By Christopher Morgan, global sales director at Filtrona Tapes
Seamless, frictionless customer journeys are not a fad that’s here today and gone tomorrow; they’re more ‘here today and here to stay’.
For retail success – now and in the future – convenience is the new currency. To meet consumers’ expectations for ‘always-on’ and ‘effortless’, retailers must meet their customers wherever they want to shop and on the terms they wish to purchase.
Retail executives intuitively know that while price remains important, consumers now prioritise a convenient online shopping experience. They seek out and stay loyal to retailers who are easy to shop with. They require retail services to fit around their busy lifestyles, and that means, above all else, shopping online has to be effortless from start to finish.
As we enter this post-store era, the brands that will succeed will break these boundaries and make commerce as easily evocable as possible by customers, wherever they are and in the moments that matter.
From media, creative, and CRM, all the way to how the supply chain is managed to compete on fulfilment and delivery, brands need to apply a commerce mindset in every area of their operations and make as much of their output as immediately and conveniently “shoppable” as possible to minimise the friction buyers may experience throughout their journey.
Every moment matters
Taking commerce beyond the store and evolving it from a moment into a relationship requires injecting an understanding of human motivations, needs, and actions into every aspect of how a brand expresses its differentiation, how it generates interest, how it operates its business, and how it enables customer experiences through people and technology.
While there are many things you should do to make your business more customer-focused, few are more important than maximising the convenience you can offer to consumers – especially right now. In the long run, convenience may decide your ability to grow your business.
Convenience can mean different things for different companies. And while the challenge is normally determining which option will be best suited for your target audience, packaging ends up in every customer’s hands.
Ease of opening has long been a packaging concern for many consumers. Any discerning pack specifier or brand will know that packaging should never be a frustrating barrier to a product. Even when opening a special occasion gift or an exciting online order, the initial buzz can quickly turn to exasperation with a seemingly impenetrable pack.
That’s why Filtrona Tapes has seen a flurry of investment in new, state-of-the-art sheet-fed applicator technology targeted at folder/gluer corrugate production lines as businesses seek to bolster their creative packaging capabilities. This unlocks the use of Rippatape, the original market-leading tape-based opening device for paper and board packaging.
Next to your product, your packaging is the most important part of your brand. It takes a lot of time to build relationships with suppliers, tailor your packaging to suit your product, factor in sales channels, design your brand image, review prototypes, and schedule line time with manufacturers.
Using good quality, well-designed and easy-to-use packaging that ensures goods get from A to B and back again, by whatever circuitous route, can greatly reduce the damaging impact of returns on business and the environment.
We approach performance forensically, intelligently and purposefully by starting at the end.
So, whether you’re shipping mailers or corrugate boxes, there are two features you can build into them to make opening and returns easy.
Rippatape makes getting into your product quick and easy. Your customers can open your bag without using special tools or knives. Perhaps most critically for returns packaging, however, using Rippatape as an opening device means that neither the product nor the packaging is damaged.
EASILINER lets customers reuse your mailer for returns. One strip is used to close the bag for the original package fulfilment, and the second strip is for your customers to seal it again and ship products back to you.
Convenience by design
Balancing the needs of the business with the needs of the people creates a ‘culture of convenience’, which allows your consumers to have a convenient experience when they buy goods or services from your company.
With only a middling level of affluence, online service has rewired our brains to believe everything needs no trouble.
Today, we are still in a retail dynamic where all efforts and investments are funnelled into making that first sale. Little investment and responsibility are taken for what happens after that.
Consider, too, the challenges our convenience culture is placing on our environment. Shoppers are now used to the convenience of endless choices, speedy deliveries and seamless returns, all of which previously came at a high environmental cost.
Circularity is primarily a consequence of the decisions made at the packaging design stage. Waste and pollution should be seen through the lens of design flaws rather than an inevitable result of manufacturing. Replacing the problem plastics in packaging with completely renewable fibre-based materials is the sustainable alternative consumers are both demanding and actively seeking. By circulating material over and over, we can keep materials in use, design out waste and regenerate natural systems by reducing pressure on forests.
For now, though, another question surpasses all other considerations. How do we join the dots between seemingly disparate customer demands, sustainability, functionality and value?
Often scrupulously selected by the brands truly worth their sustainable salt, our breakthrough solution endeavours to help brands and converters worldwide meet their environmental goals while providing customers with more circular curbside recyclable packaging options.
Rippatape Halo is targeted at the E-commerce market and aims to help packaging manufacturers and brand owners as they seek to exceed consumers’ expectations of their environmental and product experience. The brand-new solution is the first paper tape in the Filtrona Tapes ECO Range. It is externally certified as recyclable with paper achieving an A+ level via the Italian National Recyclability Standard: UNI 11743 and MC 501: 2017 criteria.
With a tearing performance comparable to our market-leading Rippatape 60, Rippatape Halo does not compromise on the easy opening credentials of its plastic alternative. This is truly impressive from a product based on a single-ply, specialised coated paper with no plastic films or laminates.
Thanks to our new and unique tear tape technology, Rippatape Halo is recyclable with paper and board packs, is fully reclaimable, eliminates the plastic film used in standard tear tapes, and focuses on fibre recovery.
Innovation in convenience
Retailers must create a new customer proposition centred on sustainability to move away from a throwaway culture.
The good news is that consumers – particularly those from younger generations – proactively want to shop with brands dedicated to embedding sustainable practices into their operations. And the personal touches of an unforgettable unboxing experience can provide a great customer experience and grow repeat conversions.
Your website, store pages, social channels, and ads will only reach a certain number of people. The trick to growing beyond that boundary and increasing conversions is turning to another source of photos, kind words, and shared posts. A source of user-generated content. An unforgettable unboxing experience.
When creating your unboxing experience, try putting yourself in the customer’s shoes. You sell your product and know it better than anyone, but how should the customer feel when it finally arrives?
When your product arrives in a pristine box, perfectly designed to slide open with your product sitting pretty inside – don’t underestimate the impact that can have on your brand.
As an online business, you’ll likely never meet your customers, and your only real connection is your product arriving at their door. By creating something unique, you help bridge that gap and help customers enjoy a more memorable experience.
If you’ve taken the time and effort to tailor your product and packaging, your customers will see and value this, creating loyal customers who shout about what you’ve sent. And it doesn’t need to cost the earth to create your unboxing experience.
Filtrona Tapes’ range of tapes enhances brand communication and protection, bolsters consumer convenience and contributes to an unforgettable opening experience. Its value is in its versatility, which gives brands the flexibility to enhance their packaging in several consumer-friendly ways.
Delivering convenience requires a proactive mindset that anticipates your customers’ changing needs. You can eliminate friction points by ensuring that your entire team is fully engaged in improving the customer experience. A more enjoyable and streamlined process will ultimately benefit everyone, making life easier for your customers while reducing your workload.
Post-click operations should seamlessly deliver your brand message with a strong alignment between marketing and operational components to support frictionless execution. Retailers today need to win at this idea of delivering an effortless economy and providing a seamless omni-channel journey and a competitive customer experience.
Whether your brand is premium or value-led, we can create return-ready, memorable, true-to-brand packaging solutions that drive sales and improve recall.
