Every customer is unique. They all come with their own set of criteria and qualifications of what makes great retail packaging. Beyond that, customers also use their own criteria to judge the credibility and quality of your company.

Getting inside the head of your customer can be tough. Really tough. But once you are able to tap into their values and understand how they make purchasing decisions, you’ll be able to make tweaks to your food marketing strategy and up your game with your packaging.

So what exactly are those criteria, and how can food marketing professionals use this data to shape their packaging?

While there is at least a dozen or so customer values that shape product packaging, we selected 4 to review and outline for your benefit.

Let’s dig into what makes your customers tick, and ultimately buy.

Customer Value #1: Fun, Enjoyment, And Entertainment

As human beings, we can’t be all work all the time. So when it comes to fun and enjoyment, we’ll look for it wherever we can.

But when it comes to fun and enjoyment from protective packaging, it’s all a matter of perspective. Of course we think all types of packaging are fun, from candy and chocolate packaging to bird food packaging. We think it’s fun because we’re packaging professionals and food marketing folks—but our customers don’t think like we do.

Creating a fun and entertaining packaging experience can be a bit challenging, but it’s not entirely impossible.

Consumers are ultra focused on entertainment and the digital world, so blending the two together can inspire a bit of fun. Connect your protective packaging to your social media profiles, and create interesting and innovative hash tags to grab attention. (Image Source: Smartblogs.com). 

That way, when your customers are munching from your stand up bag at home, they can enjoy a fun conversation on Twitter and share their experience about your brand.

Interactivity is the perfect element to add to all kinds of protective packaging, from cookies, cracker, and snack packaging to wine and alcohol packaging.

Customer Value #2: Health And Wellness

The health industry is booming, and appealing health food packaging opportunities are around every corner. Supplement packaging, vitamin packaging, and protein packaging are perfect pedestals for emphasizing your product’s purpose and benefits.

Health and wellness are huge drivers for consumer purchases, and millions of people are looking for products that help shape their lives and improve their health. By appropriately marketing your message of better health and helping customers achieve goals, you’re on the fast track to dominating the market with the help of your health food retail packaging. 

And when consumers are searching for that perfect product to improve their health, they won’t be able to help but notice your standout packaging on the shelf.

But don’t forget, health and wellness isn’t all about powders and pills. Some customers are more concerned with natural products, which is where packaging for organic food can help drive sales.

When it comes to organic food packaging, it’s all about the quality. You can’t expect flimsy packaging to extend shelf life or increase sales. In order to keep your organic food products at the peak, you can’t cut corners with organic food packaging.

And speaking of quality . . .

Customer Value #3: Quality

Did you know that customers generally connect the quality of your retail packaging to the quality of your product? We know that almost everyone likes to save money, but cheap flexible retail packaging might cost you more money in the long run.

Offering your customers quality packaging along with a solid product, will help establish credibility and trust. There are several ways to implement quality in your product packaging, such as:

• Protective packaging that is designed with quality materials
• Retail packaging that uses multiple layers for durability
• Packaging that can stand up straight on the shelf
• Bright, crisp graphics that catch attention
• Seals, zippers and other packaging features that don’t easily break
• Packaging that doesn’t contain holes, punctures, or tears

Your brand carries with your customer long after they take your product home from the store. The quality of your packaging draws them in, and your product presentation keeps them coming back for more.

Customer Value #4: Busy Lives

We live in a fast pace society that expects instant gratification. As our customers’ lives become increasingly busy, they’re looking for quick and convenient options in nearly every aspect of their lives.

And that’s especially the case for protective packaging.

With Americans and others worldwide who are on the go, customers can’t always be bothered with pre-packaging snacks or pre-cooking meals to prepare for the week. But when consumers don’t want to resort to fast food, their next option boils down to quality foods that are contained in convenient packaging.

For example, stand up bags with zippers are perfect for our customers who are always in transport. They can choose their own portion size and conveniently zip up your product packaging after snacking. This helps your customer conveniently stay on track during snack time, and even have some left over for later.

But packaging convenience doesn’t always boil down to snacking. Sometimes just having a package that’s easy to open and doesn’t require a lot of fuss is a major convenience in itself.

And when we can make our customers’ lives easier with the power of packaging, we’ve truly reached a new level of food marketing.

Embracing these 4 values will help connect your brand with your customers. But before you build that connection, you must understand your customers’ needs.  Get to know your customers from the inside out, and a packaging professional can help you achieve the rest.