Month: August 2018

Congratulations, the vinyl LP record market is definitely on the up and we’re not surprised if you are selling more vinyl than ever before! We’ve been talking to several online shops that send their vinyl out in the post or by courier and trying to find out how we can solve some of the issues experienced when mailing your LP record internet orders so you can send your records in better packaging.

 

VINYL RECORD MAILERS

 

Vinyl record mailers are extra stiff mailers with strengthened corners to prevent creasing and corner damage while they travel through the postal system. The main types of mailers used for mailing vinyl records are twistwrap style record mailers and record envelopes which are both manufactured from stiff cardboard.

 

LP MAILER BOXES

 

When mailing vinyl records special attention needs to be given to making the lp mailer boxes as stiff as possible so the flexible records are not creased and damaged during transit. Damage to the corners of the record sleeves is also important so you need to consider boxes with good corner protection. Below we consider the main problems with choosing LP mailers and give you some hints and tips on what to look out for.

 

Creasing Damage to Vinyl LP Records

 

By far one of the most common problems with mailing LP records is their flexibility, the thin vinyl can be bent and creased very easily which means that keeping them flat while been thrown around in the back of a courier van is quite a challenge. Before choosing record mailer packaging you need to test the rigidity of the mailer by trying to bend it. Before testing make sure you seal the flap down if it has a peel & seal closure as this will give the mailer extra strength.

As always you need to get the balance between the cost and protectiveness of your packaging, here’s a few products that give good rigidity and will help stop your LP records from creasing during transit.

• Rigid Envelopes for Mailing LP Records – These stiff envelopes give a great balance between cost-effectiveness and protection.
• Tuftwist® Corrugated Twistwrap Style Record Mailers – Manufactured from thick corrugated cardboard these mailers are super strong and sturdy.

 

Corner Damage to Vinyl LP Record Sleeves

 

Keeping the vinyl record sleeve in pristine condition is one of the big factors that determines the price so keeping the corners of the sleeve well protected is very important. As the sleeves are often only made from thin card they damage quite easily, you only need to drop the record sleeve once to scuff the corner and make it look a bit tatty.

The good news is that if you choose the right packaging your record sleeves can be kept in perfect condition during their journey to your customer. Here are a few ideas which protect the corners of your LP sleeves well and will help to eliminate corner damage.

• Protective LP Record Bubble Bags – Bubble bags surround your records in a layer of shock absorbing bubbles and help to cushion those bangs and bashes.
• Tuftwist® Corrugated Twistwrap Style Record Mailers – These record mailers have strong crumple zones protecting the corners of your record sleeves so if your parcel is dropped on a corner it crumples and absorbs the shock much like a bumper on a car.

 

Water Damage to Vinyl LP Records

 

Vinyl record sleeves and English weather definitely don’t go together a lot of the time. Your LP record sleeves are generally made from thin card so if they get wet it can seriously damage them, although some are covered with a thin plastic film water can still migrate in and be absorbed by the card inside. If a record sleeve gets wet the ink will run and the print will look smudged as well as the card losing some of its integrity and becoming weak and floppy.

By putting your mailer in a water proof plastic bag you can prevent the water from migrating through your packaging and soaking the record inside. Below are some different plastic bag options that will protect your LP records from water damage.

• Water Resistant LP Record Mailing Bags – These thin plastic mailing bags will cover your packages in a plastic film and protect your records from water damage.
• Protective LP Record Bubble Bags – These bags, although mainly designed to add impact protection, will also help to stop water migrating through the pack and damaging your records.

 

Our Ultimate Record Mailer Suggestion

 

By considering all the points above we’ve combined a few different record packaging solutions to develop the ultimate record mailer. This solution gives protection against most of the common areas of damage that a vinyl LP record could sustain during its journey to your customer. This is by no means the only solution but if you need the best LP record protection then give this a try.

1. First pop your record into a protective bubble bag, this will give shock protection and cushion your records with a barrier of air pockets. **Extra Tip** If your record is an antique consider wrapping in an acid free tissue paper first for extra protection.
2. Next wrap your vinyl record in a sturdy twist style corrugated mailer, these strong mailers have cross dimensional fluting which is super rigid and very difficult to bend making them great for stopping crease damage.
3. Finally pop the whole package into a water resistant mailing bag to keep the water out of your LP Record and keep your cardboard packaging looking clean and tidy.

 

And that’s it, your ultimate Vinyl LP Record mailer solution!

