Today i’m going take you though my ultimate guide to amazon product packaging and product inserts.
For any of you that don’t know me my name is Nick (That’s me above – Hello) and i have been a full time amazon seller for over two years.
I’m sure we can all agree that over the last few years amazon has become much more competitive…
Amazon are cracking down on the sellers using black hat tactics.
A few years ago sellers could launch a product and within days have hundreds of 5 star reviews…
If this had of continued consumers would of soon lost trust in the amazon platform.
Nowadays we have to rely on product quality and customer experience (This is a good thing).
As a amazon seller in the current market you need to take every advantage available to you.
This is why I’ve decided to write this article… I hope you find it useful.
Today i want to pass on a lot of the tips and tricks i have learnt about amazon product packaging and product inserts…
What Will This Article Cover?
This article is for people that have their Amazon product ready to go, if you are interested in learning how to find products to sell on Amazon, I’d recommend reading my article on the topic.
In this blog post, I’ll run through a lot of the stuff you need to know about packaging.
We will cover a lot of the basics along with amazon’s requirements.
Then i’ll go on to show you how i use my product packaging to do the following:
- Improve the customer experience and increase levels of positive reviews
- Increase the click through rate on my amazon listings
- Reduce negative reviews
- Open up the opportunity to expand to new sales channels
I will also run you through how i use my product inserts to:
- Build my brand’s audience
- Increase positive reviews
- Decrease the number of negative reviews
- Improve the customer experience
I will warn you now, i’m not interested in black hat tactics. Is this is you, you’ve found the wrong blog.
Let’s start by looking at the product packaging side of things…
Amazon Product Packaging: The Different Types
When it comes to my product packaging, i like to keep it simple.
I will always design the packaging with the end user in mind.
I’ll also think about the fact that the packaging is going to be moving around a lot… i want to limit the chance of any damage.
One of the most important factors for me is the size of the box…
The smaller the box, the lesser the cost of the freight.
It’s not always possible but i like to save space where i can.
Before we go further into the product packaging design side of things, let’s look at the different types of packaging.
Carton Box Packaging
This is the packaging solution i use for most of my products.
It’s probably my favorite because it provides a blank canvass for you to show off the products unique selling points.
It also gives you the chance to implement a lot of the strategies i’ll talk about shortly.
The quality of the box will vary from supplier to supplier…
Before you go ahead with any supplier, you should request a finished product sample.
In order for your supplier to create the finished product you’ll need to have a designer create the packaging design…
Your supplier will need the exact dimensions so you’ll need to request a die cut from the supplier (don’t worry i’ll explain this shortly).
Here is what a typical carton box looks like.
Blister Card Packaging
This is a type of packaging i don’t use very often but i’m sure you are used to seeing them in-store when you are out shopping.
Naturally this type of packaging is better suited for in-store sales, you don’t see them too often in the world of eCommerce.
Poly Bag Packaging
We do use this type of packaging on the online arbitrage side of our business.
This is by far the cheapest form of packaging…
I mean it makes sense, it’s just a plastic bag.
This type of package can cause HUGE problems if you don’t fully read and understand amazon’s terms of service.
Amazon have strict guidelines about warning labels, especially suffocation warnings.
What Is a Die Cut? – Packaging Template
This is a vital part of the process.
The Die Cut is the connecting piece between you, the factory and your final product.
As mentioned earlier it’s always sensible to have a sample made of your final product.
To do this you’ll need to request a die cut from your supplier (i usually recommend asking for this in .ai format).
This is what a die cut looks like…
Usually this will include all of the measurements, if it doesn’t ask your supplier to send you the dimensions.
Once you have the die cut you are ready to find a designer and have your product packaging made up.
Over the years I’ve found a lot of useful packaging designers, I’ve used a lot of different freelancer sites.
I’ve always found this site to be the most cost effective.
There are a lot of other useful sites there to be fair, I’ve always found Upwork to be pretty useful.
Anyway, before we get onto the fun stuff let’s quickly look at some of the general packaging rules and regulations.
Amazon Product Packaging Requirements
This section is important if you want to protect the longevity of your amazon business.
Small as they may seem these rules are important, if you get it wrong you could cost yourself A LOT of money.
Barcodes
Your product will need a barcode, think of this as a product identifier.
It’s tells amazon and the world exactly what your product is.
Every product needs a barcode, regardless of whether you sell on amazon.
Amazon have a requirement for gs1 barcodes, a lot of sellers simply don’t understand this.
Don’t give amazon any reason to shut you down, a lot of sellers ignored this and look what happened.
Now there is a difference between amazon barcodes and general barcodes, it is a bit of a complex subject.
Luckily for you one of the other founders here at eBusiness Boss has written full article explaining everything you need to know.
