Running a small business is not an easy task, especially when the funds are on the lower side. You have to keep a check on every business operation, including raw materials sourcing, production, marketing, packaging, and others. Among all such things, packaging is what makes the highest difference because it is the first thing buyers interact with while they are in a retail store. For e-commerce brands, packaging is even more important because online buyers often mention its quality in their reviews.
Regardless of the angle from which you evaluate a small brand’s packaging, it will always come up as a vital factor. Whether we are talking about its ability to draw buyers, ensuring safety during shipping, or acting as your brand’s marketing tool, packaging can’t be ignored. While large brands and businesses can focus deeply on all aspects of packaging and spend lavishly while designing their custom packaging, small entities don’t have this luxury.
However, with Packaging Mania, you don’t have to worry about it, as we are here with numerous budget hacks that can help you get impeccable custom packaging boxes. Whether you run a food business or you are a cosmetics brand, our tips ensure you get customized packaging at highly affordable rates.
As already stated, the first impression matters a lot, as brands have a very short time to convert a shopper into buyer. People are bombarded with tons of options in retail stores, and if your products don’t have that sheen, they are not going anywhere from the shelf.
However, brands typically believe that they can get all of this if they go with luxury packaging. Yes, this is true but not always. Our hacks save the day for small businesses looking to get customized packaging. Let’s explore all of them!
Instead of going for a full-fledged outer print, small brands can opt for custom stickers and labels and still end up with an amazing customized packaging box for their goods. In case you don’t know what they are, let us explain them for you. Custom labels and stickers are special sticky tags that are added to a custom box to make them more attractive. Typically, they are small in size and show a brand’s logo, product name, or other information you want to display. Custom labels for packaging come in different shapes, sizes, and colors and make your products more noticeable. For custom packaging boxes with logos, these little stickers can be used as a way to tell buyers that their products have not been tampered with.
As these things are small, they are quite cheap. You can get the most out of them by incorporating them with minimalistic boxes. Let’s see how it can help food brands in designing various types of custom boxes.
Chinese Takeout Boxes: Chinese takeout boxes are a common packaging variation for food brands. They are used for packing noodles, rice, gravy, prawns, and many other types of on-the-go Chinese foods. By placing these stickers on Chinese takeout boxes, brands can multiply their branding and help people remember their name.
Popcorn Boxes: Popcorn is America’s most favorite snack. Around 80% of Americans love eating them, and this is the reason you’ll see countless shops in every neighborhood. Labels and stickers go perfectly with custom popcorn boxes. You can add a fun detail or a QR code on them to make the experience more immersive and engaging for consumers.
While stickers and labels are great, they can’t be used to seal boxes properly. For this purpose, branded tape is an excellent option. It is rated as one of the most useful custom packaging supplies as it has numerous benefits. Firstly, it seals the boxes in a perfect way. Secondly, printed tape includes your brand’s logo, name, and contact details; these details can make the overall custom packaging design more personalized for your brand. Thirdly, it helps advertise your brand during shipping.
Custom branded tape usually finds its uses in the cosmetics industry. Here are the different types of packaging boxes on which brands can use them.
Eyeliner Boxes: Eyeliners are used by women to enhance the appearance of their eyes. While many women have a particular taste, custom eyeliner boxes can help change their preference. You can use branded tape on eyeliner boxes before sending them out, and it will not only ensure safety but also provide a better unboxing experience.
Skincare Boxes: There is a wide range of skincare products available in the market, and each of them requires totally unique packaging. While you can get unique skincare boxes as per the nature of your products, a branded tape can be used on all of them.
Subscription Boxes: Many buyers subscribe to monthly beauty boxes with assorted products such as skin tonics, body care products, makeup kits, and others. Brands send out subscription boxes every month at a fixed date to ensure timely delivery. They can be used to pack and seal the boxes effectively.
The basic purpose of custom packaging for small businesses is to develop loyalty among customers. In this realm, including handwritten notes is a great idea. You don’t need to spend anything for this option, but you must have neat and clean handwriting. All you require is a small sheet of thick and durable paper and some markers. On the sheet, you can write anything that shows you care about your buyers and simply place it in the box. These notes can be used in both cosmetic and food packaging. Let’s explore how.
Wine Boxes: Brands can opt to add a special message on wine boxes that aims to personalize the experience or inspire them to drink responsibly. A great option would be to include a don't drink and drive message that can show buyers that you care about them.
Chocolate Boxes: If you are selling handmade or limited-edition chocolate, you can place a handwritten message about the quality of your chocolate or simply write things like made with love, etc. By placing these cards inside chocolate boxes, you can make customers happy.
Lipstick Boxes: Lipstick is one of the most common cosmetic items people use. A handwritten note can make the experience more engaging for buyers. Write a message like let those lips glow with our lipstick, and it will make the experience more wholesome for buyers.
Spa Product Boxes: Spa products are used by people to relax and relieve tensions. There are various messages that you can write with your hand and place inside the box. If you are looking for some inspiration, write about relaxation, happiness, self-care, and relieving stress.
Packaging inserts and dividers are special items that are placed inside a custom box that help small brands on various fronts. Inserts can be anything ranging from discount coupons, product care tips, usage guides, or any other useful information that you want buyers to know. On the other hand, dividers are used to separate the different items inside the box. Now you might think that these things will increase the cost and kill the purpose of using budget hacks. No, it is not like that. An insert like a discount coupon can result in repeated purchasing from buyers. Similarly, dividers can ensure that all the items inside the box reach buyers in a pristine condition without any damages. Both of these can find their use in food and cosmetic packaging. However, they are more commonly used for cosmetic packaging.
