A packaging service is exactly what it sounds like: a company that specializes in packaging your products for display and sale in the retail environment. Packaging should be both appealing to the customer and well-designed to protect your products during shipping, whether that’s through a distribution center to your retail partners or directly to your customers through e-commerce or direct mail sales.
There are three things to keep in mind when choosing a Boston packaging service to work with:
1) The Quality of Packaging Work
You’ve seen shoddy shrink-wrapping and blister packaging before. Imagine walking into a retail store and seeing your product displayed upside down, off center, or in an otherwise substandard fashion. That’s not good for your sales or your brand! Ask to see samples of the packaging work the company does, and ask about brands they work with. Do your own ‘secret shopper’ investigation to see how good products look in the retail setting.
2) Capacity and Timelines
While packaging products does take time, it’s a good idea to keep this time to a minimum. Products that are sitting around waiting to be packaged aren’t making you any money! Talk to the Boston packaging service about their capacity – are they prepared to handle the volume of business you will bring? You want to have a good idea of how long it will take your products to be packaged; ask for an estimate, and ask what happens if for some reason a job takes longer than expected.
3) Pricing
It is a good best practice to compare packaging costs from several vendors before making your selection. While saving money is always important, be very wary of prices that are too-good-to-be-true: business owners often wind up paying for these deep discounts with late orders, substandard packaging, and worse. Check the reputation of any Boston packaging service you consider: manufacturing networking groups are one good source of information, as is your local business bureau.