It might seem a little early to start thinking about the holiday season, but you can never start too early in the packaging industry. In fact, it’s a good idea to have your holiday packaging plans in place by July! Haven’t started planning yet? Never fear. We’ll help you walk through the packaging process and start down the path to holiday planning.
Have a Strategy
Coming up with a strategy for the upcoming holiday season is one of the best ways to ensure you are prepared. You’re first going to need to decide if you want to change your current branded packaging design or if you have new products you plan to roll out for the upcoming holiday season that will need extra packaging. That includes any changes to branded print such as logo, colors, and the size and type of box.
You will then need to look at what you have in your budget for holiday packaging and project sale quantities so that you have a good idea of the amount of packaging you will need to order. You may also want to determine how much warehousing space is necessary for the uptick in packaging quantities required. Doing both things will help ensure your packaging supplies don’t run out during the deep holiday rush from Thanksgiving through December.
Ultimately, having a good understating of the holiday budget, projected quantities needed, frequency of orders and available warehousing space for packaging is key to a successful holiday season.
Understand the Holiday Packaging Process so You Can Get Ahead of the Curve
The design process for holiday packaging typically takes between 1 to 2 months from start to finish. This is because the in-house design teams need to create mock-up drawings of your box and any printed designs they will include. After these mock-ups are complete, the client is next presented with a non-printed sample to test fit the box and check the protection factors of their items. Once the sample is approved, the holiday artwork is created by the design team. This draft of the holiday packaging will then need to be approved by the client once more.
That’s not the end of the road. Once a design is in place, a timeline is then discussed with the quantities needed for the first order. At this point, the client will need to decide if they would like to place a one-time order for their holiday packaging or if they would rather purchase a pre-determined quantity to be produced and delivered at a specific frequency.
Look For Unique Solutions When Demand Is on the Rise
With demand on the rise during the holiday season, some brands may choose to be a little more creative in the way they order their holiday packaging. Last year we saw production time rise to 6+ weeks or more during the holiday season. To fight off this demand, we have seen several companies start to use non-branded stock boxes for shipping, with an added logoed tape to seal the package. This means they can use any box they may already use but give it an extra touch around the holidays with a new holiday tape.
Prepare for Increased Demand
The holidays can easily double your product demand, so it’s a good idea to be prepared. This means stocking up on custom branded boxes, kraft stock boxes, and protective packing materials such as bubble wrap, foam, and tape. This year we are likely to see paper, foam, plastics, and adhesives remain in short supply. Coupled with the continuing labor shortage, this means there may not be packaging material available if careful planning is not done early.
The 2020 holiday season showed us that it is best not to wait until October to ensure your business has all the packaging they need to get through the holiday season. We encourage you to reach out to Pinnacle Packaging today to lock down your 2021 holiday packaging plans!