Click 'Read Original' for details. Recently, I've been working on a packaging design project. Since the product's channels involve both offline (supermarkets) and online (content platforms, mainly WeChat official accounts), this article will provide some interim conclusions about the relationship between channels and packaging.
Is there a relationship between channels and packaging?
You might be wondering: What does product packaging have to do with sales channels? Do different channels really influence packaging design?
Let me tell you clearly: Yes, and significantly.
If you follow packaging design, you've likely noticed a phenomenon: online, you often see product packaging that is beautifully designed, simple, creative, and stylish—packaging you'd never find in a typical supermarket.
For example, the packaging for the pastries and honey below are works by well-known design agencies.
In contrast, similar categories in supermarkets mostly look like this:
Of course, you might say, "Many online brands are niche and can't enter mainstream supermarkets."
That's a factor, but it's not absolute. Sometimes even the same brand will have different packaging online versus offline.
For instance, a type of ice cream I recently bought had packaging on Tmall like this:
But in offline supermarkets, it looked like this:
Why the difference?
Ultimately, it's because: In different sales environments, packaging carries different cognitive missions, and the focus of its functions differs.
Let's start with the online situation.
If all marketing efforts are aimed at driving sales, then online, packaging doesn't have a huge impact on sales.
Because besides packaging, you have many opportunities to showcase product information—like sales copy that can easily reach a thousand words, product detail pages with a dozen images, and even dynamic videos that vividly display product attributes.
Offline supermarkets are different.
Most products don't have advertising budgets; they rely solely on packaging—maybe less than 0.1 square meters of display area, a dozen words, and one or two product photos—to tell consumers "Who am I" and "Why should you buy me."
So, in terms of difficulty, designing packaging for purely online products is relatively easy. Exaggerating a bit, you could just print a logo on a plain box and let your creativity run wild elsewhere. You can be as minimalist or as stylish as you want.
For offline supermarkets, there are many more considerations.
1. The name must be prominent
To get consumers to buy your product, you at least need to tell them what you're selling, right?
Text is the most direct way to communicate; it's less prone to misinterpretation than images.
So, successful brands that have thrived in offline channels for years always make the product/brand name one of the most prominent elements on the packaging, and they make it as large as possible so it's visible from a distance.
Online, while the name is still a key element, many brands deliberately make it small for simplicity and aesthetics. For example, a cookie I saw on Yitiao Life:
Although this reduces visibility from a distance, it's not a big problem when content (articles/images) is the main marketing vehicle; it even looks chic. (But it definitely wouldn't sell in offline supermarkets unless heavily advertised...)
2. Product photos are key
Let's revisit the ice cream packaging example. What's the main difference between its online and offline packaging?
Clearly—on the online packaging, you barely see the product photo; the entire design is beautiful geometric shapes. In contrast, the offline packaging prominently features the ice cream photo as the focal point.
The logic is the same: to get consumers to buy, you need to show them what you're selling. Besides a prominent name, the product photo must also be prominent, so people can see the product at a glance.
This isn't just about whetting appetite; more importantly, it increases consumer certainty.
Because humans inherently dislike uncertainty. If they're not sure what the product looks like or what they're buying, how can they be expected to purchase?
Online, you can write a long description with images, but offline, packaging might be your only chance. Don't imitate some internet-famous brands that cover the packaging with flashy patterns or leave only a logo—that's a death sentence offline.
This is especially important for new categories.
What is a new category? It's not a newly invented category, but one that most consumers are unfamiliar with—they don't know what it is or what it does.
Take this green juice product, which has been sold for 4 years and is very popular online, with nearly 3 billion yuan in sales last year. But once placed in supermarkets, it basically doesn't sell.
Why the contrast?
A key reason: their promotional channels are online. Although millions nationwide know about the product, when spread across various cities, the density is low. So for the general consumer, it's still a new category.
If you haven't heard of this product, just by looking at the packaging, do you know what it is?
Probably not. That's a packaging problem—it's not suitable for offline.
If we ignore price and origin, these green juice brands below would sell much better in supermarkets.
You can roughly tell what green juice is from the packaging because of the photo.
(PS: Although the actual product is powder, not a drink, it's still better to highlight the drink. Because consumers are more interested in ready-to-consume items, just like instant coffee packaging shows a cup of brewed coffee, not coffee powder.)
Of course, some products' packaging naturally can't accommodate photos, making it hard for consumers to understand the product from packaging alone.
For example, Mike (a rice wine brand): the bottle has no photos, follows a minimalist style, has few words, and the bottle is opaque.
In such cases, other materials must be used to convey product information.