Your aim when creating the perfect eCommerce Unboxing Experience is to craft a shareable and memorable experience for your customer – Memorable so your customer remembers, and shareable to encourage them to share their experience with their friends on social media or by word of mouth.

 

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY AN UNBOXING EXPERIENCE?

 

 

It’s quite simple, it’s the experience you give your customer when they open your parcels. It’s often the first tangible experience that your customer will have with your brand if they have purchased online and their perception of your company can be made or broken by the quality of this first touch point.

Think about the experience you give customers when they walk into your brick and mortar store (or if you haven’t got a brick and mortar store imagine you have for a few minutes), you would want it to be professional and create an atmosphere that will entice your customers to return time and time again. It’s not just about the products, it’s about the experience you give your customers that will create a loyal following. So extend this to your eCommerce Packaging remembering that this is your customers first tangible impression and it’s your chance to create that special link that will win you loyal customers for years to come.

 

 

The Components of a Great Unboxing Experience

 

 

To complete the perfect box opening experience we need to consider a factor from each of the components below. They will all combine to entice your customer to share their purchase and even place another order.

• • How it affects Emotions.
  • How it Looks.
  • How it Feels & Tastes.
  • How it Smells & Sounds.

 

Affecting your Customers Emotions

 

By engaging your customers emotions with their new purchase you will increase the likelihood of them sharing their experience on social media. Give one of these great ideas a try…

• • Say ‘Thank you’ with a hand written or printed note, or even a special card.
  • Include a cute or fascinating image.
  • Write an amazing fact.
  • Most importantly – Ask your customer to share their purchase with a short message.
  • Add your branded hashtag & social media links for them to post their experience to.

 

 

How Unboxing Looks to Your Customer

 

 

Your parcel needs to reflect the quality of your online brand so there is consistency. Great looking parcels like Incognito® eCommerce Packaging help to engage your customers emotions and will be one of the main deciding factors in a social media share.

• • Use coloured or printed tissue to give a ‘gift’ like look to your parcels.
  • Use materials that reflect your brand, e.g. a brown cardboard matches a vintage look, but a clean understated brand will look best with a white finish.
  • Finish your parcel with a ribbon or string to show the parcel was packed with care.
  • High quality graphics are now cost effective for dispatch packaging through the introduction of advanced digital printing.

 

 

Designing the Outer eCommerce Packaging Box

 

The outer box has to be transit proof and effectively protect the items you have packed inside, this means it needs to be practical as well as pretty, so give a bit of thought towards cost effectively combining these two factors.

• • Your first consideration is, how do they open your box? Add in a neat, easy tear opening strip.
  • Create a unique box shape or cut-outs.
  • Go incognito! These boxes are plain on the outside with printing on the internal faces, keeping your customers in suspense and expensive products secret and secure.
  • Use short run digital full colour printing for maximum impact at low cost from just 100 boxes at a time.

 

 

How it Feels & Tastes to Your Customer

 

 

Texture is not often considered in packaging but this can have a significant effect in completing the unboxing experience. And by taste we don’t mean your customers will take a bite out of your boxes!

• • Consider a premium single faced corrugated board to make your boxes a little unusual.
  • Use a textured board layer pad just inside the lid to cover your products.
  • Add in some sweets or chocolate as a treat for your customer.

 

 

How it Smells & Sounds to Your Customer

 

This will give your parcels an ultimate WOW, although the smell won’t be captured by an unboxing video be assured that it will be talked about!

• • Buy a bottle of nice perfume and give each box a quick spray before you pack your parcel.
  • Use materials that have a sound dimension to them, your customer will love the scrunching noise of a crinkly tissue or the bang when popping those bubbles.
  • Why not use the Christmas cracker idea and incorporate a banger that goes off when your customer opens the box.

 

 

Extending the Unboxing Experience

 

 

Think of something to put into your parcels that will extend the experience and get them to interact more with your brand and even entice them to place another order. – Add small samples of other products that they may be interested in but make sure they are relevant to the customer.

• • Use QR codes to connect your customer to loyalty schemes, competitions, reviews, and other incentives to connect online.
  • Make sure you put in a catalogue with your full range so they can browse other products.
  • Why not make your packaging reusable?

For years packaging has been viewed by many as a necessary evil; an area where costs should be kept as low as possible. Of course that was before eCommerce. That was before the online world started booming.

 

Now it’s different.

 

In this new world of eCommerce, where most transactions are carried out online with no tangible interaction with a brand, the physical delivery of the product has become the first tactile touch point of the sale. This first tangible impression can be the make or break of an online store.

