5. How To Design Packaging For Shelf Presence
In this episode, we’re talking about how to design product packaging for maximum shelf presence. Are you wondering what shelf presence is and why it matters? We’ll cover that too.
Defining shelf presence
Using market research to inform shelf presence
How to design for shelf presence
Cut through the visual noise
What you can learn from beverage brand Hint’s packaging
Why you should think of packaging like a billboard
Hi, and welcome to Product Packaging and Profit, where we help product-based businesses turn packaging design into a competitive edge to attract customers, grow sales, and boost profits.
I'm Kelley Kempel, After 20 years of designing packaging for national retailers, I founded Hidden Path Creative, a graphic design studio that supports entrepreneurs with branding and packaging to get their products seen and sold. I'm sharing the secrets that launched big brands so your products can stand out. Let's get started.
This episode of Product Packaging and Profit is sponsored by the Packaging Printer List.
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Hi. Welcome back to Product Packaging and Profit. I am so excited for you to join me today. We are going to dive into a topic that I find especially intriguing when it comes to packaging design, and that is designing for shelf presence. If you've been hanging out with us here, you know that I've talked a bit about the shift to e-commerce and how people are shopping.
It's super interesting as you dive into some of the data that customers are still shopping in stores and as we move forward, stores may evolve over the next few years, but people are excited to go out and shop in person, especially after the last couple years where we've been cooped up with the pandemic.
So I had pulled a research study from Mood Media, their 2021 Shopper sentiments study. Just had some really great insights in terms of how people are shopping today and how much people are shopping in stores. So they actually surveyed 8,000 consumers in four different parts of the world in June, 2021.
So we were about a year into the pandemic at that point, and then they did a follow up study. In September, 2021. And what was really interesting between those, essentially almost six months, US customers spent 11% more time and money in store in 2021 compared to 2020. That's a big jump considering all we're hearing is about is the rise of eCommerce.
59% of consumers say the ability to feel, touch and try a product is key to shopping in store. So one of the things that we talk about on here is why packaging is so important and how it helps to sell your product. So to hear that. Essentially 60% of all shoppers are saying that they go to stores because they can feel, touch and try a product means your packaging is just as important as ever.
People are going to stores to, to really experience certain products before they buy them. And so you really wanna be prepared. And another thing in this study that I found super interesting was that the two top reasons for customers to shop in stores apart from the ability to touch, feel, and experience the product is the convenience of taking the purchase home right then and there.
They don't have to wait for the product to be delivered and the ability to browse and discover new. If you recall in one of the previous episodes we talked about that discoverability that happens in stores, and customers enjoy that. They enjoy being able to go into a store and find something that they hadn't thought of.
It's like a treasure hunt. They're finding something new. It's really exciting and it makes the shopping experience a little more social when you're, with a friend or a family member and you're able to see something new and then share it. These are reasons why customers are still shopping in stores and why until e-commerce is able to replicate that convenience of getting something today, which we know some things are getting there, but still there is a satisfaction of walking into a store and bringing something home.
Until e-commerce also brings in, a way to curate and show new ideas and items. I'm sure an algorithm's gonna figure that out someday, but it's a little, it's a little different than just saying, Hey, you bought this top. Do you want it in another color? That's real easy.
But when somebody is buying for a store and they have an aesthetic for the store and then they find a new product that is maybe a category that they hadn't carried before, or a new maker they hadn't carried before, and they take a risk on that and bring that into store. That's just not something that that algorithm can replace right now.
And did you know that 81% of customers have tried something new because the product packaging caught their eye? Again, that's not something that e-commerce can do right now. So yes, eight out of 10 people are inspired to try a new product based on package design. So this is why your shelf presence, how your product and your package look in store are so important.
I'm using this word shelf presence, but I'm realizing I haven't really broke down what I mean by shelf presence and. Amusing shelf presence as like a term for how a product in its package looks and appears in store. So it may be on a shelf, it may be on a table, it may be on a rack, it may be on a peg wall hanging up.
But how does your product show up visibly in store , you know, that you have to be eye catching and attract attention, but one of the things that I think we, we kind of discount sometimes when we're designing packaging is what does that experience look like around the product and around the package? And how can we either leverage cues that are already there or make decisions based on that to stand out?
It's really easy to design a package and a vacuum, meaning. You're looking at it on screen. You're working with the designer. They may be sending you PDFs, they may be sending you renders. They might have a beautiful white background around it, which means there's no noise interfering with what is going on the visual of that box or bag.
We talked about, in the last episode, how to do market research. Well, market research is especially important when you're designing for shelf presence so you understand what the visual noise is that's happening around your product. So shelf presence is all about how your brand and how your product presents itself.