You can read it here: amazons barcode requirements.
He’s also put together a series of YouTube videos on the subject, you can watch part 1 below (Thanks Sam).
Made In China
If your products are manufactured in China, and you sell in the US, you’ll need to have “Made In China” displayed on the packaging.
For any EU sellers out there the rules are slightly different, not all products have this requirement.
If you are in doubt i’d recommend checking in with a product certification specialist, we do this for all of our products (It saves headaches in the long run).
Warning Label Requirements
Your warning label requirements will completely depend on your product and marketplace.
Warning labels are extremely important, as is all product compliance, skimp on it and you’ll put your entire business at risk.
There is a range of different warning labels but here is a common one for toys that include small objects.
Now the boring stuff is out of the way, let’s move onto the fun stuff…
Amazon FBA Custom Packaging Ideas
Since the TOS change in 2016 “Product Reviews” have become a hot topic amongst amazon sellers.
It’s no surprise really, before the TOS change sellers could cheat the system for their own benefit.
As the years have rolled on sellers have had to up their game and start thinking from a real marketing perspective.
When the TOS change was announced i too was a little worried about the implications for third party sellers…
But i actually think it’s been a hugely positive move.
Let me explain how i have changed my product packaging strategy to stay ahead and continue to grow my sales on amazon.
Customer Experience: Get Things Popping
For me, this is THE most important area of any amazon business.
It determines the long term success of any business.
When a customer receives my product i want them to enjoy the process as much as possible.
By improving your customer experience you’ll improve your positive to negative review ratio.
I’ll make the packaging interesting and vibrant to increase the chances of a customer sharing the product with a friend.
Vibrant, interesting packaging gives you a better chance of making your products images more eye catching…
In turn this will improve your click through rate… This is only going to be a good thing in amazon’s eyes.
I also like to show off the product’s unique selling points where it makes sense.
You should use your packaging to communicate useful information to your customer (i’ll go into more detail don’t worry).
Let me give you an example of a brand that i think has packaging sussed.
The Louisville Vegan Jerky Co seem to be doing things very well.
They understand the importance of building brand…
Their packaging, logo and branding imagery pulls you into their brand story…
It seems to be serving them well on the likes of Amazon.
You’ll have to look at their amazon store or website to see exactly what i mean.
They’ve made their packaging vibrant, interesting and shareable… Check out this customer review on Amazon.
They’ve made their packaging so good that their customers want to share pictures of it when they are out and about.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this customer shared the same image on Instagram or some other form of social media.
Word of mouth will always be one of the most powerful forms of marketing…
In this day and age a lot of our word of mouth is done on the likes of instagram and facebook…
The Power Of Social Media
At this point i think we have established that your amazon product packaging is PRIME real estate.
You should be using your product packaging to encourage customers to share pictures of the product on social media.
Why not consider adding something like this on your packaging…
“Share a picture of your product on Instagram using the hashtag #ilovemybrandname for 30% off your next order”
There are a few benefits to doing this…
- You can re-use the customer images as social proof within your marketing images (Make sure you ask your customers permission)
- It gives you a chance to build on sales channels outside of the Amazon Eco-system
- You can ask them to review their purchase on amazon or try to upsell other related products (This can all be done within the DM’s)
- With a big enough social media following you can launch products on amazon – Your audience will be there and ready
For the above example I’ve used Instagram, but you could use any other social media channel.
Amazon’s TOS is changing constantly so always ensure you read the marketplace guidelines before doing anything…
Let’s talk about product inserts…
Amazon Product Insert Ideas
I hope you can see how your product packaging plays a huge role in your customers experience.
Product inserts can also play an important role…
It gives you another chance to build on the relationship with your customer.
I don’t really like to ask for a review on either the product packaging or the product insert.
I like to add value first….
You should be thinking about the customers needs before your own.
Yes we all want product reviews but what we should really be focusing on is improving the customer experience.
Encourage your customer to contact you if they have any problems, this is an easy way to limit the number of 1 star reviews.
You could use your product inserts to encourage your customer to extend their product warranty or to offer a discounted coupon for their next purchase.
Encourage them to go to a certain page of your website…
On that page you could ask for their email in order to register their warranty or fulfill your chosen objective.
Again, before doing anything make sure you understand Amazon’s TOS…
I will also recommend checking your responsibilities from a GDPR point of view (protect your business!).
I monitor a lot of the top brands on amazon, it’s really interesting to see what they are doing with their product packaging and inserts…
So yer! That’s my take on packaging and inserts, focus on building your brand and in the long term you’ll win.
If your interested in hearing more about my brand building strategy you might enjoy the video below.
Anyway, i think that’s enough from me!
If you have any questions let me know below.
I hope you are all crushing it.
Nick
eBusiness Boss
