In an ever-evolving landscape, businesses are looking for ways to protect their profit margins and their products. Packaging has an essential role to play in this, but how will packaging progress as our world does? The next step will be connected packaging…
What is connected packaging?
Connected packaging is printed with QR codes, barcodes or image recognition that are scanned with a browser-based app by consumers to connect them to relevant content and experiences. You may sometimes hear it referred to as smart packaging. This is an umbrella term which refers to connected packaging, as well as intelligent packaging that uses sensors and active packaging, which interacts with its contents.
Why connected packaging matters
As technology advances, the way in which we interact with the physical world is changing. How do companies align digital and physical touchpoints to create a streamlined journey that meets with consumer expectations?
Activating physical touchpoints to deliver engaging content will be the next step in this process. And, putting packaging at the forefront of this development makes sense. For many companies, your packaging is the biggest forms of media your brand owns. So, why not use it to communicate with your customers and extend your brand reach?
Using connected packaging can add value to your product and can be a great means to collect valuable customer data. Importantly, it can also be used an essential tool for education about packaging materials, recycling, and waste streams. This will be critical in supporting sustainability in packaging supply chains and aligning your brand with good environmental policy.
When to use connected packaging
You can use connected materials for both retail packaging and transit packaging. The latter will be particularly important as ecommerce sales continue to boom and transit packaging becomes the primary physical touchpoint for customers.
In the next few years, we expect to see a growing number of companies using connected packaging to leverage the customer experience. This will be buoyed by the launch of the 5G network, which gives consumers better access to high-speed data streaming, giving brands more flexibility to create content that will surprise and delight.
Create packaging that delivers your ideal brand experience!
At Network Packaging, we can help you create packaging solutions that deliver your ideal brand experience to your customers.
Our group’s Innovation Lab, our packaging experts and access to the latest materials means we can bring your packaging to life. For more information email contact@networkpackco.uk.
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