Tis the season: five ways to give your postal packaging a festive Christmas twist

According to the song, it's "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and because smaller retailers make anywhere from 20 to 40% of their annual sales in November and December, they're not wrong. Christmas creates plenty of scope for surprising and delighting customers and packaging plays a huge part. With simple changes, you can deliver festive magic, and enhance your brand along the way. With this in mind, here are some easy ways to give your packaging a Christmas-themed upgrade for the happiest season of all.  

Why it pays to make Christmas special in eCommerce

You may think once your customer clicks 'buy,' the hard part is over. In fact, arguably the most important stage in the buyer journey hasn't happened yet. Unboxing is key: the point where your customer unwraps the packaging to reveal their product inside. As our guide to creating the perfect unboxing experience illustrates, it's always worth making the unboxing experience memorable. That said, online retailers tend to make a special effort with their Christmas packaging because:

• Christmas marks the start of something special: if your packaging is memorable, it increases the likelihood of repeat purchases and positive feedback as well as likes and shares on Facebook and Instagram. Creating the right first impression could be your ticket to a lasting relationship with your customer.
• It's the season to say thank-you: at this time of year, your customers might be a little peeved if Christmas goes totally unacknowledged! Even if your product range isn't "Christmassy" in nature, a seasonal nod in your packaging and perhaps a surprise or two inside the box is a simple yet effective detail.

Here are our suggestions for tweaking your packaging to make the most of the season...  

1: Add some seasonal colour

If the aim is to give customers a warm Christmas glow, a cardboard box won't cut it. Consider adding some festive colour to your packages: the classic Christmas combination of red on green could be a useful starting point. If your business packaging already incorporates your brand's colours, and you don't want to depart from this, a seasonal touch of gold or white snowflake design may work well here. Both can easily be used with existing colour schemes. In this way, the package is still recognisably yours but with a stylish Christmas twist.  

2: Christmas stuffing

Where the item being shipped is prone to damaged and there is 'dead air' inside the package, filler becomes a necessity. By giving the filler material a Christmas theme, you can help build anticipation, give the package a luxury feel, while providing essential protection. Biodegradable tissue paper filling is a good example for this: opt for festive colours for your paper (e.g. red and green) to mark the season.  

3: Consider a 'no wrapping needed' solution

Especially at this time of year, many ecommerce businesses provide a gift wrap option at checkout. You can go one better by shipping your products in packaging that won't need extra wrapping at all (a welcome time-saving option for your customers at a very busy time of year).   Examples include a stylish gable top box, or this Breezebox option: a designer-quality presentation shell with integrated tissue wrap. With one less present to wrap, which still has all the wow-factor, your customers will definitely be pleased.  

4: Inserts: give a little extra

Christmas is all about surprises: and unboxing experience is much more memorable if your package includes something your customer wasn't expecting. It doesn't have to be spectacular, an example could be a money-off voucher, or an invite to your social pages to find a festive offer waiting.  

5: Special edition Christmas boxes

A festive greeting, a funny Christmas quote, a temporary holiday-enhanced logo: there are countless ways to add Christmas customisations to your outer packaging. Best of all, adding a personal printed touch to your packaging is well within reach even for smaller online retailers. To discover what's possible for your brand, take a closer look at our bespoke packaging service.