In this commodity era, we have all heard the mantra the customer is king/queen, thanks to omnipresent marketers. Yet it’s up to you to prove it so in practice. With these eight tips you will be a lot closer to proving that you are on top of the packaging industry.

(1) Understand the customer. Today you’ll find that one package is hard to satisfy the needs and requirements of all consumers. With the increasingly heated competition, the marketers go deeper and deeper into numerous niche markets and segments. Those require not only specialized products but also more personalized packaging. So if you are targeting one of such markets, do your research first. What works well for one market segment may not do well for another.

(2) Find out what attributes appeal to the customers you are targeting. For example, for a harried housewife she would shop for your product probably with convenience at the top of the list. Though people over 50 are seeking convenience too, issues like the size of print on the package (due to poor eyesight) and ease of use will top their priority list. Therefore, make sure that your packaging design employs the characteristics that appeal to your target consumers.

(3) Understand how the package will be used. Many things & fads are changing rapidly in our society. Families no longer sit and eat meals with every member at the same time as we used to. And it's not uncommon to serve different meals to different individuals. Package sizes will vary accordingly. In commercial world, people tend to travel a lot, so they would prefer small size packages for easy carrying and dealing with

(4) Know your customers current buying trends. Several years ago we went through the phase when we follow super size for everything. There are still a lot of supersized packages. However, buying trends in general are changing to smaller sizes. Moreover, to package smaller in many cases means more profits. Consumers are willing to pay a premium for convenience and smaller quantity.

(5) Keep abreast of new packaging technologies. Creative new products have the advantage in the marketing world even if they simply put old technology to new application. Metedent once took the world by storm with the duel aperture dispensing mechanism. Recently some new cleaning products are turning back this retro type of dispensing. Finding ways to combine two products into one package can also be quite innovative.

(6) Watch where people shop. There is also shift in store formats, many traditional retailers are phasing out or upgrading to new and innovative store formats. The once low-end convenience stores have now transitioned into boutique stores that provide premium products at premium prices. On the one hand, stores can’t rival against online stores for lower cost. On the other, this evolved from the fast-pacing mindset demonstrated in today's shopping habits. Studies show that consumers no longer make one big trip and stock up a week’s amount but make several trips a week and get just what is needed at the moment.

(7) Security in packaging becomes increasingly important. As more people become concerned about product integrity this will continue to come into focus. Look for new tamper evident and security technology that can be incorporated into your packaging. Many of these devices are becoming more cost-efficient and affordable and will soon become mainstream.

(8 ) External influence of power players. The big box retailers are driving packaging procedures and policies at retail. Mandates from these companies such as RFID tracking are in their infancy. This type of requirement could become mandatory overnight. If you want to do business with companies such as Home Depot and Walmart, you will need to include the design and selection of your packaging materials.

Remember, the customer depends upon you, the manufacture, as a resource. They expect you to keep up with packaging trends and technologies and provide the latest and greatest innovations the industry has to offer.

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