Your product might be incredible, but poor CPG packaging could doom your business before consumers have a chance to try it. Here are some of the most common CPG packaging design mistakes you'll want to avoid.
Top CPG Packaging Mistakes
There are probably hundreds of stories out there of CPG packaging designs that sunk product sales. The reality is that consumers do judge the book by its cover, so CPG packaging must reflect a positive image on the product inside.
From the wrong labeling and missed ingredients to too much plastic, the packaging designers of CPG products play an important role in your bottom line.
1. Misleading Packaging
Misleading packaging that doesn’t live up to the product will create ill will among consumers who believe they aren’t getting what they paid for. If the consumer is making the purchase based on the package and miss the details written in small print, you may make the initial purchase, but you’ve probably lost that customer forever.
2. Wasting Packaging
Wasting packaging space is not an eco-friendly approach to CPG packaging. Finding a balance between securing the product and wasting packaging material is a worthy goal. Consumers are paying more and more attention to recycled packaging and the opposite—those packages that use too much plastic—are not popular.
Big companies should pay attention to their environmental footprint because consumers are making greener choices with their greenbacks these days. Don’t leave a lot of dead air in your package, and don’t fill that space with useless packaging material.
3. Mislabeled Packaging
One of the most common mistakes in CPG packaging is labels that are wrong. This is an area, however, that could pose a danger to consumers.
For example, failing to place the proper ingredients on a food label could be deadly to someone with food allergies. Imagine a mislabeled pharmaceutical product, and you’ll get a sense of how serious this slip up could really become.
4. Tough to Open Packaging
Everyone hates packaging that they can’t open. Toys are notoriously difficult to open. No one wants to go grab scissors to cut the plastic off a package. Plus, those plastic edges can be sharp!
Whether it’s the aging baby boomer population losing hand strength to arthritis or impatient millennials that want their product NOW, making a product inconvenient to open is bad form that your customers will notice.
5. Boring Packaging
CPG packaging designs should convey emotion. Does the product convey joy or health, or some other emotion that bonds the customer to the sale? Customers want to love your product, and you can create this feeling by triggering an emotion with the design of the package.
6. Confusing Packaging
Is the design too busy? We’re not saying every product should have a simple or even minimalist packaging design. However, a package that is too colorful with too little white space can be the opposite of enticing. Too many fonts and contrasting colors could distract the eye or make it actively turn away from the product.
The CPG packaging is just as important as the product inside. Avoiding these common mistakes will ensure a frictionless product experience for your customers.
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