When choosing packaging materials, products should be roughly divided into three grades: high, medium and low. For high-end products, such as instruments, meters, household appliances, photographic equipment, gold and silver jewelry, etc., which are of high value in themselves, in order to ensure safe circulation, packaging materials with excellent performance should be selected; in addition, for export commodities and cosmetics, although not all are high-end products, in order to meet the psychological needs of consumers, high-end packaging materials are often required. For mid-range products, in addition to considering aesthetics, economic efficiency should also be considered, and its packaging materials should be equal to it. For low-end products, generally refers to the category with the largest consumption, economic efficiency should be considered as the first principle, and low-end packaging materials should be selected. Therefore, choosing packaging materials according to the grade of goods and satisfying the psychological requirements of consumers at different levels is the first priority.
The principle of adapting packaging materials to circulation conditions
Packaging materials are used to package products. Goods must be circulated to reach consumers, and the circulation conditions of various commodities are not the same. The selection of packaging materials should be adapted to the circulation conditions. Circulation conditions include climate, transportation methods, circulation objects and circulation cycles. Climate conditions refer to the temperature, humidity, temperature difference, etc. of the circulation area that the packaging materials should adapt to. For environments with harsh climate conditions, the selection of packaging materials should be more careful. The modes of transportation include manual, automobile, train, ship, airplane, etc. They have different performance requirements for packaging materials, and their temperature and humidity conditions and vibration are not the same. Therefore, packaging materials must adapt to the different requirements under various modes of transportation. The circulation object refers to the recipient of the packaged product. Due to differences in countries, regions, and nationalities, there are different requirements for the specifications, colors, patterns, etc. of packaging materials, which must be adapted to them. The circulation cycle refers to the scheduled period for the goods to reach the hands of consumers. Some goods, such as food, have a very short shelf life, while some can be longer, such as daily necessities, clothing, etc., and their packaging materials should meet these needs.
The principle of coordination between packaging materials and the functions they undertake
The packaging materials should be coordinated with the functions undertaken by the packaging. The packaging of products is generally divided into single packaging, middle packaging and outer packaging. Single packaging materials are in direct contact with the product, mainly to protect the quality of the product, and are mostly made of soft packaging materials, such as plastic film, paper, metal foil, etc. Medium packaging refers to the combination of small-packaged goods into a small whole, such as packing ten packs of cigarettes in a box. It needs to meet the dual functions of decoration and cushioning. It mainly uses semi-rigid materials such as cardboard and processed paper, and should be suitable for printing and beautiful surface. Outer packaging is also called large packaging. It is mainly used to ensure the safety of goods in circulation and facilitate loading and unloading and transportation. Therefore, it is also called transportation packaging. Its packaging materials should first meet the shockproof function and take into account the needs of decoration. Rigid packaging materials such as corrugated paper, wood boards, and plywood are mostly used.
Color and packaging
Different colors can cause different visual reactions in people, thereby causing different psychological activities. For example, black, red, and orange give people a heavy feeling, while green and blue give people a light feeling. Therefore, heavy items are packaged in light colors, which will make people feel light and generous; light items are packaged in strong colors, which will give people a solemn and solid feeling.
The American Color Research Center once conducted an experiment. The researchers put brewed coffee in red, yellow and green coffee cups and asked more than a dozen people to taste and compare. As a result, the tasters agreed that the coffee tasted different: the coffee in the green cup was sour, the coffee in the red cup was delicious, and the coffee in the yellow cup was light. Based on a series of experiments, experts concluded that the color of the packaging can influence people’s views on the product.
The colors that should be used for the packaging of common products are:
Medicines-white (clean, hygienic, reliable);
Cosmetics-intermediate colors, such as beige, milky white, pink, etc. (elegant and gorgeous, high quality);
Food-red, yellow and orange packaging (colorful, fragrant and delicious, fine processing);
Wine-light-colored packaging (mellow and rich, exquisite production).
For example, Moutai is an extension of the national liquor brand. Its designers use the “national colors” of red and yellow as the endorsement colors of Moutai. Using “national colors” as the packaging tone provides people with noble and auspicious imagination space and strong visual impact, giving consumers a brand new experience.
Packaging and product connotation
There is a famous saying in the famous French perfume industry: “Beautifully designed perfume bottles are the best salesmen of perfumes.”
French perfumes are divided into different fragrances, and each perfume with a different fragrance has a different shape of packaging bottle. For example, there is a men’s perfume with a fragrance similar to forest and wood. Its packaging bottle is designed to be as thin and tall as a tree, and is paired with a natural color paper box outer packaging that can remind people of wood boards. There is also a perfume called “High Mountain”, and the packaging bottle is designed to be a rotating ascension style. These unique and associative packaging perfectly combines the characteristics of the product itself, and is integrated with the product, which naturally stimulates customers’ desire to buy.
The rapid development of international e-commerce has made the importance and impact of international logistics increasingly obvious. Any online transaction of e-commerce will inevitably involve several basic processes such as information flow, capital flow and logistics. As the last link of the entire transaction, the execution of logistics plays a very important role in the success or failure of e-commerce transactions. As a successful seller, the packaging details of international mail must also be carefully considered. International mail that needs to “cross the ocean” obviously has much higher requirements for packaging materials than domestic mail. For internationally transported items, it is necessary to choose appropriate packaging materials and pack them carefully to ensure that the mail can reach the buyer safely after long-distance transportation by air and land.