How do You Feel About Drone Package Delivery? Amazon announced last December they intended to launch a fleet of small drone helicopters to deliver lightweight packages to their customers in the US. Will all retailers have delivery drones? Do we really want this or need it? After an initial guffaw from consumers and experts, the realization slowly sunk in that such a package delivery service is not only possible,... Read More →

How We Buy at Xmas: Risk and Reward How’s your Xmas promotional campaign shaping up? Is everything set with no plans for last minute tweaks? Well, I have to ask because a new study is providing a new perspective on consumer shopping habits which could impact your POP promotions and packaging. Researchers from the Business School at Oxford University conducted a study into the decision making processes of... Read More →

Shrink wrap packaging has been around for quite a while, but lately it seems it’s catching on big time in retail. It’s time to take a closer look at the advantages. According to Smithers Pira, Stretch and Shrink Sleeve Labels have captured 13% of the labels market. It offers quite a range of benefits from security enhancement to cost advantages. The top benefits of shrink wrap sleeves are listed below. Powerful... Read More →

Best of the Packaging Blog We’re heading towards the holiday season and it’s crunch time for your marketing and sales team. Will your product sell well? And if it doesn’t do you know what happened? That’s why we’ve covered such a range of retail packaging topics and issues. From mobile marketing to packaging materials to logistics to POP strategy, we’ve tried to help you get the broadest and most effective... Read More →

Disrupt, Startle, and Get in their Path The 2014 Xmas retail shopping season is just about here and the pressure is on for many manufacturers to sell on the retailer’s “branded shelving.” Which products will do well? Whether your product is pharmaceuticals, children’s toys, clothing accessories, electronics accessories, personal care, etc. your key task is to get noticed. We most often talk about shelf-impact... Read More →

Any Surprises in the 2014 Xmas Shopping Forecast? With the Canadian economy rolling again, we’re feeling a cautious sense of optimism about this year’s Xmas shopping season. The forecast growth for 2014 holiday shopping in Canada is between 2 to 2.5% so it bears that feeling out. If you’re not familiar with holiday shopping numbers, there probably are some big surprises in the 2014 forecast.  And the outlook for... Read More →

Retailers Need to Leverage Mobile to Stimulate Lost Retail Customers New articles published in the Wall Street Journal foretell of troubles in the land of retail. Traffic in retail stores continues to drop and it’s believed showrooming and online shopping is to blame. That’s not hard to understand really. Shoppers enjoy unlimited selection online, perhaps lower prices, and they get to do stuff with their... Read More →

Product/Display Packaging Guidelines for Canadians (* note this post is not a statement on actual legal guidelines and is for reference to Canadian or other government packaging guideline sources only.) If you’re a Canadian company wanting to market or sell products in Canada, there are restrictions and requirements that will impact on how you do your packaging and display advertising. Unfortunately, not all... Read More →

The effects of the last recession and the recovery are making life tough for the major brands these days. The forces are part social, part technological and part business. They’re struggling to keep the brand equity they worked so hard to create. There’s not much brand value in a product that isn’t in the store. Consumers are dropping their favourite brand name products for cheaper house brands. And retailers... Read More →

Does Packaging Add Value to Brands and Products? I think most consumers and manufacturers would agree that packaging can add value to a product. In fact, since 80% of shoppers make their decisions instore, wouldn’t we all agree that packaging and POP display design are becoming the key sales persuasion tools? But without assuming it has a dollar value, then what is packaging really be about? Is plain brown paper... Read More →