And one of the key things that I like to look at, What is your billboard presence? Your packaging should be visible from a distance, so think about when you're driving down a highway and there's billboards on the side of the highway. They're not putting paragraphs of texts, they're not putting lots of things.
Most billboards, the most effective billboards are simple, easy to understand, have one key message and have one call to action on them. And they probably have a text and a visual that work. So you want something that's really clean and that really cuts through. Um, and then you can add details. You can add things to layer in so that as the customer gets closer, as they've been drawn in by the really big message, the really big story, that then they can pick the package up and discover something else on the package.
So you're gonna layer messaging, you're gonna layer graphics, textures, things. , but overall, you want something that when somebody is standing 15 feet away, they can see your package, they can see your product, and understand what the product is, and get a sense for your brand, whether that's your brand name or the emotion of your brand.
You want them, to be able to glean that information so that they want to come closer and learn more. So one of the stories that I really love about Shelf presence is, last year I was listening to Kara Goldin's memoir, and if you're not familiar with her, she is the founder of Hint, the Flavored Water. Beverage brand and her memoir is called Dauntless. One of the stories in there that really stood out to me was when they originally designed the packaging for Hint. They put the water is flavored, but it's flavored with natural essences. There's no artificial flavors, artificial colors, anything like that.
It just looks like plain water. And then, The flavoring is infused, so when you drink it, you taste it, but you don't really see it. So they wanted to do a label that was clear and showed the fruit flavor with imagery on that clear label. And they did a clear label for a while. Um, it got them into stores, but one of the things that they found when they were scaling was that just by shifting that label from clear to.
They stood out on shelf so much better because that what that white did was it gave a backdrop to their graphics to stand out more. Without that background, everything that was happening behind the bottles became visual noise that interacted with the graphics on those clear labels, which made it more difficult for customers to see and pick out on the shelf, and it just didn't have as much of an a visual impact.
So once they shifted to that white label, even though it covered up the clear beverage, which is one of their selling points, what it did do was it amplified their visuals. It almost made them louder in a way. So a lot of times when I talk about visuals, especially self presence, I'll talk about volume because, things can be small and light and tonal, but there are some things that need to be bigger and bold.
So that they are visually louder to attract attention. And that's where the Hint team found that just by making that subtle shift, moving from a clear label to a white label, their shelf presence was dramatically improved. So when you're designing per shelf presence, You don't have to make everything visible.
You just have to make enough visible to create that intrigue at that 15 feet mark so that when somebody is approaching the shelf and scanning away, it's very busy, right? There's all sorts of products. No matter where you are, no matter whether you're in a small boutique and you're selling a candle or whether you've made it into Whole Foods with your food or beverage.
there's always gonna be other products and competition around you, so you wanna make sure your visuals are distinct and cut through as well as, or just super clear from across the room to attract attention. So your main goal at this point is to attract that attention and invite the customer to come closer.
So that's really, that is, your shelf. In a nutshell, it is how you look on shelf, how you're attracting attention, and then how you are inviting somebody to come closer. So how do you really do this? As I mentioned before, we talked last week all about how to do your market research, get a feel for your competitors that are in the market.
This comes. Really helpful. So you're gonna wanna have that information. And then you're also gonna wanna know where is your product most likely to show up? This is something that you can also do a little bit of research on and you can also glean from your market research. So let's say you are a new candle brand and you're just you're just going into retail, so you're gonna be targeting some smaller boutiques in shops.
Your product is most likely gonna wind up on a table, maybe on a shelf. Okay? That's. Maybe you have something that is some sort of organizational tool and you're ready to make that jump to say, a container store. You wanna look at what section of the store, your product, your product belongs in. So let's say you have a food prep item, that area has some, some riser tables and some shelves.
But there's some other areas of the store that have back walls with hooks. So you'll want to get a sense for in general, What are the couple different ways your product can be displayed in store? And then you'll wanna see how far away does your package need to capture attention. And I say that because, 15 feet is like a good standard marker.
However, there are going to be some stores and boutiques where if you're in a small boutique, it may not need to be 15 feet, it may need to be 10 and 15 feet would be. But then, if you're looking to get into some of the larger stores, some of the bigger box stores, the mass retailers, you may actually want your product to be visible from 20 or 25 feet.
Your item might be bigger, so it might need to have that reach of 20 or 25 feet. So don't just wanna get that sense and then that way, When you are looking at a package design, knowing that you only have two seconds to grab somebody's attention, to create that intrigue, you can scale that package to get a sense for is my design, making a statement from far away.
And then, you've gathered all this information, choose a packaging format and size that provides maximum real estate. This is crucial. So what do I mean by maximum real estate? Essentially, a box is a really easy place to start, so a box has six sides and your product might be able to be broken down in the box and the customer puts it together or it might not be able to.
