Even when customers know what’s inside their online orders, there’s still an opportunity to give them a memorable unboxing experience.
Small business owners can add unique and carefully designed packaging materials—such as logo-branded tissue paper or brand-aligned colored packing tape—throughout the shipping and fulfillment process.
From cardboard types to typeface to the content on your inserts, elements of the brand packaging you choose can contribute information, influence sales, boost customer loyalty, and support your marketing. Thoughtful packaging adds product value and encourages retailers to stock your products.
What kind of packaging will best introduce your new business to the world? Here are some tried-and-true product packaging ideas to get started.
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13 small business packaging ideas
Unique or interesting small business packaging ideas can have a big brand impact. Here are 13 creative ecommerce packaging ideas to get you started.
- Personalized bags and boxes
- Environmentally friendly materials
- Minimal packaging
- Special instructions
- Community-centered artwork
- Physical newsletters
- Custom tape and stickers
- Handwritten notes
- Highlight artisans and creators
- Tissue paper
- Discount codes
- QR codes
- Branded hashtags
1. Personalized bags and boxes
Even simple mailers can display a personal touch with customized paper bags and boxes. Whether you choose to display a brand logo, slogan, or your company’s name on shipping materials, customization will help your packaging stand out.
2. Environmentally friendly materials
Some customers love getting stickers, samples, coupons, poppable bubble wrap, or other packaging inserts and materials, while some see them as unnecessary waste.
Look into compostable or recyclable materials that can help protect the planet while informing customers about your brand. Lush, for example, uses eco-flo chips to protect products in transit. The material is biodegradable and decomposes in water and soil.
3. Minimal packaging
Ever receive a box within a box and wonder why? Removing unnecessary layers and shipping in the minimal packaging necessary is a sustainable and aesthetically pleasing alternative. For example, Rothy’s is a shoe brand that ships its products only within its shoeboxes. Depending on the type of products you sell, this same packaging strategy may suit your small business, support sustainability, and improve your bottom line.
4. Special instructions
When your product requires specific steps, nurture a stress-free customer experience by including instructions in your packaging.
Retailer Inkbox sells semi-permanent tattoos. Each package includes customers’ chosen print and instructions on how to apply it. Inkbox also uses recyclable materials in its unique packaging.
5. Community-centered artwork
If you want to make a splash with your package visuals, look around. Are there ways to meaningfully tap into artistic talent connected to your brand? For example, could you incorporate crowdsourced art from creatives within your business network?
If bold, beautiful imagery suits your product, consider running a social media contest with a cash prize for imagery that could inspire a season’s worth of packaging. It’s a creative opportunity to develop deeper relationships with your customer base and generate innovative designs.
6. Physical newsletters
You may have already created an online newsletter for your business, but are there other behind-the-scenes stories worth sharing? If so, your packaging offers opportunities to include exclusive content, such as printed newsletters, postcards of recent photo campaigns, and other limited-time materials.
Gymshark includes custom letters in its product packaging. The letters outline the brand’s sustainability commitment and invite shoppers to a landing page to learn more.
7. Custom tape, stickers, and stamps
Packing tape is often plain and drab, but it doesn’t have to be!
Whether you want to wrap packages with a fluorescent neon stripe or a brand image, or to add stickers to a package exterior, an extra pop of signature color or imagery can help solidify your brand’s identity—especially when it matches the branded packing materials inside.
8. Handwritten notes
Handwritten notes add a personal touch and help cultivate a positive brand experience.
Start by writing a small thank you note and tucking it into your packages, like Flora and Fauna. You can add personalized information such as your customer’s name, share appreciation for their support, or discuss your inspiration for the product. In time, these thoughtful communications can become a touchstone of brand identity and attract repeat customers.
However, a downfall of this idea is that it can be challenging to execute at scale. Shopify apps like Scribeless can assist.
9. Highlight artisans and creators
Sometimes, makers and producers are a central pillar of brand identity.
If that’s the case with your ecommerce business, consider incorporating graphics, photographs, or notes explaining how creators make your products and how their work benefits their communities. This kind of storytelling deepens the human connection to your brand.
