Product packaging has a huge impact on consumer decisions. Over 70 percent of decisions that consumers make occur in the store, and packaging is the first thing that shoppers see when they look at your product. If easy-to-open packaging is one of their priorities and your consumer packaging matches their needs, your product could be the one they pick.

Easy-to-open packaging design is not just about how consumers open packages. There are many elements of packaging design to consider, and there are many demographics who require such packaging, some of whom have different needs. Let’s explore how you can create a high-impact packaging design.

The Importance of Easy-to-Open Packaging

Packaging design draws the eye of the consumer, and it connects them to your brand. While packaging is just one element of brand perception, it is an important one.

Packaging protects and contains the items inside, and the end goal is to get the product to the customer. People are eager to open the package, and easy-to-open packaging design allows them to get to the product quickly, without frustration. This is especially true of items such as food packaging: packaging should never get in the way of a hungry customer.

When consumer packaging is easy to open, this influences brand perception. Consumers are more likely to perceive your brand as accessible and desirable. Accessible packaging says that you’re responsive to customers’ needs and that you consider the needs of specific groups who may particularly need this packaging.

Easy-to-Open Packaging and the Consumer Demographic

Packaging can be just as important as the product inside. Knowing your demographics allows you to create packaging that is optimally accessible to those groups.

There are several groups who specifically benefit from easy-to-open packaging design. Seniors, parents, and people with disabilities all have different needs, but they’re unified in their desire for packaging that opens easily.

These groups may have challenges with dexterity or strength, making it difficult to open packages with small tabs or packages that have a clamshell-style closure. Seniors and people with visual disabilities can have trouble reading directions for opening packages, so the definition of easy-to-open can expand to include large, clear directions or highly intuitive design that doesn’t require complex instructions.

Packaging needs can be complex. For instance, parents like food packages that are easy to tear apart at the top. However, they also want to keep young children safe from choking hazards, so if the package contains multiple servings it should be easy to reseal once it has been opened. If this product is also marketed to seniors, you might consider an adhesive technology rather than a ridged, zipper-style closure that requires a lot of manual dexterity to close.

PKG Brand Design’s Approach to Easy-to-Open Packaging

PKG Brand Design works with well-known companies to create innovative and accessible packaging designs. Gene Smart™ Health came to us with the goal of creating a ready-to-eat food product that could help eliminate malnutrition among young children in Africa. They had an easily portable, shelf-stable product that would be distributed through aid organizations like the Red Cross. With Gene Smart, we developed packaging that would make kids feel powerful. The easy-to-open package comes with visual instructions to share eating methods, making it more accessible to all.

Designing easy-to-open packaging lets consumers know that you’re a brand that thinks about the customer’s needs. Working with PKG Packaging Design, your brand can create a packaging design that is both visually attractive and simple to use, attracting customers who enjoy its accessibility.

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