We all know how competitive the ecommerce industry has become. Every brand is looking for new and different ways to stand out from the crowd and keep customers coming back over and over again. One area that many brands have started to turn to is unboxing.
Your unboxing experience can not only keep customers coming back but they can also draw new customers in when done right.
Here are 4 unboxing experiences we love and what we can learn from them.
1. Dollar Shave Club – The Perfect Fit
Dollar Shave Club has been disrupting industries since 2011 when it launched its website. From ecommerce to marketing to men’s hygiene Dollar Shave Club is an innovator that makes waves. So it makes sense that we would want to look to them for business inspiration.
If you don’t know, Dollar Shave Club is a subscription service that regularly mails it’s customers razors and other toiletries. Customers are able to customize their order and schedule how often they would like to receive deliveries.
From the beginning, even when DSC only offered men’s razors, their packaging has been a major part of their brand. Every box is the perfect fit for the products inside. The effect is clean and tidy, which reflects how they want you to feel when using their products. It also creates a showcase feel from the moment their customer opens the box. Not to mention the fact that a perfectly packed package keep you products from getting damaged in transit.
2. Fab Fit Fun – Branded Boxes
Fab Fit Fun is another subscription model ecommerce business but instead of choosing exactly what you want and when you want it, Fab Fit Fun currates a box packed with beauty, health and lifestyle products. They only deliver one box per season (four in total) unlike other subscription box businesses which deliver one box per month.
Fab Fit Fun stands out from its competition thanks to its amazing products product selection and their massive network of social media influencers but that’s not all. Fab Fit Fun is able to dominate the subscription box industry because they’ve built a brand that stands out from the rest. They use their boxes as just another way to tie into this.
Every season they redesign their box in a way that matches their brand and style. Each box is unique, beautiful and VERY photogenic. People love posting pictures of their Fab Fit Fun boxes across social media because the designs are so beautiful.
Shipping your products in beautiful on brand boxes shows your customers that you’ve put thought and effort into every part of your company. Also, it’s just plain exciting to see a good looking box sitting on your porch when you get home!
3. Thrive Market – Fashionable and Functional
Thrive Market is like the online Wholefoods. They specialize in selling foods that are organic and non-GMO and they deliver straight to the customer! While they do charge a membership feed they boast that you can save an average of $30 on every order compared to the “other guy.”
Its business model is unique and it’s obviously trying to disrupt the grocery industry. Clearly this is no easy feat. Amazon bought Wholefoods and they’re likely trying to figure out how to do the same thing as thrive: deliver groceries directly to customers’ doors.
If you look at Thrive’s box you can immediately see the appeal. While simple it’s also on brand and connects to their target demographic. When it comes to delivering food to customers’ doorsteps though your box needs to do more than just look good. Cracking this nut has been difficult for meal delivery companies like Blue Apron who have come under scrutiny because of their excessive amount of packaging.
Thrive Market has found a way to incorporate their brand into their packaging in yet another way. Their cold packaging insulation is biodegradable! Their packaging works on so many levels: It works, it looks nice AND it stays on brand by being environmentally friendly. Now that’s what I call a win, win, win.
4. Adore Me – Surprise and Delight
Adore Me sells lingerie, pajamas, active wear and more. While they offer a membership option customers can also skip it and pay full price instead. Adore Me boasts high-end products at an affordable price and their packaging actually helps them to deliver on this message.
Every Adore Me order comes in a branded box and inside products are wrapped in tissue paper for a designer boutique feel. This takes their unboxing experience to the next level. When products are lazily stuffed inside a poly mailer it cheapens the experience and that experience can color the customer’s perspective on the brand.
Even Adore Me learned just how important their packaging was. At one point tried to switch from the tissue paper/box method to a poly mailer system. They even sent out notes with these orders explaining the reason behind the switch. Let’s just say that this switch did not last long.
Small touches like this can seriously surprise and delight customers. It’s small touches like these that can have customers coming back again and again. So while you don’t have to wrap every order in beautiful tissue paper, consider ways that you can make your customers feel special.
Upgrading Your Unboxing
There are so many brands that you can take inspiration from in order to create a premium unboxing experience for your customers. The thing is that these can take a lot of time which is a problem when your company is just starting out or short staffed in the warehouse.
At Ship Central Fulfillment we can help you upgrade your unboxing experience by taking over your order fulfillment operations. Ship Central is a fulfillment company where we warehouse your products and pick, pack and ship your orders.
We treat every order as if it were our own because we know that what we do is a reflection on you! We have the ability to keep up with demand while executing a premium packaging experience your customers will love.
We’ve helped many customers upgrade their unboxing and we’d love to help you do the same!