 

For years high street brands have been investing millions into tangible shopping experiences. Eye-catching store fronts, aroma filled boutiques, in-store displays, and a helpful and personal in-store service are commonplace amongst the prestigious brands. Why then is this not carried forward to the tangible touch points of an online sale?

 

THE ONLINE BRAND / ECOMMERCE PACKAGING MATCH

 

High street brands have moved with the times to create an eCommerce arm to their company. They’ve created an online store to match their brand. It has all the bells and whistles and offers a great online shopping experience. It’s perfect.

 

The problem with a website is it is virtual. As humans we need tangible experience to give us confidence. Instinctively we prefer something we’ve felt and touched. We all know it’s easy to make something look good on a screen so we need tangible evidence to give us confidence to hit that ‘proceed to checkout’ button.

 

Put yourself in the customers’ shoes. Imagine you’ve overcome your instinct and clicked that proceed to checkout button. You’re a little apprehensive right? You don’t even for sure know if this order is going to turn up. Is the company you just ordered from even legitimate?

 

Now fast forward to the day of the delivery. Your parcel arrives. It’s a brown box that’s a bit battered. It’s sealed with brown packing tape. You pick at the corner of the tape for a few seconds and nearly break your nail off. Bother. You run through to the kitchen to grab some scissors. It’s pretty difficult to get the point of the scissors in so you apply a bit more pressure. The scissors slip and jab your hand. You wince and run back to the kitchen to get a plaster.

 

Is this really the way to treat a customer?

 

The box isn’t even open yet. The first tangible experience for the customer has been nothing but friction.

 

Can you understand when we ask ‘Why do established brands carry on this way?’

 

The 7 Golden Rules for Creating eCommerce Packaging with WOW Factor

 

It’s not difficult to make your customers’ unboxing experience frictionless. And doesn’t even cost much to make it WOW! Here are 7 golden tips to give you a head start on your competition and make your customers say WOW when they open your parcels.

1. 1. Inject some Uniqueness! Your online brand is unique, you spent a while designing the logo so it represented something different and special, so why not spend a little time thinking about a unique packaging design. Everyone has rectangular boxes, they are boring. Why not triangular or cylindrical? Why not make even a rectangular box a bit different? Try a slide-together sleeve. Give it a bit of thought and try and match the shape and design to your logo or branding.
   2. You understand the importance of making sure your website is user friendly and the purchasing flow is easy to follow. Think about this in terms of your packaging as well. Your packets need to be easy to open and not require dangerous knives. Add in tear opening strips or peel-easy adhesive to your packaging. Then your customer can easily unpack their exciting new delivery and the experience is not broken by going and finding a pair of scissors or running through to the kitchen to get a knife.
   3. Don’t under-pack, if someone has spent a lot of money on your site they obviously think you’re worth it! They’ve looked at your website and thought “these guys look good I’ll place the order with them”. They’ll either be a high class customer expecting quality and luxury, or someone who’s worked hard for their money and this purchase is something special for them. Either way they will be expecting more than just a plastic bag. Spend that little extra on them and you’ll impress your customers and earn a loyal following.
   4. Consider the texture of your theme. A vintage look site goes well with standard brown packaging with a rough quality print giving a dated look (Hey presto, you’re saving money already!). Alternatively if you have a glossy look to your online brand you can use glossy inks and finishes to your cardboard boxes for next to no extra costs. All it takes is a little innovative thinking about what materials would match well with your online brand.
   5. Change your packaging designs regularly. You change your online adverts regularly to give your site a fresh look so why not do the same with your packaging? It will help give your brand a dynamic feel. Digital printing means you can now change your print designs without any setup costs and even print multiple different designs in one print run! What’s more you can change your box styles from one of our stock range so your customer is getting a different style box too!
   6. Using high quality graphics is now cheaper than ever. It used to be a laborious and expensive process to print images on to packaging, but now printing processes have evolved to embrace much more flexibility and higher quality printing. Get really creative with new machine capabilities and get those graphics onto your packaging.
   7. Remember to add in little extras to help them remember and return to your site. A small chocolate bar, a gift voucher, a thank you card? They all add that air of uniqueness to your company. It only has to be small, but if you put some thought into it and give them something that they really like it will make all the difference.

We just love this fantastic packaging idea, a very original example of definitely thinking outside the box! Eye-catching and innovative, this would make a great unboxing/unwrapping video on social media and definitely get the brand liked and noticed.