While the e-commerce sector has been on the rise for many years, it has grown even more decisively in 2020. According to a study by McKinsey, it grew at a 10-year equivalent rate in just 3 months of lockdown. That same year, it accounted for 13.4% of trade in France.
We see that more and more brands are offering this channel in addition to in-store sales. These new merchants are adding to the e-commerce consumer offering alongside the pure-players who offer only this digital sales channel.
As a result, competitive pressure increases and it becomes important to ensure an impeccable quality of service to the end customer. The challenge behind these considerations is first of all the loyalty of consumers through a spotless customer experience.
The customer experience is not a feeling, it is a journey represented by all the interactions between the customer and the brand and is based on several criteria: website, products, delivery, customer service, etc.
The more qualitative and personalized the customer experience, the more satisfying it is and will influence the consumer to form a favorable opinion of the brand, to repeat their purchases and to talk about it positively around them or on the Internet.
This aspect is all the more important as the «bad buzz» is never far away! Social networks now offer a powerful voice for disgruntled customers, and it’s no longer uncommon to find stories of bad experiences when receiving parcels on Twitter, for example. Under the #excessivepackaging banner, many customers of large retailers complain about disproportionate or damaged packaging and do not hesitate to directly challenge the companies responsible. Selling a product that satisfies the customer also means delivering it properly… and a successful delivery also requires proper packaging! An essential element, the packaging is a reflection of the product it carries, the first contact between the customer and the merchant. If the parcel arrives damaged, the customer will be disappointed, will not place a new order and worse, as we have just seen, will make negative publicity for the responsible brand. To avoid this, the packaging must meet several criteria:
This is the primary mission of packaging, to ensure safe transport of the product. While respecting the specifics of the product and its dimensions, the packaging must provide protection from external aggressions (theft, impacts, etc.) to ensure that the parcel arrives safely in good condition. For this, automation solutions exist for fitting a heat-sealed cover or tear-off strips to certify that the carton has not been opened. Empty space reduction, securing by heat-shrink film and the use of wedges also serve to ensure that products are transported under the best conditions.
Integral to online sales and true components of the customer experience, returns account for an average of 10% of orders in e-commerce, though they vary by sector and can reach 20-25% in textiles. Thus, the use of a double flap carton will allow its reuse if the consumer wishes to return the product. It is also possible to use special covers, making opening the parcel seem like opening a gift. Offering this type of packaging naturally serves to improve the customer experience.
At a time when consumption is becoming more responsible, packaging needs to improve its environmental impact. This often results in efforts by many companies that are organizing themselves to limit their use of consumables. Packaging adapted to the size of the product not only contributes to its safety (less empty space in the package means a lower risk of product impacts inside the carton), but also addresses environmental issues: using fewer cartons and fewer consumables is a response to these issues. If the empty space is optimized, there is no need to add paper, a wedge, an airbag or polystyrene flakes. Consumers are becoming more sensitive to environmental issues, they will appreciate receiving more suitable packaging. Moreover, a well-packaged product will reduce transportation costs as the vehicles will be optimally filled.
Always with the aim of improving the customer experience, new possibilities exist through printing modules that can be used to customize the parcel with the company’s or the customer’s colors. Savoye’s new Jivaro Print machine offers a unique combination of automated printing and empty space reduction. This parcel customization offers several opportunities. First, a strengthening of the brand image. Printing a company logo or color makes the package recognizable and allows it to stand out when carried in the street, stacked at a parcel relay or placed in a mailbox.
The parcel is in a way the embodiment of the brand, and this is all the more true when dealing with a 100% e-commerce brand. It thus conveys with it all the values and image that the brand wishes to reflect: aesthetics, humor, luxury, seriousness, etc.
This packaging customization also serves a commercial purpose. Thus, the carton can become an advertising medium or marketing lever that can host promotional messages related to particular commercial events (Christmas, Easter, sales, Black Friday, Valentine’s Day, etc.). The moment when a parcel is opened is an important and privileged moment for the end customer, who discovers the long-awaited products. It is important to take advantage of this increased state of buyer attention to present new products printed directly on the packaging.
The package can also be customized according to the wishes of the end customer, for example as a gift offered and delivered to a loved one. This gives the customer the opportunity to print a personalized photo or message for the person receiving the parcel.
This printing solution can be valuable for logisticians managing multi-brand activities and wishing to offer their customers brand-customized packaging services. The enormous advantage of this type of solution: the ability to print the transport label directly onto the carton, in order to save paper
Suitable for multi-brand logistics activities and for all retailers who want to customize their parcels, Savoye’s Jivaro Print solution reduces the volume shipped, secures carton closure and customizes the cover for a solid, responsible and aesthetic package. Based on modern inkjet technology, Jivaro print offers very high-quality renderings on any conventional carton. Customized in this manner, the parcels actively contribute to the quality of the customer experience and to the improvement of the sender’s brand image.
Long seen as a simple transport container, packaging now has a much more strategic role and embodies a true vector of the brand image of the company sending it. It is therefore important not to neglect it and to make it a marketing ally using the many automation and customization solutions that exist and that positively reinforce the customer experience at a time when their opinion is becoming increasingly decisive.