Let's say I've got this phone here, right? It's got six sides. The maximum real estate for this phone would be here or here, and I should probably describe this to you for those of you that are listening on the podcast. Think of your phone and you've got the front where you see your screen and you text.
And then, you can either look at it vertically or you can look at it horizontally. So you either have a portrait or a landscape. That face of your phone that you type on, that would be the most maximum real estate if you put this phone in a box. So you would want to make that your front of package.
And then depending on where this is gonna be placed or how the product can be stacked, like let's say the product can't be stacked, then you'd actually probably wanna do it vertical. But if it can be stacked, you might wanna do it horizontally. And so what this does is it gives you the most amount of space to create a visual on your front of package that is eye catching, that draws attention, and then you can maximize the amount of information that's included there.
Boxes are super helpful because they have a distinct front back bottom, which makes it really easy for shop owners, store associates to merchandise your box the way that you've designed them and the way that you've intended them to be merchandised. As soon as you move to something that's cylindrical and doesn't. A spatial front and back, it's easier for that to get mixed up on the shelf. And that's why, unique packaging formats can be really eye catching, but you wanna weigh the risks of, is this something that based on where my product is going, it's gonna be easy to me. Is there somebody that is going to be, making sure the shelves are nice and neat and that the products, have their primary display panel faced out to customers?
So just things you want to consider in terms of finding the most amount of space on your package to create shelf presence and attract attention. Slim packaging is usually helpful for shipping, but a lot of times it lacks presence on store shelves. So that's something to think about as well. If you think about a mailer box that's something that lays flat, well, I'd wanna tip that up so that the top is actually the front on the shelf so that you've got more real estate on shelf.
So all that to say, be creative. Don't be afraid to turn a container, because. Your packaging is your hardest working asset when you are not there. So you want it to be doing the most for you, so you wanna maximize all of its benefits. Now, one of the best things that you can use when creating shelf presence is color.
You've probably heard me say this before, but color is the first thing that our eyes see, and it is so memorable. Choosing colors and color combinations that are eye catching, that do stand out from the competition and that relate to your product, relate to your category, and people associate with your brand can be almost like a secret weapon when creating shelf presence.
So definitely consider contrast as well, not just the colors themselves. Contrast being. A white box with big, bold, black type is actually the highest contrast design you can get. You may go that high contrast or you may decide that, you wanna have a little bit of contrast, but don't go too neutral or tonal on your product packaging unless you're, unless your product is meant to be discreet or unless your product is going into, super small, high end boutiques where the store associates are selling your products for you. It'll look beautiful, but it won't be that hardworking asset that you need in store to sell your products and be bold.
I think I've said this a few times, but the back to the billboards are super clear. They're bold. They've got one big key message they might have, a call to action or, some social media pieces on it. But don't try and put too much. Put just enough to draw someone in and give somebody context as to what your product is and why they might need it.
Don't include a long list of bullet points or lots of copy. It's just too much. Once that visual gets busy, your customer eyes are just gonna move on to the next thing, and don't get overly fussy or complicated. Like I was just saying, if things get too busy, we don't know where to look.
And then if your package is busy and the one next to it is not, customers are just gonna go to the one next to it. You wanna make it easy for customers to see and connect with your product, and then once they've picked it up, you wanna make it easy for somebody to read. the features and why they need it.
Definitely layer the design. We talked a little bit about that earlier, so think about how your customer is going to experience your package from 15 feet, five feet. 18 inches. So 15 feet is, they're walking up to the display, they're walking through the aisle. What's that part that's gonna catch their eye?
Okay, that's caught my eye. I'm intrigued. Next I'm gonna approach, so what is the next layer of elements of communication that is going to become visible to me at that five feet mark. So it might be some additional information, it might be some texture. And then what is that really detailed information at 18 inches? At 18 inches, somebody has picked up that box, they've turned it over. They want to know more to help them make that purchase decision. So you're gonna layer from far away to really up close, and it's really that journey of somebody getting to know you.
I am so excited to see how you guys take this and infuse this to your own product and packaging design.
Remember that we've got so many people who are still shopping in stores. We have people who want to go into boutiques, who want to go into stores and find new products. Find your products. So make it easy for them. Use your packaging to create a presence that attracts attention and invites them in so that they want to learn more.
And you have so much to include in that shelf presence to really show off your product, show off your personality. You're extending an invitation to them. You are showing them who you are and you're asking them to learn more. So have fun with it.
Thank you so much for joining me, and thank you for listening to Product Packaging and Profit, a podcast for product entrepreneurs looking to level up with packaging.
We hope you'll join us next time to hear more about how packaging can help propel profitable product business. If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review us wherever you're listening, and be sure to come back in two weeks for our next episode. Until then, this is Kelley Kempel of Hidden Path Creative, and don't forget what's on the outside matters too.