Mike primarily uses restaurant channels, and initially, almost every restaurant with Mike had a large poster at the entrance with more text and images introducing Mike. (I can't find a photo of the poster now.)
Without that poster, relying solely on the packaging would have made initial sales very difficult.
3. Utilize every surface
Many designers like to use "white space" in packaging design, leaving surfaces blank, like this:
While this might look minimalist and high-end, it's a crime for information dissemination, especially offline.
Why?
Because offline, consumers are constantly moving; they can't always see the front of the packaging.
If they're standing tall, they see only the top; if they're off to the side, they see only the side; sometimes they might only see the back...
Therefore, to maximize information transfer efficiency, you must use every surface.
This egg pudding packaging does it well—all five surfaces are utilized, each with content comparable to an ad, providing complete information. Consumers can be attracted by any side they see. (It places secondary production info on the bottom.)
Don't be afraid of repetition. Many designers worry about being seen as lazy, so they avoid repeating brand info on every surface, preferring white space and calling it "breathing room."
That's unnecessary. The ultimate goal is to drive sales, not to showcase "design skill."
The egg pudding above has four surfaces that are repeated in pairs. You could call the designer lazy, but it's a worthwhile, smart, and effective laziness.
If you're unsure what to put on a surface, just print the brand and product name. Don't leave it blank; that's wasteful.
If you produce a million units, you're wasting at least 10,000 square meters of display area—twice the advertising area of the Aurora Building.
4. Accommodate different display orientations
Although we usually decide whether packaging is portrait or landscape during design, in actual product displays, portrait-oriented packaging might not be placed vertically, and landscape might not be horizontal, because supermarket staff also consider shelf dimensions and efficiency.
In such cases, it's best to set the front and back as portrait and landscape versions respectively. This way, whether placed horizontally or vertically, consumers can read the content at a glance without tilting their heads, which can significantly increase purchase rates.
5. Display advantage
Supermarket shelves won't only have your product; competitors will be right next to you. So you need to find ways to make your product stand out and grab consumers' attention immediately—be eye-catching.
Using eye-catching colors (like red and yellow) is one option, but many brands may not suit those colors. In that case, you can work on the layout.
What does that mean?
Many packaging designs use "horizontal and vertical" layouts. While this looks natural, it's also the least eye-catching because it's too calm.
You need to create some visual noise—incorporate prominent curves or diagonal lines that conflict with the boxy packaging/display, thereby attracting attention.
The soy sauce brand below clearly understands this; you notice it before you even reach it.
6. Net weight
In my previous article "In Supermarkets, Why Is Milk Tea Mostly Sold in Cups, While Coffee in Boxes?", I mentioned the example of Jiangzhong Hougu Mixian (a rice paste).
Online, it's mainly sold in boxes with multiple sachets; offline supermarkets, it's mostly sold as single cups.
Why this arrangement?
It's simple. At the time, Mixian was a relatively niche new category, and many supermarket shoppers weren't familiar with it. In that case, asking them to buy a large box was unrealistic, so they had to try a single cup.
Online is different; you have detail pages to slowly explain the benefits. If they're convinced, they might commit to a large box.
What's the point here?
It's this: If your product is a new category, or even just a new brand, and you're selling both online and offline, the offline packaging should be relatively smaller in size. Unless you have a big advertising budget...
(PS: This applies only to products with combination packaging.)
Because no matter how good your product is, you can't fully convey it through the small packaging alone. Most consumers, when seeing the packaging, are still in a state of uncertainty—unsure if it tastes good or works well.
So, make the portion smaller to reduce the consumer's risk, making them more likely to try it.
Summary
This article summarizes six basic points for offline product packaging:
- Name should be prominent
- Photo is key
- Utilize every surface
- Accommodate different display orientations
- Create display advantage
- Net weight relatively small
Of course, these are all reference factors, not absolute standards.
For example, this food packaging without a product photo would still be very popular offline. (Because it uses the actual product instead of a photo, which is even more direct.)
Another example: some skincare brands intentionally use large white space to convey a "clean and flawless" feeling; this "waste" is understandable.
In short, analyze each situation specifically; don't apply these rules mechanically.
Source: Brand Circle (ID: Brand-Circle)
On October 23-24, during the Autumn Sugar & Wine Fair, New Distribution will host the "2018 FMCG City Distribution Logistics Conference." We will invite industry experts, FMCG warehousing and distribution specialists, and distributors who have transformed to unified warehousing and distribution platforms to discuss and answer questions about future trends in FMCG city distribution logistics and practical cases of distributor transformation. We hope to bring you new insights and thoughts!
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