Economic downturns and recessions invariably prompt shifts in consumer behavior, where judicious suppliers have to respond to tighter budgets by adjusting their prices and lines accordingly. Sometimes such periods deliver unexpected jolts that shake things up permanently: no going back.

While the COVID era has brought a short-term collapse for some, at the same time, it has changed the way people shop in one of the most unexpected chapters in recent
consumer history.

Recent research outcomes from DS Smith and McKinsey consistently demonstrate that the lockdown experience of the COVID era is adding a new layer of challenges for the packaging sector as companies battle to retain loyal customers and need to rethink the efficiency of their designs.

Different factors are coming into play now that will become more important as the decade moves into the “next normal.” All of this, on top of the usual demands made on packaging in terms of cost, communication and performance, means that the demands made upon the sector will continue to see it pulled in different directions. That said, there is much at its disposal to cope with these challenges, allowing some rich pickings for industry while the fruit is on the bough.

Hygiene Matters

Food packaging is among the most prominent areas where hygiene is a consideration. One of the key considerations here is the choice of packaging material, as the coronavirus survival rates vary between different surface (substrate) types. This will create considerable room for companies to think about redesigning their packaging.

It appears that as long as the coronavirus is around, hygiene will continue to be a very high concern when consumers are shopping, as many wonder how many people have touched the products on the shelf before they have. Consequently, there is likely to be an increase in the use of tamper-proof mechanisms and anti-microbial coatings that will provide greater reassurance and integrity to give consumers more confidence.

Although anti-microbial coatings and tamper-proof mechanisms have been around for a considerable time, a newer trend looks likely to be the introduction of peelable surface covers that can be removed, thereby exposing the spout or other mouth placement areas in the container or pouch design.

Obviously, the introduction of peelable covers that can be put over consumer products creates an extra layer of packaging design at a time when industry is being exhorted to use fewer packaging materials. The demands made upon their recyclability therefore become a given.

The same also applies to the design of spouts or delivery systems. The fact that the mouth and the hand often touch the same places for opening and closure is also something to be borne in mind in terms of hygiene and microbial transmission; examples of what could work might be inspired by easy-reseal labels and easy-open innovations that are already in widespread use.

E-commerce Matters

The lockdown experience has clearly funnelled more of consumer purchasing behavior down the e-commerce route. Despite many consumers preferring the tactile experience of holding goods in their hands when they go shopping, have no doubt that many will have been converted to the convenience of having their chosen products delivered to their door.

One of the less obvious aspects that lockdowns have emphasized is the consumer experience when their packages are opened at home. This has returned packaging efficiency to the spotlight, as excessive packaging often creates frustration and criticism. (Void-filling materials that cannot be recycled are also unpopular.)

Meanwhile, the “unboxing experience” is increasingly being targeted by brands so that there is effectiveness without waste (smallest volumetric packaging available), yet at the same time allowing for the easy return of goods, particularly within the clothing sector.

Efficient packaging is particularly important for eco-conscious consumers who may receive multiple home deliveries in a relatively short space of time. There are signs that the clothing retail sector is substituting paper bags in preference to plastic bags when despatching garments to consumers. And in the food sector, the trend towards the supply of meal kits and perishable items is already experiencing a transition to fully recyclable thermally insulated materials in preference to expanded polystyrene.

The transition to online shopping also creates different demands upon packaging. Hitherto most packaging designs will have been created with only the on-shelf visual and tactile experiences to consider when attracting the customer in-store. But with online shopping gaining ground, packaging design may have to be reconsidered for lightweighting and preventing product damage when in transit.

Lightweighting for delivery also helps to reduce vehicle carbon emissions – another plus point for the industry.

Another emerging trend is the merger – perhaps elimination – of primary and secondary packaging that allows for goods to be transported in their own boxes without secondary containment (or protective packaging) in what comes out as a direct-to-consumer model.

However, not all is quite as cut-and-dried in terms of purely shopping online. One area of greater emphasis to emerge during lockdown has been the click-and-collect experience, giving rise to what has been termed the “fusion shopper.”

According to research from DS Smith, there was a 42% increase in the number of consumers using click-and-collect schemes during the UK lockdown. This hybrid of buying remotely and collecting personally has generated a different consumer experience where there is a particular need for efficiency. Good design of boxes and the incorporation of smart personalized IDs is an area that is ripe for cultivation so that suppliers and brands do not lose any loyalty through bad consumer experiences at the point of transfer.

Some opportunities in this varied cross-section of possibilities are more easily achieved than others, for example the elimination of excessive packaging, and by giving clearer instructions on how packaging may be recycled.

More challenging areas lie in the realms of materials and design, but may provide the chance for other contemporary materials like monomaterials to be exploited to good effect. Multi-layer, multi-substrate packaging that incorporates peelable covers may prove to be an opportunity where major companies collaborate on future packaging design.

With interest in sustainability rising, the opportunity to combine it with hygiene performance may be an exciting time for those working in packaging design. Sustainability will be an over-arching theme as we move into the 2020s, but it is not necessarily being driven by COVID-related factors.

Beyond the Brown Box

After many years of the brown box being the standard delivery container, the upswing in e-commerce over the last five years has seen many companies develop more distinctive designs in their box packaging in order to make their products stand out at home, according to Gavin Mounce, who provides further details on these topics in a short interview on the website for DS Smith, where he is the e-commerce design manager.

Such developments have included the use of graphics and humor, and sometimes shape, which is a well-known memorable element in product packaging distinction. The difficulty here is that shape might be less amenable to being stored and transported than the way it works on a shelf, which could affect product integrity in transit. Secondary uses such as storage might also be promoted.

Some other benefits that are being exploited with e-commerce-friendly packaging designs are the use of QR codes that can pave the way for further information and offer access to personalized offers, encouraging consumers to engage more with the manufacturer online (information gathering). Developments such as these also help by providing direct links to downloadable manuals for example, thereby eliminating the further use of paper and printing on the part of industry and at home too.