands are now using sustainable box materials rather than plastic.
Some people may argue in favour of plastic boxes. But the negative impact these have on the brand image outweighs any favourable outcome.
Since the world is now focusing highly on opting for cleaner production and materials, picking plastic containers would be a bad choice. Customers don’t appreciate irresponsible brand ethics. Brands definitely don’t want to be snubbed by customers.
Using sustainable gift boxes is better than plastic materials in numerous ways. Let’s see them one by one.
One: Sustainable materials cost less
Contrary to common notions, recyclable box paper costs considerably less than plastic. One of the reasons is that commonly used corrugated material is made from wood pulp and/or processed old boxes. This makes the stock paper readily available throughout the year and obtainable at comparatively lower rates than plastic.
Moreover, bio-degradable materials are modified in thicknesses and measurements at affordable rates. Sensitive items can be packaged using custom box densities. On the other hand, adding more plastic to make the boxes stronger will add significantly to costs. Moreover, custom options are not usually readily available for plastic.
Two: Government bans
Some countries have strictly decided to minimize plastic usage due to its negative impacts; others have implemented a ban to achieve their sustainability goals. As a result, an increasing number of countries are now controlling local plastic container production and shipment from overseas. Using plastic gift custom packaging enhances the chances of returned shipment. This can be a huge loss of time and investment. Whereas, picking green box stock ups the chances of expanding the distribution channels. The success of cleaner boxes can be seen on shipment docks that are lined with corrugated packaging.
Three: Hygiene concerns
The recent pandemic has raised the stakes regarding safe and clean packaging. The corrugated paper prevents bacteria from entering the boxes. Research has proven that the virus lives only a day on cardboard and several days on plastic.
Used Eco-Friendly And Pocket-Friendly Customized Pillow Style Packaging Boxes
Gift boxes made with plastic cannot adhere to escalated hygiene concerns. Customers would be put off from buying brands that offer plastic boxes no matter how creatively they are designed. Moreover, regulatory bodies may even bar the plastic gift boxes to be sold at retail stores concerning virus issues. This would limit the brand’s distribution options and hence squeeze sales volumes.
Four: Maintaining desirable product conditions
There is a reason that corrugated and cardboard stock is highly preferred for gift boxes. Certain products require apt temperatures to reach customers in their original state. Custom lamination and coating options enable the boxes to provide ideal conditions for the products. These also give protection from excessive heat and weather adversities.
Plastic, on the other hand, is incapable of maintaining favourable transport and storage environment. The material is susceptible to varying weather conditions. This means that brands cannot effectively send gift boxes to faraway locations using plastic. Customers would negatively review shopping experiences involving damaged or faulty products.
Five: Controlling the supply chain
One more advantage of using sustainable materials is that they can be printed with handling instructions to ensure more influence over supply chain activities. Printing can be done directly on the boxes. It minimizes the need for spending on extra labels and stickers.
Plastic boxes cannot be directly printed on. Brands have to incur additional charges to have their messages printed on labels. This involves the risk of labels wearing out or falling off during rough handling and not meeting the intended purpose.
Six: Costly recycling
Ocean pollution has reached worry-some levels. The good news is that corporates are making the shift towards sustainable packaging.
Most governments persuade businesses to recycle their packaging or obtain recycled material to create boxes. Reusing plastic is costly. The process takes up a lot of time and effort. Most times, the sheer feasibility of the task deters companies to undertake it.
The alternative is to go for sustainable custom boxes. These are easily recycled and can be disposed of conveniently too. The process is quick and doesn’t cost much either. Even though plastic is now being reused excessively, it is still not as practical as recycling paper. Even if not reprocessed, paper decomposes faster than plastic that looms around for years.
Seven: Following current trends
Brands try to imbibe the latest consumer trends. They do so to appear relevant and visible to clients. Using gift boxes is a good marketing method to enhance the brand appeal. But it has to be in sync with customers’ expectations regarding cleaner boxes.
Plastic is not as flexible to take different box forms, unlike corrugated and cardboard stock. Custom shapes can be obtained using organic materials. It makes the brand more prominent among others at retail stores. Enhanced flexibility allows the boxes to be created with just the appropriate material quantity. It saves both costs and protects by giving a firm grip.
Customers value hand-written notes and organic box appeal. Putting these elements on sustainable boxes is affordable and brands can get them created in a relatively short time.
Conclusion
Now you must have an idea about why sustainable packaging is better than using plastic. It pays off to utilize eco-friendly materials for gift custom packaging.