Honey Packaging: Many honey boxes come with a honey dipper and a jar. Moreover, if you are selling a multi-variety combo, honey boxes with dividers allow you to place all the jars neatly and snugly. You can also add a printed insert that tells buyers about how you source the honey.
Chocolate Display Boxes: You can place them on shelves as well or use them to sell an assortment of luxury chocolates. Regardless of their use, dividers in chocolate display boxes can help keep the chocolates separate during display and shipping.
Cosmetic Display Boxes: In the cosmetic industry, it is a standard practice to present more than one product at one time. The dividers are placed inside the cosmetic display boxes that hold the products in their place and ensure zero clutter.
Lip Balm Display Boxes: Lip balms come in different flavors, and to present all of them in one place, lip balm display boxes are used. These custom packaging boxes are fitted with cardboard dividers at the bottom that allow brands to showcase their goods without any space issues.
Reusable packaging refers to boxes that can be reused instead of being thrown away after using them once. These boxes are often made from cardboard and other materials like tin and fabric. Small businesses can benefit from reusable packaging by reducing waste and saving money. Mostly cosmetic brands use recyclable packaging, as their products are placed inside the box for a very long time. Food brands have to provide one-time packaging for items such as pizza, noodles, rice, cakes, and pastries. Here are some variations of cosmetic boxes that can benefit from recyclable packaging.
Essential Oil Boxes: Essential oils are used for various purposes, such as relieving stress, pain, or simply relaxation. Buyers place them in boxes for a very long time. This is why you will see that custom essential oil boxes are usually made from either rigid or thick varieties of cardboard.
Serum Boxes: Serums usually come in glass or plastic bottles. There is a severe risk of breakage associated with such products; this is why consumers place them inside serum boxes. This prevents breakage in case the serum falls, ensuring a better experience for buyers and repeat purchases.
Custom packaging allows you to vary your brand’s boxes as per the current trends, specific themes, events, or holidays. Brands can introduce special designs for various events like Valentine’s Day. Christmas, summer, or winter vibes to their custom box packaging. Small brands can benefit from this approach as it lets them stand out with their products. In the modern world, both food and cosmetic brands are repeatedly using these trends to make their packaging more noticeable. Let’s check out different packaging boxes in which brands can create a powerful impact with this approach.
Cereal Boxes: Cereal is a popular breakfast option all over the world. By incorporating special elements like a Santa for Christmas, a beach scene for summer, or snowfall for winter, small brands can get a competitive edge through custom cereal packaging. It will result in more sales, and even if it fails to bring more profit, it will definitely create a buzz in the market.
Pie Boxes: Everyone loves a bite or two of pies. By packing pies in boxes that are printed with pictures of ingredients like vanilla, chocolate, or coffee, you can make custom pie boxes more engaging.
Eyeshadow Boxes: We all know what eyeshadow does, but its packaging can do more wonders if you design it correctly. For example, you can use various colors on eyeshadow boxes that reflect the shade of the product. For example, use light and pastel colors for an eyeshadow that is best used in spring.
Lip Gloss Boxes: You can use a heart for Valentine’s Day or icy blue tones for winter-special tones. In this way, your brand’s lip gloss boxes will look more relevant to buyers.
This is the best and the most reliable hack that can help reduce the cost of custom packaging for small businesses effectively. By wholesale custom packaging, we mean lower rates for your boxes. At Packaging Mania, to facilitate small businesses, we have kept the minimum order quantity at only 100 boxes per unit. In this way, you can get impressive discounts on all orders. Moreover, to further cut costs, we offer free shipping, design support, samples, and many other services that enhance your experience with us.
Whether you are a food brand or a cosmetic manufacturer, you can benefit from wholesale prices by placing a bulk order. Other than this, we also offer a wide range of boxes at wholesale rates, including retail, bakery, hair care, shipping, pharmaceutical, CBD, toy, stationery, and sports.
As is evident from the discussion above, both can benefit from such cost-saving tips. At the same time, it is pertinent to highlight that not all the tips above are relevant to all types of food and cosmetic products. Let’s explore how they work for both types of packaging.
Food packaging is of two different types. Primary packaging is one that comes in direct contact with the items, such as pies, Chinese food, pizza, and cakes. For items like honey, wine, tea, cereals, and coffee, the outer box is secondary as it doesn’t come in direct contact with the box.
Regardless of the type of packaging, the materials used must be eco-friendly and FDA-approved, and you must also show these certifications on the outer print of custom boxes. From the above listed hacks, you can use stickers & labels, handwritten notes (only in secondary packaging), themed designs, and inserts & dividers.
When it comes to cosmetics packaging, it is always used as a secondary packaging because the product is packed in either a jar, bottle, or tube. This provides more freedom to use the above hacks. You can freely use stickers & labels, branded tape, handwritten notes, inserts & dividers, reusable packaging, and themed designs. You can use these features on all types of cosmetic products, including eyeliners, foundations, lip gloss, lipstick, mascara, nail polish, serums, essential oils, eyelashes, and spa products.
Now that you know about all the hacks that you need to use, getting your hands on budget-friendly custom packaging will be much easier than before. However, a big question still remains to be answered. And that is, from where to find these boxes. The answer to this question and all your packaging worries is “PACKAGING MANIA.” We are one of the best custom box suppliers all over the US and have been helping brands get quality packaging at highly affordable prices. If you want to take your brand’s packaging boxes to the next level, reach out to us, and we will serve you in the best way possible.
We've worked with lots of successful industries around the world and have won their confidence & loyalty.
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