Packaging Design Trends to Consider for the Holidays

There’s a chill in the air, and pumpkin spice is everywhere. The holidays are just around the corner and ‘tis the season to delight consumers with custom holiday packaging. From corrugated boxes and retail displays to pressure-sensitive labels, The BoxMaker can deliver custom-printed holiday packaging to your business in a few short weeks. It’s not too late to plan and execute a seasonal campaign to add some dazzle to the consumer experience this year.

Here are three packaging design trends to consider this holiday season:

Packaging Trend #1: QR Codes

QR codes are having a major moment, and for the foreseeable future are here to stay. These square marks are easy to generate online and integrate into your custom packaging designs. Adding a QR code to your seasonal packaging encourages a digital interaction with the consumer to take them beyond the experience of the printed pack and build a deeper relationship with your brand.

You can leverage QR codes in several ways for your seasonal campaigns:

• Encourage consumers to share images of themselves using your products by directing them to your social channels (don’t forget to create a branded hashtag for them to include in their posts!).
• Provide a link to seasonal recipes or ways for consumers to enjoy your product during holiday gatherings.
• Direct customers to seasonal sweepstakes.

QR code best practices:

• Include a clear call to action that explains the benefit to the consumer.
• Incentivize consumer engagement whenever possible.
• Pay for your data – choose a QR code generator that allows you to track scans and collect other data points relative to your campaign.
• Test, test, test! Print your QR code in the size that it will appear on your packaging on your home or office printer to ensure that it is easily scannable at the size you intend to print at and works with multiple smart devices.

There are many software platforms available to generate QR codes. Remember that ultimately your code is going to be printed, so you will need to provide the QR code file to your packaging manufacturer in a high-resolution format, or preferably in a vector format.

Packaging Trend #2: Sustainability

Consumers expect product packaging to be sourced and manufactured responsibly and to be easy to dispose of. Time and time again, surveys reveal that consumers prefer paper products to plastic, and are sometimes willing to pay more for packaging that is perceived as sustainable.

Paper-based packaging is curbside recyclable in many communities. Corrugated packaging is renewably sourced and boasts a 96% recovery rate. Protective packaging manufacturers such as Pregis have developed curbside-recyclable paper-based mailers that are not only a smart choice for the environment from a materials standpoint, but they also save your business money by reducing order fulfillment time and keeping product damage rates in check.

Ways to improve your packaging’s sustainability profile:

• Right-size your packaging to your product to eliminate material waste and additional freight costs.
• Reduce your use of non-renewable void fill and blocking/bracing materials whenever possible.
• Reduce the damage rate of your product.

For brands interested in investigating the carbon footprint of their packaging further, tools such as Pregis’ EcoGuage calculator can help you better understand your packaging’s impact on the planet.

Packaging Trend #3: Bold Use of Print

The holidays are a time of celebration and cheer. Warm the hearts of your customers with bold prints tailored to the season.

From rich evergreens to reds that pop, glowing golds and bold blues, you can’t go wrong with a heavy splash of color from Thanksgiving through the new year.