Packaging Inserts: Increase Customer Loyalty

Packaging inserts are more than just cardboard, foam, or plastic — instead, they are a tool to help drive customer loyalty. But don’t just take our word for it. Here’s everything you need to know about packaging inserts and how you can benefit from them:

What Are Packaging Inserts?

Packaging inserts refer to anything inside a package besides the actual product itself. Packaging inserts can take various forms, from pieces of paper with a discount code to free product samples to customized dividers.

When Should I Use Packaging Inserts?

Packaging inserts can be used to ship almost anything, but there are specific items that definitely warrant the use of packaging inserts.

Fragile Items

You should use packaging inserts when shipping fragile items. Packaging inserts help protect and insulate fragile items to prevent breakage and damage during the shipping process. Without packaging inserts, these fragile items would move all around the box during shipping, potentially sustaining damage with every turn, bump, or shift.

Some examples of fragile items that require packaging inserts include glass items, porcelain, musical instruments, and valuable collectibles.

High-End Items

You should also use packaging inserts when shipping high-end items. Packaging inserts elevate the packaging and show the customer that the product is worth what they’re paying for it. Additionally, packaging inserts also help decrease the chance of damage to high-end items that can be incredibly costly to repair or replace.

Some examples of high-end items that may require packaging inserts include fine jewelry, smartphones, laptop computers, and televisions that can cost thousands of dollars.

Food Items

Finally, you should use packaging inserts when shipping food items. Packaging inserts help keep the food items in place during the shipping process and help prevent leakage, spillage, and breakage.

Some examples of food items that may require packaging inserts include chocolates, cookies, crackers, and eggs.

Why Use Packaging Inserts?

With packaging inserts, there’s more than meets the eye. In fact, there are countless benefits of using packaging inserts to take your packaging game to the next level.

1. Increase Customer Loyalty

Packaging inserts can help increase customer loyalty. When customers receive a perfectly packed box with custom packaging inserts, it will make them feel more special than if they were to receive a plain box with products that were just thrown in there. To further boost customer loyalty, you can include thank you notes and discount codes as a part of your packaging as well.

2. Provide More Protection

Packaging inserts provide more protection to items and prevent damage during the shipping process. When items are more protected and arrive intact, customers are more likely to be satisfied with their orders. They also help you avoid dealing with extra costs from returns and replacements due to damage.

3. Create an Unboxing Experience

Packaging inserts are an important component of a fun unboxing experience. A customer isn’t going to be very excited to open a plain box with their products rattling around inside. Instead, they will enjoy opening a branded box with custom packaging inserts and other packaging components like filler.

4. Promote Social Media

One creative use of packaging inserts involves using them to promote your social media pages. Simply include a paper insert with links or usernames for all your social media accounts, from Facebook to Instagram and Twitter. The more followers you have on these accounts, the more you can promote your business.

5. Provide Product Education

Another creative use of packaging inserts is to use them to provide product education. If your products aren’t exactly straightforward, providing this information directly in the packaging is a great way to educate your customers on properly using your products and promoting customer satisfaction.

What Are the Different Types of Packaging Inserts?

As you now know, “packaging insert” is a catch-all term that refers to anything inside a package other than the actual product. This term can refer to a whole host of different types of packaging inserts, including corrugated cardboard inserts, plastic inserts, foam inserts, and paper inserts.

Corrugated Cardboard Packaging Inserts

Corrugated cardboard packaging inserts are one of the most popular types of inserts for a reason. They can be made to fit in your boxes perfectly and cradle your products. Additionally, they can be branded with your brand colors, name, logo, and more.

Plastic Packaging Inserts

Plastic packaging inserts are commonly used with food and beverage products along with cosmetics products to keep items in place and prevent leakage, spillage, or breakage. These inserts are extremely lightweight and are ideal for retail.

Foam Packaging Inserts

Foam packaging inserts are primarily protective inserts that are designed to protect and insulate fragile and high-value products. For example, foam packaging inserts are commonly used with jewelry products and electronics.

Paper Packaging Inserts

Paper inserts can also be placed inside the packaging to boost customer loyalty. For example, you could include a hand-written thank you note with each order. You could also include a special discount for the customer’s next order.

What Are the Costs of Packaging Inserts?

Depending on the type of packaging inserts you choose, they can be quite affordable. This is especially true for corrugated cardboard inserts and paper inserts. To get a more accurate idea of the packaging insert costs, reach out to a packaging provider like Box Genie for a custom quote.

Can You Create Custom Packaging Inserts?

The beauty of packaging inserts is that they are easily customizable with the help of experienced packaging engineers. Packaging engineers can help you come up with the right size and shape inserts for your exterior packaging and your products. From there, packaging designers can help you come up with a custom design that lets your brand shine.

How to Create Custom Packaging Inserts?

To elevate your packaging game, follow these eight steps to create custom packaging inserts:

Step 1: Consider Your Products

First, you need to consider your products when creating custom packaging inserts. As you know, different inserts are used for different types of products. At the same time, you can’t really go wrong with corrugated cardboard packaging inserts from packaging providers like Box Genie.

Step 2: Consider Your Shipping Method

Next, you need to consider your shipping method. If you’re a direct-to-consumer brand that ships products directly to consumers, then you need to really think about the aesthetics and “wow factor” of your packaging to drive customer loyalty.

Step 3: Consider Your Budget

Before you move forward with creating custom packaging inserts, you also need to think about your budget. For the most budget-friendly solution, you should consider corrugated cardboard packaging inserts that are affordable to make and ship since they’re lightweight.

Step 4: Find a Packaging Provider

Now that you have a better idea of what you’re looking for in your packaging inserts, you can start looking for a packaging provider to work with. The best place to look for a packaging provider is definitely online, and you can conduct a simple search for the specific products you’re looking for.

Once you’ve found a few contenders, you can look into their qualifications, experience, and reputations. For example, providers like Box Genie have been in the industry for over 45 years, satisfying clients both big and small, including Canon, Bose, and Black + Decker.

Step 5: Select Your Other Packaging Elements

Before reaching out to packaging providers, you first need to select your other packaging elements, specifically your outer packaging components.

For a more convenient and streamlined process, work with packaging providers that offer both inner packaging components like inserts as well as outer packaging components like custom mailer boxes.

Step 6: Establish the Dimensions of Your Packaging Inserts

The last step before reaching out to packaging providers involves establishing the dimensions of your packaging inserts. For this, you need to determine the sizes of your products and decide how you want to arrange them inside your packages.

Step 7: Get a Quote for Your Packaging Inserts

Once you’ve gathered all the necessary information, you can reach out to your fully-vetted potential providers for quotes on your packaging inserts. Be sure to discuss relevant information about your brand, customers, and fulfillment process so that they can make the best possible recommendations for your packaging.

And while the price is certainly an important factor in your decision, you also need to keep in mind that you tend to get what you pay for. So if you receive a quote that’s substantially lower than all the others, that’s not necessarily a good sign.

Step 8: Start Packing Your Boxes

Finally, you can make your final decision, submit your designs, place your order, and start packing your boxes!

Final Thoughts

Packaging inserts are a creative tool to drive customer loyalty and promote your brand. Reach out to the packaging experts at Box Genie today to get started on your custom packaging inserts.

Sources:

5 Ways to Use Packaging Inserts to Increase Customer Loyalty and Revenue | Shopify

Four Easy Ways to Increase Customer Loyalty | Forbes

3 Ways to Educate Buyers Online | Entrepreneur