Appetite Creative survey reveals growing industry confidence in connected packaging

The packaging industry’s confidence in connected packaging has reached 92.3%, according to a new survey by Appetite Creative and Koenig & Bauer. The percentage of surveyed companies using such packaging has also increased since last year’s edition. 

“Adoption has grown significantly — from 72.6% in 2025 to 81.2% in 2026, continuing a strong upward trajectory,” Jenny Stanley, managing director at Appetite Creative, tells Packaging Insights.

“What surprised me most was the collapse in scepticism. Only 7.7% now view connected packaging as a passing fad, down from 13.4% last year and 23.2% in 2024.”

“The industry has clearly crossed a tipping point. We’re also seeing organizations move from experimentation to genuine strategic commitment — 83.3% are planning campaigns this year, up from 76.7% in 2025.”

The survey reveals 15.3% of respondents are looking to spend US$51,000–US$80,000 on connected packaging, and 13% shared their budgets for the segment are more than US$81,000, up 10% and 7.7% year-on-year.

Adoption barriers have declined year-on-year, according to the survey data. Lack of knowledge dropped from 23.6% to 14.3%, cost perception from 15.1% to 9.8%, and limited tech understanding from 17% to 11.2%. 

Top drivers for engagement

Appetite Creative and Koenig & Bauer expect investments in connected packaging to increase in 2026 (Graphic credit: Appetitive Creative).“Authentication and anti-counterfeit” is the “top driver” of connected packaging adoption in 2026, while in 2025, consumer loyalty and promotions led, notes Stanley. “That’s a significant shift in priorities worth calling out.” 

“Regulatory compliance and Digital Product Passport (DPP) have risen sharply — in 2025 it sat at 30.4%, now DPP/GS1 compliance is at 51.4%. That’s a massive jump driven by regulatory pressure and the GS1 2027 deadline.”

Data collection (60.9%), compliance (60.7%), and sustainability (60.4%) are also among the top drivers for connected packaging adoption.

The survey reveals gamification adoption is at 67.7%, marking an 8.7% increase since 2025.

“The reasons people believe connected packaging is increasingly important are worth sharing: 54.5% cite gamification engaging younger audiences, 51.6% sustainability support, 50.1% actionable data — these give a rich picture of where the value is seen,” explains Stanley.

She says brands report that the top drivers of consumer engagement with connected packaging are promotions and loyalty rewards, accessing sustainability and recycling information, and product authentication.

QR and NFC dominante

Stanley notes a shift from single technology to multi-technology implementation of connected packaging. QR codes in combination with NFCs are used by 47.1% of adopters, QR codes alone by 31.8%, and NFC tags alone by 21.1%.

Serialized QR code interest rose by 7.1%, rising to 73.2%, up from 66.1% in 2025. Appetite Creative says this reflects “strong majority interest in sophisticated deployment strategies.”

Stanley says the surge in interest in serialized QR codes is “particularly exciting” as organizations are moving from asking “Which technology?” to “Which combination works best for our use case?”