There was a hilarious experience I distinctly remember within my time at a large big box national retailer. I was GM of Marketing at the time and it was in the era where ecommerce was incubated as a separate division of the company to give it focus and time to develop.
In one of the monthly senior executive meetings I wanted to crawl under the table for my colleague as he had to relive the experience where the CEO had ordered some product online to have it delivered, wrapped and packed in a bovine colostrum cardboard box. Obviously as part of a lean, mean retail operation, the online team were simply repacking into any spare boxes they had salvaged around the place. Can you imagine what some of our other customer orders had gone out in? If some of the feminine hygiene product had been packed onto shelves that morning, you might have had a Carefree experience. I unfortunately can’t recall the comical story of where the colostrum box came from.
Oh how times have changed. If you have ever bought from Net-A-Porter, the divine experience from the unfurling of the ribbon to the careful removal of the tissue paper is part of the thrill of the purchase. No post-purchase dissonance here!
Once upon a time, the cardboard box was a simple brown vessel in which to mail packages. Times have changed and as we purchase more products online, brands are using attractive packaging to create a delightful unwrapping experience that allows them to stand out from the crowd. It’s like receiving a little present (to yourself!)
Birchbox stunning ecommerce packaging
As company mailrooms are expanding to accommodate the deluge of boxes, envelopes and courier bags piling up, packaging has become the modern-day equivalent of an eye-catching storefront. Everyone in the office knows when you have bought from Strawberrynet or if you ever receive a package of J’aime Les Macrons hope to heck that someone doesn’t eat the wonderful morsels before they get to you.
J’aime Les Macrons delivered directly to your door in beautiful packaging
The following article by Fast Company is about Lumi.
Lumi is a company demonstrating innovative thinking. Essentially they have developed solutions which allows any sized retailers to transforming their ecommerce packaging into the equivalent of an eye-catching storefront. An inexpensive and sensory way to create an engaging brand experience.
READ ARTICLE by Fast Company