Learning about common mistakes is a great way to avoid them, as you know what to look for. There is plenty of advice highlighting packaging design mistakes, but what about mistakes when choosing materials? We’ve gathered some of the most common mistakes during the material selection process for your product packaging, so you can avoid them.
Waiting Too Long
As with most things, it’s better to buy your packaging materials with plenty of time to spare. If you put it off and find yourself getting it at the last minute, you will run into issues. You’ll have a much more limited selection and will likely have to pay more. There may even be rush fees built into it. Or even worse, you could completely miss your deadline. Waiting too long also means that you may feel rushed in your decision, leading to poor choices.
Not Thinking About What You Need
If you are rushed, you may not have time to carefully consider what type of material you need or what it should be able to do. That’s crucial, as this is a common mistake even when you have plenty of time before ordering.
Simply put, before you even start to order packaging materials or the packaging itself, make sure you know what you need. Consider the dimensions of your product, its weight, and how much protection it needs. Consider various box styles.
The good news is that if you aren’t sure what you need, your packaging manufacturer will be happy to help. They can use their expertise to give you some ideas or confirm that you correctly assessed your needs.
Only Considering Price
Any company wants to keep costs down, but there are good and bad ways to do this. Cutting corners is never smart. A perfect example of this in terms of product packaging is choosing your materials. While price should influence your decision, you don’t want to just choose the cheapest materials available.
The cheapest options are usually of lower quality. Some don’t look as good, hurting the impression that you make on potential shoppers. Others won’t protect your product properly, hurting your bottom line and your reputation. Customers will get frustrated with damaged products, and you’ll find your company having to issue a lot of refunds and throwing out plenty of products.
Choosing the Wrong Materials
Yet another common issue with packaging materials is choosing the wrong ones. This is especially common if you are new to product packaging, as you may not have a good idea of what works well for your product. The best way to overcome this problem is to talk to your product packaging manufacturer. As mentioned, they are happy to guide you and answer your questions.
Choosing the Wrong Amount of Material (or Box Size)
You also want to be careful when deciding on the size of the box you use. Choosing too large of a box will use more material than you need and require you to get fillers like bubble wrap or Styrofoam. Choosing something too small will make the packaging useless.
Conclusion
Now that you know these common packaging material selection mistakes, you are equipped to avoid them. Remember that anytime you have questions about the best materials for your packaging, your packaging manufacturer will be the best resource at your disposal.
