The custom packaging you use for your handmade products is a very important part of your customer’s buying experience —that is many times not given the attention that it deserves.
So in today’s article I thought we’d do something a little fun and I’m going to share four companies that I really like when it comes to custom product packaging. There’s certainly more out there but these are 4 of my favorites and I have a feeling you’ll like them too!
What’s unique about them is that not only do they have cute, branded packaging that is trendy and fun, but they also offer packaging supplies that are eco-friendly which is something I am a big advocate for.
And it’s not just me – the data shows very clearly that being green is in fashion— which means it’s very important that you pay attention to this trend because
1) your customers care about it, and
2) it’s not a trend that will be going away anytime soon!
One survey by McKinsey & Company found that 60 to 70 percent of consumers said they would pay more for sustainable packaging, and that more than half of US consumers are very concerned about the environmental impact of packaging in general.
It’s definitely something important you want to consider, and I’ll give you some great eco-friendly options today.
So, ready? Let’s dive in.
You may have already read my article called The Complete Guide To Creating Custom Packaging For Your Products that goes over all the different packaging layers you need to consider along with the marketing value of each one.
But in addition to knowing how to put great packaging together so your customers love unboxing their purchases, you also need to find great companies to source your packaging from-
And the first one we’re going to talk about is a company called “Moo.”
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Moo is a company I’ve been obsessed with for many, many years!
They essentially can help you customize your Etsy packaging to make it look branded and eye-catching or fun looking, so that when your customer opens their package it’s going to be a fun experience that adds to the product’s value.
They’re not going to help you protect your products – it’s not a company that you’re going to get boxes or mailers from, but what they do, and they do well, is make items like:
What Moo is absolutely fabulous at is helping you personalize your packaging (with stickers on the box, labels, etc) and also supplying unique products for what I call the “Promotional Layer” – if you’ve read my Complete Guide to packaging article you know what I am talking about!
So they are helping you with more of the marketing aspect of your packaging than the protection aspect. But that’s really, really important because we know that packaging helps you make sales.
Branding your packages – along with inserting coupon codes or little notes and messages on business cards and flyers and other things like that – can make a big difference in your customer experience (encouraging them to either spread the word or to purchase again) and Moo has got lots of options to choose from for that.
Definitely not all their products are perfectly eco-friendly but you can source eco-friendly products from them if you take the time to look at what each option offered is made of.
Their papers are sourced sustainably – which is the bare minimum but still needs to be a ✅ to be considered eco-friendly –
. . . and most unlaminated paper options are recyclable (although that does depend on the local recycling facility). Unlaminated options would be their cotton or luxe paper for business cards, and their essential paper for flyers.
They also offer – and this is my favorite- an option that’s not only recyclable but made of recycled t-shirt fabric, so essentially it’s a tree-free paper option and made from post-consumer goods which is absolutely amazing so definitely check that one out!
Next let’s talk about NoIssue, which I also have a mega-crush on!
When I first discovered them years ago, they were only selling the tissue paper that you can wrap your products in – and what was really cool was that you could brand it.
They call this paper “NoIssue tissue,” and it offers a really, really fun way to brand your packaging.
They use acid free paper and soy based inks so that your customers can recycle the packaging once they receive your product. And on top of that, by letting you upload your own design and logo they help you level up your unboxing experience for your customers.
And now I’m falling even more in love with NoIssue because not only are they dedicated to making their product sustainable, but they have a huge variety of super-cool customizable options like:
This is such a great variety and each and every one of them is completely eco-friendly and customizable, I just love this!
In addition to products that will help you turn your packaging into a great marketing/promo tool, they also have some great options to protect your products during transit, like your mailers, boxes, padded envelopes, shipping labels, and so on.
Anyway as you can tell I am kind of in love here.o NoIssue is a really, really cool company and definitely one you should take a look at.
Next is a company called Marketing Tape, which makes sustainable tapes that are designed to entice your customer to share their unboxing experience on social media.
I only discovered it pretty recently and actually I think they are a pretty young company (at the time I am recording this anyway) but I am quite impressed by the concept and by their vision.
Their tapes are made of a renewable and biodegradable plant-derived adhesive (made of hot melt corn starch adhesive), have a paper backing, and use soy-based ink.
This tape is so eco-friendly it’s suitable for composting, so it’s definitely a great eco-friendly option.
But – on top of the great eco-friendly nature of this tape, it’s also made to get more sales from your packaging, which is what gets me even more excited.
Because we know that if your customers are taking pictures when they receive your products and are unboxing them, it gets you more brand visibility which really boosts your sales.
This isn’t just a nice idea but something that many studies have proven again and again – social proof, word of mouth (online or offline) and what’s called “customer generated content” (aka your customers taking pictures of your products) really are strong sales drivers.
And so this company is essentially based around this idea, and wants to help you encourage your customers to share your products on social media … all done with the help of a branded, cute, fun packaging.
Now l I know they’re not custom tapes where you can upload your own design, instead you choose the design that you like the most from their collection, the one that would suit your brand and each option has a pre-printed message to encourage your customers to snap a picture.
You can see the first tape above says “tag me on social media,” and another one here states “Did you know your photos help me make more sales?” and “your photos are literal gold to my business”
It’s such a cute way to help customers realize the impact that they can have on your business — which I think is really well suited to small ecommerce businesses like yours.
Last, but certainly not least, is EcoEnclose.com. This one is a gold mine if you want to source eco-friendly packaging and shipping label supplies.
The previous recommendations are about making your products look good in a way that’s sustainable; this company has good options for everything else that you still need to take into consideration when you want to have eco-friendly packaging.
Many of the packing options they have are actually really hard to source eco-friendly elsewhere.
Items like shipping labels, mailers, envelopes and boxes aren’t the sexy branded things that make your product fun to unwrap, but this is really about protecting your product and shipping practicality.
They provide a solution for protecting your packages in a way that’s sustainable — so for example instead of plastic bubble wrap and things like that, they have eco-friendly options you can use instead.
Check out this list of eco-friendly packaging options that they offer:
… and the list goes on!
You can see that this is a total gold mine for anything you need to protect your product during shipping.
They also offer custom branded options, which I’m obsessed with. Because now you can also decide to have for example, your shipping box printed with your logo or a fun message on it in whichever color you want!
They even offer amazing eco-friendly tape options that are made of plant-derived, renewable and compostable materials. Some use pressure-sensitive natural adhesive for sticking the tape to the package, others have water-activated mechanisms, but all are eco-friendly so you and your customers can feel good about it.
Another great thing is that when you shop on their website they make it easy with their “shop by use” menu where you can choose the type of product you are packaging and they show you options that are good for those products.
So if you sell prints, they’re going to show you the packaging products that are the most likely ones you would need to package and mail prints, which I think is very helpful and really cool – because most custom packaging companies out there are usually super difficult to navigate and it can get pretty frustrating to find what you need.
The final thing I love about this company is that they are always working to create even more eco-friendly packaging possibilities— they’re constantly pushing to the next level and innovating to make things even more eco-friendly and sustainable.
For example they are currently working to create an algae-based ink that can be used to replace current environmentally toxic inks. I am clearly not an expert here but that sounds bloody amazing.
Now I’m curious if you have more ideas or have found other eco-friendly packaging companies. If you do please share them in the comment below so others can check them out and we can start a rolling list of recommendations in the comments section!
And if you haven’t read The Complete Guide To Creating Custom Packaging For Your Etsy Or Handmade Products definitely check it out now so you can get started.
Thanks for reading and until next time, aurevoir!
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