The international packaging industry makes a formidable financial contribution on a global scale to some of the largest economies. The cost of running a single Douglas case packer might not be that much. But when so many different industries combine their automated packing expenses it turns out to be a formidable contribution that drives the economy’s current spending trends. Consumer trends and industry inclinations play a huge role to spurt the growth rate of spendings in the packaging industry.

What Is Packaging?

Packaging is an all-inclusive business enterprise term that refers to the technical and structural layout of the efforts designed for the storage, shipping, and sale of consumer merchandise. In some cases, packaging may also include the product manufacturer’s advertising efforts. For some of the largest market-dominant manufacturers, packaging also includes their brand name and brand identity making it a fundamental part of the manufacturer’s business model. Packaging will always be the most important factor after creating an outstanding product. 

What Are Some Of The Latest Packaging Megatrends?

Every sector of enterprise has megatrends which are alterations and modifications made by the manufacturers to their products based on the current market trends. These megatrends influence the business activity and success of brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce websites. These megatrends have influenced how each product gets packaged, labeled, and presented for sale in the market by top entrepreneurs all over the world. Let’s look at some of the most superlative packaging trends in the world today. 

Electronic Printing:

2020 is the start of a new decade and revolution dominated by entrepreneurs offering their products for sale on the world wide web. Electronic printing uses computer propagation as the main method for designing physical product packaging presentations to create an overlay of images or graphics to present the look of the product. Electronic printing is a trend that has influenced the success of some of the most distinguished products internationally. We can say without a doubt that electronic printing is a trend that is here to stay with developments rapidly progressing forward. 

When we compare electronic printing to the obsolete mechanical methods of typesetting, electronic printing offers organizations much more options for personalization and customization. A majority of the companies worldwide replaced analog processes with digital processes within the last decade. It is not easy, both financially and logistically, for large industries to retool a factory completely to update their operating procedures to make the necessary changes to implement electronic printing. In 2018 very few entrepreneurial organizations had not made the changes to shift towards electronic printing because this was the first time there were more digital presses in comparison to standard flexo presses. 

Personalized Packaging

Electronic printing makes it much easier for organizations to customize packaging to add a personalized touch to their products for their clients. This trend has been in the works by some of the largest organizations in the world but now it has become a relatively common practice for all of the companies worldwide. There is no universally valid packaging for all entrepreneurs. This is the driving force behind all personalized packaging solutions. 

Personalized packaging grants entrepreneurs a way to make their product look unique and stand out from the crowd from the other competitors offering the same product. Some brands have started to target specific markets by using personalized packaging as a tool to help them compete with their adversaries and succeed. A can of cold beverage instantly becomes appealing to a customer when they see their first name printed on it. It instantly becomes hard to refuse a can of refreshing beverage that has its name on it. 

Personalized packaging is also used to reveal a brand’s story. This becomes even more attractive for consumers especially if they can connect with the brand’s story with something in their own life. Personalized packaging is a trend that is here to stay for a long time to come. 

Products Dominated By Unique Brand Names

Products dominated by unique brand names are an Avante-Garde trend for the packaging industry. Stores can offer a line of unique products that are one of a kind to their industry and they are only available in that particular brand’s store. There are multiple advantages for brand names to employ this practice to help them compete in the market to procure a fair share of the market with their distinguished product lineup. With the help of the practices of this trend private brand names have far exceeded national brand names in the global market. 

Products dominated by unique brand names started to become available in the market a few years ago with some of the biggest American companies making the necessary changes to implement this trend. Amazon had purchased Whole Foods with the intentions of providing their customers an extensive line-up of products that would be associated with their brand name. Lidl also came into the US market and also presented its brand name on its products to the consumers in the United States. 

Aldi and Trader Joe’s are some other big names within the United States that implemented similar practices to seize their fair share of the market. Today, private labels reach one out of every four products sold in the United States, and this is a trend that is not about to change soon. 

Evolution Of Flexible Packaging Materials

A trend that is quickly gaining momentum and popularity is flexible packaging. Stiff packaging materials were once a staple in the market. Today that trend has declined to give rise to flexible packaging materials. According to the Flexible Packaging Association, almost 19% of the total US packaging market is dominated by products with flexible packaging. Bags, envelopes, pouches, and wraps are all different forms of flexible packaging material that are always easily and readily available in the market. 

In the past, flexible packaging materials were made of polyvinyl chloride or plastic that does not decompose easily and has a bad effect on the environment. Today we find that polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polypropylene packaging materials are extremely durable and environmentally friendly at the same time which is the reason why it is so popular.