How to craft a great unboxing experience
When browsing for a new product, the first thing many people do is look at product reviews. Although this is enough for some people, others want a more in-depth look at the product and will turn to unboxing videos. Thus, the unboxing experience matters.
Around 95% of customers read reviews before making a purchase, and with it being 21% more likely for a review to be left after a negative experience. It is vital that you do everything to increase the odds of a positive review being left.
What is an unboxing experience?
An unboxing experience is quite simple; it is when a customer opens a package and takes out the item/s inside. Its aim is to go above and beyond so that it provides extra value to the customer, making it a more memorable experience. Therefore, benefiting your business by attaching a positive emotion to your brand and its products.
Why is the unboxing experience crucial?
As an online brand, you have very few opportunities to make an impression and wow your customers compared to physical stores. Therefore it is crucial you optimise every opportunity to make an impression on your customers.
Unboxing provides the opportunity to communicate your brand story and values beyond the point of purchase. It also creates brand loyalty and encourages social media shares.
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What makes a great unboxing experience
Now that you understand the importance of the unboxing experience to your marketing strategy, you will need to know how to craft an unforgettable unboxing experience to make your brand stand out and optimise its effectiveness.
You don’t want your package to be mistaken for a generic amazon parcel, as this can make the product feel cheap. You want to build prestige and perceived value with your product so that the customer feels honoured and excited about buying the product.
Doing this will also increase the chances of them posting it on social media and showing off your product to their friends and family.
Although, custom packaging and product presentation is a costly upfront investment. The extra effort helps build a strong brand identity and trust whilst also creating an impactful first impression aiding brand loyalty.
For example, Rockets of Awesome (which delivers a kids’ clothing subscription box) that ships in a customised cardboard box, with loose products wrapped in a silver mylar to fit the space theme.
Source: Shipping Things (YouTube)
As you can see from the pictures , the box is distinctive and follows the brand’s aesthetic. In the video, Jesse says, “so much fun is happening inside the box”.
With the brand’s target audience being kids, what else would you want to hear?
Here is how you can achieve a similar experience
There are many things that make up a well-designed custom packaging and unboxing experience. You don’t need to include all of them, just a few that produce the best experience for your customers.
Let’s look at some of the components you may want to include:
- Box: The most obvious component is the shipping box. It is arguably the most important as it holds the biggest opportunity to begin creating a wow experience. You should make sure that it also aligns with your brand values. I.e. if you are a sustainable company, it should be recyclable and not harm the planet.
- Tissue Paper: Covering your products from being seen straight away builds mystery and excitement. Adding to the unboxing experience and attaching emotion to the experience. There are so many options to consider, so there is no doubt you will be able to make sure it is unique. You can get custom-printed or coloured tissue paper, depending on what aesthetic you are trying to achieve.
- Filler: The most common types are styrofoam packing peanuts, air pillows or bubble wrap. However, these aren’t good for a sustainable brand; instead, you can resort to shredded corrugated cardboard or custom cardboard inserts.
- Custom note: If you have a small business, this is perfect but could be hard to scale as your brand grows. Nevertheless, a handwritten note is arguably the best way to add a personal touch and remind your customers that there are real people behind the brand.
- Promotional card/flyer: This is a very inexpensive way of increasing return customers whilst also reaching new customers. You can achieve this by including a card that gives the recipient and a friend a discount on their next purchase.
- Stickers: They are very versatile, and can make for a cheaper alternative to getting custom-printed boxes. Whilst also being useful to attach promotional flyers and seal tissue paper at the same time.
- Receipt: Depending on the systems you have in place, you may need to provide a paper receipt. Presenting it right is key to utilising your opportunities to make an impression. You don’t want to remind them how much they paid for the item at the beginning, as they will constantly be questioning if what they paid was worth it. So try to place it last or go paperless so they can fully enjoy the unboxing experience. If you are a sustainable company, you might want to look into how you can go paperless to fit your brand values.
- Free Samples: If you sell a multitude of different products, you could include free samples in each order to introduce the customer to new products. Increasing, the chances of the customer trying more of your products.
Optimising your effort
Now that you have crafted an amazing unboxing experience. You want to optimise the potential it has to bring new customers and perceived brand value. As mentioned at the start, 95% of customers read reviews before making a purchase. So you want to encourage customers to write/create reviews about your products.
One very effective way of achieving this is encouraging customers to share the unboxing experience on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram or TikTok. An example could be making a playlist on TikTok dedicated to customer reviews or unboxing experiences, thus providing a platform for the customers to be featured on your channel.
The by-product of this is you will have a playlist solely of user-generated content, which is great for increasing brand awareness and social proof. It is the most efficient way of optimising your unboxing experience to grow your brand and sales.
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