How Modern Brown Box Packaging Can Improve Your Customer Experience

The best customer experience for a manufacturer is when you don’t have to do a thing. The order for your brown box packaging arrives on time and in the right quantity. And it’s the correct type of box with the right printing.

These are simple things that may seem obvious, but it’s the approach to business that determines whether the supply and delivery of boxes go as planned. That is what makes a world of difference for any product or retail manufacturer. It is the unnoticed customer experience that helps drive efficiency. 

This article explores the ways in which brown box packaging enhances customer experience throughout the supply chain, aiming to both delight customers and operational staff while boosting business efficiency.

Why Modern Brown Box Packaging is All About Getting the Small Things Right

Some might say that a box is a box. That is until it delaminates or gets crushed in transit. Then the quality or design of the box comes into play — or even worse, doubts may arise about the product itself, underscoring the importance of packaging in maintaining customer trust and satisfaction throughout the supply chain. For more than a decade, the trend in brown box packaging has been to minimize the amount of packaging material. This is driven by two factors:

1. Reducing the volume of packaging materials reduces costs. Not only in terms of materials used to make the boxes but also in how the volume can add to logistical costs. Oversized over-spec’d boxes can result in additional costs in terms of thickness. If they’re bigger and heavier than they need to be, the manufacturer is paying for weight and volume that is unnecessary. 
   
   
2. Reducing the volume of packaging promotes sustainability. Even when boxes are recycled, minimizing the amount of cardboard that is used and recycled helps to reduce the carbon footprint of brown boxes. 

Both of these factors are equally important in today’s manufacturing marketplace. Companies that focus on only one or the other are likely to come unstuck. When boxes are made too light or use inferior materials just to cut costs, it can negatively affect your own customer’s experience. When too little packaging is used for the sake of sustainability, there’s the risk that goods can get damaged. 

The box is the first impression of your brand when your customers receive their goods. If it is dented or damaged, or worse, delaminating, it doesn’t support a positive brand image. Equally, if the printing is skewed or even partially faded, this also doesn’t give a good first impression. 

Effective brown box packaging proves that it’s the small things that can make a big difference in the customer experience.  

Creating An Effortless Customer Experience for Manufacturers

As you know, for manufacturers keeping production on track is a major priority. Anything that delays it can result in manufacturing downtime and delays. This is why receiving brown box packaging on time and to specification is important. It enhances your customer experience because it enables you to retain a level of efficiency. 

If there is a problem with the order, resolving it quickly is essential, regardless of where fault lies. If a manufacturer realizes they ordered too few boxes, making them wait because it is their mistake does nothing to enhance their customer experience. 

By contrast, prioritizing an extra production run of the boxes and getting these delivered within 24 hours will be greatly appreciated. This is our promise at York – we have a strong commitment to deliver on customer needs and help form a strong partnership that manufacturers know they can rely on.

Helping Manufacturers Navigate Efficiency and Sustainability with Brown Box Packaging

In many ways, it’s this relationship of trust that can lead to gaining greater efficiencies in manufacturing. We’ve found that many companies know they need to improve sustainability efforts, but often lack the knowledge on how to go about this. 

Using 100% recycled brown box packaging is a good start. But it’s really getting to understand the manufacturing process better that adds the most value. For example: conducting a packaging audit to identify ways to improve packaging and save costs. Often, manufacturers shy away from packaging redesigns because they associate it with a complete overhaul that ends up being very costly.

An audit takes a slightly different approach. Packaging may not need to be reinvented entirely in order to be improved. Small changes can be made that improve the structure or reduce the volume of materials. And this gives your brand a better image for your own customers!

“A McKinsey survey of ten countries found that consumers see sustainability as increasingly important, and the vast majority of consumers say they are willing to pay more for sustainable packaging…”

- The third wave of biomaterials: When innovation meets demand, Via McKinsey, 2021

Changing your packaging design could be as simple as changing the type of board used, adding an insert, or printing directly onto the box. It takes into consideration how the box will fit on shelves in retailers, or if there are ways to improve showcasing the product. 

Packaging as a Way to Grow Sales and Brand Identity

Partnering with a brown box packing supplier such as York Container, who has 70 years of experience, means this advice is based on sound industry experience and expertise. It takes some of the guesswork out of the equation. This is hugely valuable when manufacturers are grappling with how to improve packaging or make it more sustainable. 

It’s this same expertise that can help smaller companies compete in bigger markets. For example: If a small manufacturer is looking to get on the shelves with a major retailer, we have a clear understanding of what major retailers want or don’t want in terms of packaging. 

Getting packaging aligned with retailer preferences smooths the road to being accepted by them. It gives smaller manufacturers an opportunity to grow their sales and industry profile in a very efficient way. 

This same opportunity is open to every manufacturer who is looking to gain packaging efficiency. A packaging audit is an ideal way to identify where costs could be saved or how packaging could be improved. Whether the primary goal is improving sustainability, enhancing customer experience, or adding to the bottom line, it’s an advantage to partner with a well-established brown box packing company.

York Container offers flexibility and partnerships with manufacturers to help them grow. Reach out to us if you’d like to discuss where the opportunities might be to improve your brown box packaging!