Next time you walk into a retail store, take a look at the products on the shelves. Typically, in most situations, the packaging is high quality and properly conveys the ideas of the product to the consumer. It’s absolutely vital to have packaging that is of the highest quality – it may be the deciding factor for the average, every-day customer.
Here are some examples of creative packaging for consumer products:
Festina Watches – To prove that the watch is water-proof!Pasta La Vista – Showing the pasta as “hair” on the chef! Cool!Mustache Paintbrushes – a creative spin on a common product.
To stand out in a competitive marketplace, you will want to have amazing packaging. What can you do, with your product, to enhance the initial reaction from the consumer? That’s for you to decide, and find out! Try doing some testing – this is important for all retail. Figure out what attracts your demographic of customer.
Don’t clutter your design.
Use fonts that are clear, and help convey the product purpose.
Understand the retailer’s method of presentation – can it be universally used in any retail setting?
Include everything you need to properly display the product and it’s function.
Your product success relies heavily on good packaging. Don’t prevent customers from buying your amazing product, simply because the package was sub-par. Go the extra mile – make it count!
Typically, the final goal for an inventor is to get their product on the store shelves. But….how? There are many things to keep in mind, but we’ve cut to the chase and listed a few of the most important factors:
Presentation is everything! If you are going to be pitching your product to a big box retailer, or even a small company, your product presentation must be pristine!
A video demonstration. Tons of products are submitted on a daily basis to the big box stores. Yours will stand out if you have a high quality video that shows every function of your product, as the consumer would use it.
A realistic price point. You need to understand the market value for your product. Large retailers may not take on your item if the price point is drastically different than products in the same categorization.
Persistence! These large companies may receive hundreds of product submissions every year! It’s up to you be as persistent as possible – you know what they say, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease!”
Is my product ready? This is a very common mistake. Do not send your product for store evaluation until it’s ready. If you don’t have a warehouse with product ready to go, you may set yourself up for failure if a large retailer wants to put in an order for more than you can handle. Know what your capabilities are – work with your manufacturer to come up with a plan.
It’s very difficult to get a product to take off, initially – but never fear! With persistence, presentation, realism, and goals, this process will be way easier. Planning is the most important thing you’ll ever do as an inventor.
"Source Direct was instrumental in helping me get my No Think Wedges on the market. From a drawing to finished product, they were there the whole time, excellent quality work." - Mike Nicholson, Owner of E-Z Cure
"You are in good hands with Source Direct. I have nothing but good things to say about Ed Mauro and Source Direct. My experience with them have been great and very professional. They are a company that goes far beyond their call of duty and will do all that it takes to get the job done." - Charisse Edey, NY
