Jef Raskin, rest his soul, once said, “What users want are convenience and results.” Flexible packaging provides this convenience by morphing into whichever shape the product has. This may bring to mind different packaging materials, such as overwraps, bags, packaging liners, and more.
Flexible packaging suits any industry you may think of, from pet food, coffee, CBD products, and detergent packs. As more brands seek to offer consumers convenient packaging for products on the go, the packaging market continues to grow rapidly.
Business Wire reported that the American flexible packaging market value stood at 40.12 billion USD in 2020. It is also projected to hit 48.39 billion USD by 2026. Here is why and how the flexible packaging market has grown over time:
Appeal to Consumers
Gradually, the packaging of products is growing to affect consumer decisions more.
The same Business Wire article analyzes trends that show customers’ willingness to pay more for packaging perks like sustainability and protection.
Flexible packaging ensures these benefits besides being cost-effective. The increase in demand for flexible packaging is linkable to specific marketing trends.
Marketing Trends Connected to The Popularity of Flexible Packaging
The lifestyle of this millennium is mainly characterized by single-serving beverage and food options. Flexible packaging means that consumers can get lightweight, durable, and portable packages that can go into bags or purses.
The additional style and versatility that come with flexible packaging have increased its usage. It means the availability of bag-in-box and collapsible pouches. More eCommerce shoppers and brands are adopting flexible packaging, while the benefits of online shopping keep growing.
Benefits for the eCommerce Market
When buying online products, your most basic worries revolve around safety and quality assurance during shipping. More brands and companies are adopting flexible packaging to alleviate these concerns.
Flexible packaging ensures product safety as well as efficient and secure shipping. Once the product is sealed, the moisture barrier will keep the products fresh.
Packages are more lightweight since flexible packaging is created using materials such as aluminum foil and paper. Therefore, retailers get to lower the costs for production, waste, shipping, and damage. This results in the consumer paying less. Flexible packaging allows eCommerce retailers to cut down waste and use sustainable packaging to appeal to consumers.
Better Design and Sustainability
While eCommerce has pushed the growth of flexible packaging forward significantly, design and sustainability have played a part too. Consumers understand the importance of all these factors and are willing to pay more for benefits, such as shipping friendliness, product protection, and supply chain sustainability. The Flexible Packaging Association terms this to be true for over 60% of all North American consumers.
The appearance of the packaging of food items, such as its printing, makes them more desirable to consumers and greatly improves the inherent value of the product. Printed pouch packaging effectively differentiates your product on retail shelves, especially when it is staged. Flexible packaging such as stand-up pouches provides a billboard effect when staged.
For instance, packaging manufacturers can create pouches from monolayer (100%) polyethylene that is recyclable with some store dropoff locations and various municipalities. Flexible packaging has advantages over traditional packaging in terms of the environmental footprint and costs during product transportation.
Flexible packaging is characterized by the use of digital printing, which results in high-quality variation and graphics. This results in lower quantities being printed compared to what traditional printing methods would demand. Partnering with a reliable and experienced printing company adds to the benefits of flexible packaging.
With flexible designs, you can allow consumers to see the contents of the package before purchasing the products. Consumers love to have the option.
Where is Flexible Packaging Headed?
As more people learn and appreciate the benefits of flexible packaging, it is growing in popularity steadily. This growth will force brands and companies to consider flexible packaging so as to accommodate consumer demand.
You would be wise to start planning on adopting flexible packaging with your marketing and logistics teams as soon as possible. It wouldn’t hurt to stay in tandem or even ahead of your competitors.
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