The global financial tsunami is eliciting sea changes in the way consumers in many markets shop. There is, in particular, a significant shift towards cheaper items, thus leaving less for lavish consumerism over the medium term and probably beyond. Consumers are therefore cutting their expenditure, and shopping more strategically as well. With shorter purse strings, they are exploiting a variety of means to trade down – buying something cheaper or seeking bargains to save money, presenting a challenge that threatens the loyalty of customers for brands.

Another important trend is the re-emergence of cocooning, a trend first noted after the terrorist attacks on September 11 where people turn towards the comfort and protection of their homes. Cocooning results in a change in lifestyle and a tendency to further cut shoppers’ budgets. To meet these challenges, companies need to commit themselves to delivering quality products and packaging. A clear plastic box where product quality is showcased may be the best way to demonstrate this commitment, and thereby gain sales.

 

Quality still king

According to a survey by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), 72 percent of Americans indicate trading down makes them feel practical, while 62 percent feel smarter. In a survey by Mintel, 41 percent of shoppers in the UK have switched to cheaper brands.

Consumers are increasingly purchasing much cheaper house brands at the expense of loyalty to national and global brands. The intense competition in a shrinking market leads many companies to think beyond restructuring through layoffs and plant closures.  Should they explore slashing the cost of development and packaging of their products? The answer is “No,” as customers insist on quality, and packaging is a highly visible, or, in the case of clear packaging, highly transparent evidence of that quality.

 

The clear advantage to boosting sales

In this changed environment, if they want to increase sales to consumers who are increasingly shopping strategically, producers of goods must step up efforts to design and develop packaging that is a perfect complement to the product. Clear plastic packaging is the ideal way to more easily sell consumers on their products’ unique quality and increase sales by ensuring that the clearly visible product is an appealing focus of attention.

The clear plastic box forms the winning combination of design flexibility, modern production and printing techniques to prominently present product features and quality as well as brand identity and attributes. The flexibility of plastic enables custom-moulding for functions beyond the packaging to cost-effectively support success in the retail environment.

Soft creasing in packaging creates a longer as well as stronger crease, and also allows a tearproof carton to be designed in a single piece. Boxes can then be delivered flat to customers for assembly to save transportation cost. Use of glue and tape is avoided, further saving material and labour costs. An auto-lock bottom carton which automatically unfolds itself and locks the carton in a ready-to-pack condition by applying pressure to opposite folded edges saves time and effort in assembly and packing. Marketers therefore can bring their product to market more quickly, at a lower cost.

The latest specialist automatic printing machines from the US and Europe dedicated to printing on plastic offer a variety of printing options such as vivid offset, colour and silk screen printing as well as embossing and hot stamping. For example, high quality offset printing can create more attractive packaging to capture and keep the consumer’s attention, while maintaining brand identity and with more consistent color packaging in bulk quantity production reinforcing the perception of product quality.

Today’s current economic climate where products are competing for consumers’ attention, is the right time for an investment in better packaging. Better packaging can help the product stand tall – and better stand out on crowded supermarket or discount retail outlet shelves. Once the rough financial waters recede, consumers are likely to continue to spend cautiously, as unbridled consumerism may be a thing of the past. No matter what lifestyle or product preferences changes the future brings, clear plastic packaging where product quality is visible for all to see can help win the battle of the brands and increase sales.

 

 

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