“Sustainability is here to stay, or we may not be.”
–Niall FitzGerald, Irish businessman.
Our commitment to the environment is a core part of how and why we do business. Clients and partners that share this commitment, like you, strengthen us year after year and contribute to helping our environment. As part of this ideology, we share a snippet of packaging trends the e-commerce industry forecasts we’ll see in 2019.
More Demand. Better Tech.
Spurred by environmental concerns and powerful, effective regulatory policies set by governments and other agencies, the demand for sustainable and eco-friendly packaging will increase in 2019 significantly.
Lower production costs and better design options are also bound to help increase demand for sustainable packaging. Customers and users are also more environmentally conscious and prefer brands that better align with their own principles.
Technological advances associated with materials used to produce eco-friendly packaging with less harmful effects will see a boost in 2019, making them more readily available and widening options for brands.
Better Brand Design
More than 20% of all shopping takes place online. 2019 will continue to see an increase in this trend, and brands are aware of it. One of the most crucial challenges is to offer customers a better experience starting with packaging. Knowing this is probably the first physical interaction between a brand and a customer, experts agree that the design of this experience counts as a valuable opportunity to create a deeper brand-consumer connection. Luxury, excitement, anticipation, care, personalization, and other emotions must begin with the packaging, so the challenge becomes designing this experience in a way that reduces materials used and their impact on the environment.
The flexibility of the packaging will play an important role next year. Brands and consumers look for packaging that is premium, convenient, functional and sustainable; but that also provides a greater appeal, is easy to store, easy to open and carry, and extends product life while providing safety. This translates into better shipping efficiency and e-commerce optimization. A great challenge to tackle.
Education is Key
As environmental awareness continues to rise amongst consumers and brands, demand for education on the different materials used and how to properly dispose of them becomes an urgent need. Everyone involved is responsible for disseminating information about this. The government and other institutions, brands, media, and the consumer ought to take responsibility in knowing what materials are being used and how to properly reduce, reuse, recycle, and dispose of them.
One of the first steps is to clearly differentiate the types of paper bags available. A biodegradable bag will break down into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass. Compostable bags are made of organic material that will decompose under a controlled biological process in the presence of air to form a humus-like material. Recyclable bags are those that can be collected and reprocessed to produce new paper.
Explore our options, get in touch with us, and let’s continue the conversation to make 2019 a year when environmental care and consciousness are closely aligned with brand success and customer satisfaction.