10. Tissue paper
When a customer opens a package, one of the first things they might see is tissue paper, making it an excellent option for incorporating signature brand colors into packaging. Consider customized or bold tissue paper colors to create a positive, on-brand color experience. Or, try customized kraft paper from printing companies like Digiwrap to celebrate your brand and keep products safe in transit
11. Discount codes
What better time to convince existing shoppers to make another purchase than when they’re happy and impressed with their unboxing experience? Brands like BURST Oral Care encourage this by printing discount codes onto custom boxes.
12. QR codes
QR codes direct customers to a specific landing page when they scan the code using their smartphone camera. You could add a QR code to your packing slip and send people to:
- A review page
- A tutorial video
- A landing page where the discount code you’ve shared in the box is automatically applied
The use cases for QR codes are endless. A food retailer, for example, might add a QR code onto its bone broth packaging to guide customers toward a detailed allergen list or a roundup of recipe ideas.
13. Branded hashtags
Social media users love sharing delightful unboxing experiences. TikTok alone has more than 12 million videos with the hashtag #unboxing.
Branded hashtags, like the one below, encourage customers to snap and share their latest purchases. The hashtags make it easy for brands to find user-generated content (UGC)—just search the hashtag you added to the packaging to see customers sharing their latest pics.
This type of UGC can supplement your social media marketing calendar, providing unbiased product reviews from happy customers.
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3 types of packaging
Packaging’s primary purpose is to protect purchases made from your online store during shipping. Here are three packaging options for mailing your products:
1. Corrugated cardboard boxes
Thicker than regular cardboard, corrugated boxes have wave-shaped paper layers for extra protection.
Various types of corrugated boxes are sturdy, reusable, and safe for transporting a range of products, including glass, valuables, heavy items, and fragile products. They are typically lightweight and don’t add unnecessary shipping costs.
For an eco-friendly option, look for corrugated boxes made partially or entirely from recycled cardboard. Ecoenclose is a vendor offering completely sustainable cardboard options.
💡Pro tip: Save box sizes in your Shopify admin dashboard to calculate weight-based or carrier-calculated shipping rates at checkout, then buy the appropriate shipping label through Shopify Shipping.
2. Padded mailers
Padded mailers are best suited to small products that need padding from the mailer’s internal layer of plastic bubble wrap or recyclable paper—think books or handmade jewelry.
Because padded mailers are relatively compact, carriers can slip them into mailboxes, where they’re less likely to get stolen than a porch delivery. Ecopackables offers compostable padded mailers that also cut down on plastic.
3. Bags and mailers
Poly bags and mailers are large, lightweight, and water-resistant to protect contents from the elements.
Since they lack padding, poly bags are best for soft items like clothing. Sustainable packaging company Grounded offers renewable poly mailers made with compostable bioplastic.
How to choose small business packaging
Your best custom packaging options depend on the types of products you sell and the brand values you want to convey. Among the values that may help inform your custom packaging decisions are:
Sustainability
If environmental impact is part of your brand value, choose sustainable packaging and shipping solutions.
Use recyclable, organic, compostable, or handmade materials, choose the minimum amount of packaging necessary, and consider buying carbon-neutral credits to offset your shipping footprint.
Social responsibility
Your business’s social impact efforts can influence your packaging. Perhaps your mission is to support independent artists, uplift artisans, or devote portions of sales to social causes.
If so, consider using graphics, inserts, colors, and other design elements to feature your brand’s social responsibility efforts on or within your packaging.
Cost efficiency
Sometimes, minimizing costs is the main objective. Buying your packaging materials in bulk is one way to cut costs, since most wholesalers sell large quantities at discounted prices.
Small business packaging ideas FAQ
What do customers look for in packaging?
Many customers look for brand packaging that provides a cohesive experience. If your brand advocates for sustainability in its natural beauty products, you might use bare-bones, earthy packaging, or draw on color psychology to incorporate browns and greens representing nature.
What is the cheapest product packaging?
One of the cheapest types of product packaging is plastic poly bags, which tend to be less expensive than padded mailers or corrugated cardboard boxes. However, the cost per bag is higher when you customize them.
How can small businesses ensure their packaging is secure during shipping?
Pick the product packaging best suited to the items you ship. Small businesses can hire a packaging designer to help them determine which packaging elements will keep products secure en route. Delicate items should be mailed in packaging with padding or other protection to prevent breakage or damage during shipping.
How can I test my packaging ideas before launching?
Order from competitors. Watch unboxing videos on social media. Get feedback from customers or focus groups. Test packaging durability by shipping a test order. Use social media polls. Consider the environmental impact.
