Premium e-commerce packagers juggle luxury designs, unboxing experiences and consumer expectations

22 Nov 2023 --- While many companies are focusing on minimalist designs to reduce material, premium packaging in the e-commerce sector demands a more luxurious approach with more intricate details.

Packaging Insights speaks with DS Smith and Smurfit Kappa about their solutions for premium brand packaging, naming the importance of the unboxing experience and providing communication to ensure customer satisfaction.

“When considering premium brands, we are keen to enhance the consumer experience with the addition of impact printing either externally or internally to aid the unboxing experience. We have a variety of printing capabilities,” says Anne Curtis, business unit lead, E-commerce UK & Northern Ireland at DS Smith.

Arco Berkenbosch, Smurfit Kappa chief innovation officer, adds: “E-commerce packaging for premium products is not just about the functional aspect of protecting the product throughout the e-commerce supply chain — it’s about creating anticipation, excitement and pleasure when it reaches the recipient as significant emphasis is placed on the unboxing experience.” 

Innova Market Insights data suggests that there has been a 2% average annual growth in F&B launches containing premium claims between July 2018 and June 2023. Most of the premium products were launched in Plastic material, but there has been a steep growth in Bio-based material use, reaching 105% in the last five years.

Smurfit Kappa creates paper packaging for premium brands to communicate environmental-friendliness (Image credit: Smurfit Kappa).Unboxing experience
Berkenbosch asserts that a trend for packaging premium products is to tell a story and bring the consumer on an interactive journey with the brand.

“The packaging contributes to the whole experience of receiving and unboxing a product. Furthermore, it acts as an extension of the product and the brand, which is particularly important for premium products,” he says.

Berkenbosch believes that in the future, brands will have to work harder to differentiate the brand, and there will be a much sharper focus on human experience-driven packaging designed to grab attention.

Meeting online shoppers’ expectations
Curtis names common trends in e-commerce packaging solutions as sustainability, durability, protection, ease of returns and supply chain optimization.

“A key component of superior service in packaging is to ensure a real and tangible balance between communicating brand values with impact and simultaneously reassuring consumers that their product will arrive on time, intact and not tampered with,” explains the business unit lead for E-commerce. 

DS Smith reported that 58% of online shoppers would stop ordering from a company if they received a damaged product repeatedly, and 25% stated that they would never order again if they received damaged packaging. 

The survey continued that 42% of shoppers said they would stop shopping from a retailer if a customer service point of contact did not manage a returned package well or fast enough.

Paper communication 
Regarding materials for e-commerce premium packaging, Berkenbosch says environmental sustainability is a must, and many luxury brands use their e-commerce packaging to show that they are a brand with a conscience. DS Smith highlights the importance of customer satisfaction for e-commerce of luxury products.

“Paper-based packaging is an immediate signifier of this, along with right-sized and fit-for-purpose packaging,” he asserts.

“At Smurfit Kappa, we have a wide range of Better Planet Packaging solutions designed to leave no trace on the planet, and they are used by many brands who know that their customers expect, at the minimum, to have packaging that aligns with their values.”

Fashion e-commerce packaging
Smurfit Kappa creates e-commerce packaging for fashion houses and luxury beauty brands that need the box to be as premium as the product. 

“We deliver both e-commerce boxes that are used for regular deliveries, high-end gift boxes, and seasonal packaging. One of our products, Rollor, is a creative packaging solution originally developed for shipping clothing in perfect condition with no creases,” says Berkenbosch.

In general, brands tend to spend more money on packaging for premium products compared to other products, as they want the packaging to be consistent with the brand and create a luxurious unboxing experience for the customer. 

“This allows us to create more customized and personalized packaging — the opposite of the one-size-fits-all approach. It can, for example, involve unique and unusual designs such as different shapes, unexpected opening mechanisms or high-quality print both inside and outside the box. Other enhancements like embossing and foiling can make a pack stand out and are more prominently used in packaging for premium products,” explains Berkenbosch.Luxury brands often spend more money on packaging for premium products (Image credit: Smurfit Kappa).

Product innovations
A recent product solution is DS Smith Tape Back, which features a single line of silicon tape designed to create a brand-new seal and reseal functionality. The premium packaging design feature can be applied to any e-commerce packaging for a “seamless” and environmentally sustainable return with a tamper-evident and safe sending locking function. The product removes the need for a single-use plastic tear strip entirely.

DS Smith Safe Sender is another ecological packaging innovation from DS Smith and protects against the theft of online shipments in the e-commerce space. The solution features a design feature that can be unglued and a four or six-point glued design version that makes it quicker to erect the box when packing. 

The DS Safe Sender incorporates a unique locking system that reduces the need for additional sealing materials. There is a potential for a reduction in courier costs due to the lighter weight of the product, and these features contribute toward the boxing experience. The product eliminates the need for excessive packaging and uses fully recyclable materials to reduce waste and minimize environmental impact.

“We consider our customers’ products to be premium, and we have a [environmental] sustainable solution-based approach using our unique design and innovation tools such as Circular Design Metrics. We also use our bespoke industry-leading dominance, influence, steadiness and conscientiousness testing process to ensure our solutions meet every challenge,” Curtis concludes.

By Sabine Waldeck