Packaging Insights for Subscription Businesses

As a subscription business owner, you’ve likely spent a fair amount of time thinking about packaging.

From the boxes you ship your products in, to the interior packaging elements that create a fun unboxing experience for your customers, there are a lot of design variables (and options) to consider.

And while branding often stays the same, packaging often evolves at a much faster pace.

So what do you need to know about packaging to stay on the cutting edge of this aspect of your business? We teamed up with the packaging experts at Arka to learn some of the ins and outs around e-commerce packaging to see what it can do for businesses.

TruBrain: Success with Packaging

Brain food company TruBrain has experimented with packaging with interesting results this past year. With a growing customer base, they needed to finalize a design so they could invest in tooling — which is a cheaper and more scalable option for their business.

And that’s what they did. By partnering with Arka, they tested a few different options and ultimately found a new packaging solution that suits their products and helps keep order fulfillment cost-effective and scalable.

By finding packaging that was more cost-effective per box and faster to produce digitally at larger quantities, they’ve been able to make strides within the business and earn better margins on sales.

Packaging Basics

Let’s take a look at the basics. When it comes to packaging for your subscription business, there are a few different options to consider based on your needs. Here’s what a company like Arka offers:

Stock boxes: These are standard brown cardboard boxes that are unbranded, low cost, and come in many sizes. They’re easy to acquire and can be branded/personalized with stickers, tape, or stamps.

Digitally printed boxes: These are specialized, die-cut boxes that are printed on a giant inkjet printer. They can be printed quickly and are ideal for ecommerce companies testing out new packaging.

Flexographic printed boxes: Often the first step in mass production of customized boxes, these boxes are shaped into your desired style. They offer crisp and consistent quality and are ideal for non-changing artwork/size, fast reorders, and outside or inside the box branding.

Lithographic printed boxes: These are printed as labels then glued onto a finished piece of cardboard, which is ideal for short-run packaging needs.

Pre-printed boxes: These are printed on sheets that are then glued as liner onto the corrugated medium — and they are ideal for large-scale packaging.

Digital and flexographic boxes are the most commonly used by subscription merchants. However, each of these options comes at different pricing tiers, ranging from minimal cost to more expensive. As with most things, the more advanced and specialized your packaging, the more expensive it becomes.

Packaging: It Matters

Think packaging is an afterthought? Think again.

With affordable, well-branded packaging, you can create a special experience for your customers that evolves (and improves) as your business grows.