By the industry’s very nature, packaging for beauty products should be beautiful and eye-catching. Cosmetics is a fast-paced, ever-changing industry. It is also a fiercely competitive, multi-billion dollar industry. But apart from marketing, there are also other areas in which cosmetic packaging plays an important role.
This article takes a closer look at the importance of beauty packaging and why it can be a game-changer for cosmetic companies.
Beautiful Packaging for Cosmetics Increases Sales
In 2018, the Paper and Packaging Board and IPSOS published a national study on the impact of packaging designs on purchasing decisions. One of the key findings was that seven in every 10 consumers admitted to being persuaded to buy a product because they liked the packaging.
It’s easy to see why: packaging is often the first thing customers interact with when discovering products for the first time. The choice of color, material, shape, and unique features all tell a story. They also contribute to the company’s branding and marketing efforts, using packaging to convey luxury, sustainability, trendiness, quirkiness, and other qualities or selling points the brand wants to convey.
Beauty packaging can truly shape customers’ first impressions of the product and the brand. And although consumers can have different opinions about a product’s packaging, most consumers form a positive impression of brands that put a lot of thought and effort into their packaging and presentation.
Cosmetic Packaging Reinforces Branding
There’s no better way to underline a beauty company’s brand identity than cosmetic packaging that visualizes it. Customized palette cases, tubes, bottles, and containers that look and feel high-end reinforce the luxury branding that famous brands want to promote. Meanwhile, fun colors and quirky patterns – designs associated with youth, vitality, and unbridled energy – attract teenagers and young adults.
Particular aesthetics speak to specific segments of the cosmetic market. Many cosmetic companies use this to their advantage by customizing cosmetic packaging to gain a competitive advantage. Custom designs are important because beauty brands need to distinguish themselves from the competition, given the market’s sheer size. Additionally, a beauty product’s packaging needs to be easily identifiable so that customers can recognize it from a distance and know that they’re looking at cosmetic packaging at first glance.
Packaging for Cosmetics Preserves Product Quality
Apart from providing aesthetic and marketing value, packaging for cosmetics preserves the product and underpins its durability. Makeup is used in small quantities at a time, so it is packaged to ensure contents are accessible with a brush or applicator. At the same time, the packaging supports the quality, safety, and usability of the remainder of the product throughout its shelf life.
Airtight packaging and seals on beauty products are necessary to prevent makeup from drying out before the respective expiration dates. Airtight seals in packaging also keep out mold and bacteria while in storage or on display.
Compact Beauty Packaging Is A Valuable Selling Proposition
Beauty products are often small, which contributes to their ease of use. However, beauty product containers’ shape, quality, and performance are also important to customers. Even if a brand is well-known, customers will think twice about buying it again if the packaging doesn’t meet expectations for quality and functionality.
Packaging designed specifically for makeup and beauty products is made to withstand being juggled in a bag with other objects, for example, or to be small enough to fit in a back pocket. Beauty packaging not only adds aesthetic value, but it also should complement and serve the preferences of the target market.
Modern Packaging Promotes Sustainability
As customers become increasingly environmentally aware, so do the industry’s sustainability concerns related to beauty products’ “green” packaging. As researchers from Accenture recently discovered, 72 percent of consumers from Asia, Europe, and North America buy more environmentally friendly products today than five years ago. Moreover, 81 percent will buy even more eco-friendly products in the next five years.
Checklist for Cosmetic Packaging
Without a doubt, cosmetics packaging is vital for engaging customers and conveying marketing and branding messages. In addition, cosmetics packaging can help position a makeup line and other beauty products in the upper echelons of the industry.
To help you develop cosmetics packaging that fulfills its function and increases sales, here is a list of the qualities your business should aim for when designing packaging for cosmetics.
- Sturdy – Choose packaging that can protect and preserve your product and keep it safe and intact through the shipping process.
- Properly labeled – Make sure your brand logo or the name of the product is visible on the packaging. Also, ensure that you comply with other labeling communications requirements, like providing the key ingredients and expiration date.
- Functional – Choose packaging that can protect your product from contamination or exposure to sunlight and other elements that can accelerate its expiration. Since many cosmetics may react with other substances, finding the right container and packaging is imperative.
- Ready for transport – To ensure that your products arrive in stores and your customers’ homes in one piece, develop packaging products that are leak- and tamper-resistant.
- Aligns with your brand – Design packaging that will speak to your target audience. Remember that a one-size-fits-all approach is unsuitable, especially if you know you are selling to a specific demographic.
- Recyclable – If a 100 percent sustainable packaging solution isn’t possible right now, it’s best to choose materials that allow for recycling.
- Cost-effective – Stay within your budget. It’s better to improve on your packaging as your business grows than to downscale because your sales cannot keep up with your production expenses.
Cutting corners is not an option when it comes to what goes on your customers’ faces, skin, and hair. So why should you cut corners on your cosmetics packaging?
Choosing the right cosmetics packaging for your products can be difficult, as it is vital to your branding. Hughes offers the best customer service for packaging your products. Whether it’s a new application for the Combi Ergopacker; a more immediate need for drop packers and case erectors; testing clamshell packaging for multiple-product packs in one master carton; or consultation on which case labeling innovations are going to deliver the best ROI, Hughes is the expert cosmetics manufacturers and marketers call on to support their dynamic shipping and packaging distribution environments. For more information on our shipping and packaging solutions for our cosmetics customers, see our case study solution for Chanel or contact a Hughes representative.