How to Evaluate a Packaging Product Manufacturer

Having the right packaging is critical to selling your products. A good product packaging manufacturer will work with your marketing team to develop eye-catching products that stand out on the shelf.

Packaging manufacturing companies offer packaging product manufacturer a wide variety of plastic / thermoform packaging solutions including clamshells, blisters and trays. Contract packagers can also provide primary, secondary or tertiary packaging for your products.

1. Customization

The ability to customize a product for specific markets or to adapt a single model to multiple packaging formats is important. Whether your business is launching in a new market, changing from bag-in-box to a stand-up pouch, or looking at expanding into a new type of packaging, a packaging manufacturer with the right capabilities can help you make this happen without disrupting your existing production lines or putting additional strain on your logistics.

The customization of goods and services to meet the needs and desires of customers is a key way to improve consumer satisfaction and increase sales. It also helps businesses learn more about their customers through individualized choices they make. Customization can be as simple as choosing the color of a physical product or adding a few items to a subscription service.

Often, it involves making a customized product for a particular consumer, as in NIKEiD sneakers. This is an advanced type of product customization that offers shoppers an amazing degree of flexibility while enabling brands to create more unique products and shorten the retail line. However, this type of customization can result in higher delivery and fulfillment costs. In addition, some shoppers may be uncomfortable with a no return policy for personalized items. A solution for this is to offer a gallery of designs that other consumers created using the same products as them, which will give shoppers a sense of confidence and security when purchasing a personalized item.

2. Effective Customer Service

A company’s reputation is defined in part by the quality of its customer service, which is often a direct one-on-one interaction between a buyer and a representative. Consumers rely on this personal contact to answer their questions, help resolve product or service issues and to build brand loyalty.

Effective customer service includes a friendly and warm experience and demonstrates empathy for the consumer. This can be a simple act of listening and acknowledging the problem, helping the consumer solve it, or letting them know they are not alone. It can also include a variety of other things, such as being proactive and not taking customer dissatisfaction personally.

Most companies employ a variety of ways for consumers to reach them, including phone lines, email addresses, live chat or social media pages. To be effective, a customer service plan should incorporate all of these and be designed to help the company achieve its goals for sales, retention or other business metrics.

It is also important to be able to respond quickly to customer concerns, as failure to do so can lead the consumer to seek out a competitor or start shopping with another retailer. Some businesses have even chosen to outsource their customer service functions if they are unable to meet certain goals for cost, effectiveness or other factors.

3. Warehouse Infrastructure

The warehouse infrastructure capabilities of a packaging product manufacturer are an important factor to consider when evaluating the company. These include the ability to handle, store and ship products in a safe manner. This includes the size of storage areas and capacity packaging product manufacturer of handling equipment. Additionally, the warehouse should have a system in place for capturing and managing data. This includes warehouse management systems and other software tools that support warehousing processes.

A carefully planned warehouse layout can help optimize the use of space and resources in a warehouse, making it easier to work efficiently. This is particularly true for high-volume warehouses, where it can be challenging to get items out the door. Additionally, a well-planned warehouse layout can help prevent unnecessary costs by reducing inventory levels.

Warehouses can also offer value-added services, such as quality inspection and labeling. These can boost sales and customer satisfaction. In addition, they can help maintain price stability by storing goods during excess market demand and releasing them when the demand is under control. This can help stabilize prices and improve profitability.

4. Real-Time Support

Real-time support enables brands to respond to customer inquiries within moments. This makes customers feel like they are being cared for by their brand and is a key driver of loyalty. Playing email tag or waiting to hear back from a support representative can drag out conversations and delay customer solutions for days on end. In this age of instant gratification, real-time support is essential.

Real time support can come in many forms including chatbots, social media, phone calls, or live chat on your website. It is essential to make sure that these channels are clearly marked and easily accessible for your customers so that they know when they can reach out. Additionally, it is beneficial to have a dedicated knowledge base and customer portal so that your customers can quickly find the information they need.

In addition to enhancing the customer experience, real-time support capabilities can significantly improve packaging company performance by providing the ability to quickly resolve problems and deliver product on time. A key driver for this is a powerful business system that provides real-time inventory visibility, automation of quality control processes, and cloud-based communication tools. Aaron Thomas, a contract packaging manufacturer, is using the Plex Platform to provide real-time inventory transparency, automate their quality control process and allow their team to communicate with customers in real-time. They are also able to conduct mock recalls in under an hour and reduce operational waste.