Size isnt everything
Its understood that the per-unit cost savings are what lure many shoppers to purchase the products they want in bulk sizes – rather than settling for several purchases of a regular-sized product. But no matter how good the deal is on the club-size product, a shopper is much more likely to purchase it if its packaging also stands out on shelves.
Don Childs, senior vice president, executive creative director with Brandimage, a division of Des Plaines, Ill.-based SGK, notes that whether a pack is standard size or a club pack, it must do three things to make its way into shoppers carts:
- Stop the customer – Packaging first must grab the shoppers attention from the end of the aisle and draw her closer.
- Hold the customers attention – Once the shopper has been brought to the category, packaging must draw her focus to the SKU.
- Close the deal – Once the shoppers attention is on the individual SKU, packaging must convince the shopper to choose that specific SKU.
Grab their attention
Retailers also need to play a different design game with their club packs than they do with standard packaging – especially if those club packs are intended to be sold in a club store.
"Club packs often exist in a more true clean store environment and must work harder to deliver the product message [and] the image of the brand, and serve as a merchandising tool," says Simon Haddad, director, shopper marketing with Galileo Global Branding Group, a division of Stamford, Conn.-based Daymon Worldwide.
On the visual end, retailers need to make sure their club packs sport a window to help shoppers see what theyre putting in their cart, says Lyndsay Stone, senior project manager with P&W Design Consultants, Hermosa Beach, Calif.
"Product visibility is vitally important, especially if the customer is committing to buying 2 pounds rather than a few ounces," she states. "If your club pack frozen shrimp doesnt have a window on the front or back of the pack, the consumer cant see the quality, and the trust is diminished."
Retailers also need to make good use of the expanded "canvas" on club packs. To do so, they should enlarge graphics, fonts and callouts to make them more "striking" and easier to read, says Deborah Ginsburg, president, owner and lead design architect at Oakton, Va.-based Strategia Design.
"Most of the time, packaging is the same, but a huge club pack or value pack [callout] is dropped on the packaging," she says. "All this does is distract from the selling features of the product itself."
Its vital that retailers invest in high-quality printing on store brand club packs if they want that product to sell.
However, graphics and callouts mean little to nothing if the printing is of cheap quality, Childs says. Its vital, therefore, that retailers invest in high-quality printing on store brand club packs if they want that product to sell.
"Treat the shipper or outer carton as the primary package, investing in higher-quality printing and multiple colors," he states. "This often becomes the primary display, so embracing this liability can be a unique retailer advantage over national brands."
Graphics and callouts also dont count for much if packaging is too busy or looks too cluttered. Liz Fisher, creative director with Kaleidoscope, Chicago, says retailers need to remember one simple rule with packaging artwork: Less is more.
"Simplicity is key," she explains. "Focus on highlighting the most important information that you want consumers to know in a visually arresting way. Simple, effective verbal and visual communication will help to build a successful private brand at club and drive repeat purchases."
Also helpful is printing the packages front artwork on multiple sides. Doing so allows retailers to face the product toward patrons in a number of ways, Haddad says.
"Club packs are often merchandised to take advantage of multi-facing [opportunities]," he notes. "If merchandised on pallets, this may require adequately addressing at least two distinct merchandising angles or providing unique offsetting facings for greater overall display impact."
Build a good structure
On the structural side of club pack design, retailers need to consider the issues shoppers have with transporting and storing bulk products. Haddad states that a products value proposition could be reduced if the shopper finds packaging to be too "cumbersome" or "unwieldy."
Ginsburg agrees, noting that once the shopper gets a product home from the store, she needs to be able to easily open, remove and store its contents. Meeting the shoppers needs here could help generate tremendous loyalty.
"If there is a way to work with the vendor to create some proprietary [perforation] so you can get the product to dispense easily – handles, tearaways or even a way to break down the package – that would be a great selling point for the consumer and leave a good consumer-centric wow feeling – that the retailer really thought about me feeling," she says.
Going a step further, Stone recommends that retailers offer portioned packs inside the main club pack – especially for perishable goods.
"Offering a double pack instead of the bigger size helps keep products fresh and reduce waste – adopting the eat one, keep one mentality," she says. "[But retailers] must keep in mind that the individual packs have to be exact replicas of each other, with date codes and ingredients, etc., consistent. Deli meat is a prime example – eat a pack one week, and save the other for the next."
Stone adds that retailers need to take time to determine the different ways the product could be used when theyre developing own-brand club packs. For example, bulk-size ketchup intended for the typical consumer should be in a bottle thats designed to fit in a household refrigerator. But for the foodservice operator, features such as a pump could be more desirable than a smaller bottle.
And to make merchandising easier, packaging should be structured for stacking, Childs points out.
"Consider how the massing of product could present a unique billboarding opportunity – perhaps going so far as to treat the package fronts as if they were a piece of a larger billboard," he suggests.
| Consider the environment Excessive packaging can be a turnoff to consumers today, who are more conscious than ever about sustainability and interested in recycling packaging after use, says Elisabeth Emory, account management and planning – Wrigley, Global at Kaleidoscope, Chicago. Therefore, retailers should consider "working harder" with their manufacturing and package design partners to prevent over-packaging. Club packs need to be constructed from "substantial materials to hold the contents," Emory says, but proper consideration of shelf space can lead to more careful design. "Products can be packaged more thoughtfully to minimize the amount of packaging and distribution costs to stores," she explains. "Take the opportunity to maximize pallet skirts for advertising and promotions. This is a no-brainer to help promote the brand and create destination areas within your store." Simon Haddad, director, shopper marketing with Galileo Global Branding Group, a division of Stamford, Conn.-based Daymon Worldwide, agrees. "Sustainability aspects are extremely important," he offers. "Extraneous material needs to be well thought out in order to function as both storage and merchandising elements while also providing adequate structure and organization – and maintaining a responsible eye on environmental consciousness." |