We have all seen them on YouTube. Unboxing videos have created a new channel for apparel brands to leverage consumer generated content to maximize their brand value using custom apparel packaging.

Unboxing videos are when happy customers choose to record and upload a video to the Internet of them opening a new product. It sounds trivial, but as it stands today, the footage of unboxing videos is equivalent to watching a full-length movie 20 million times.

Here stands an opportunity for apparel manufacturers to easily generate user generated content with minimal involvement. It comes down to a simple factor: Does your custom apparel packaging excite your customer enough that they want to broadcast it from their living rooms? (Hint: It should.)

What is custom packaging?

Custom boxes are like fingerprints, no two are alike. This means that the stock boxes or generic sized mailers you’ve been eyeing just won’t cut it. When you offer a premium brand with a lifestyle attached to it, you require packaging that meets higher-end desires and gets customers excited.

Custom apparel packaging is created to center around your products and create a customer-centric experience. Let’s say you make shoes. A custom box will not look like your average shoe box. It may be square instead of rectangular. It may have a custom insert that nestles your footwear securely and safely, almost as if it were designed uniquely for that shoppers’ shoes.

Custom packaging shifts the focus to the customers themselves. It makes them feel special and contributes to their elevated experience interacting with your brand. Your custom boxes are spec’d out uniquely for your products and set your company apart from anything else on the market. It’s your opportunity to be the creative and cutting-edge company that you are and make a memorable mark with your customers.

Packaging that “Wows”

In the old days, a box was a box was a box. No matter how you turned it, it served one simple purpose; keeping products contained for shipping and for sales. Now a box can be so much more when you think outside of the box.

How can brands get customers to go crazy over their products so much that they will record themselves opening it on the Internet? Better packaging.

This can mean many things. For some companies, it means beautifully designed, eco-friendly packaging. For others it means incredible graphics that speak to a customer’s soul.

However your company chooses to go about elevating the buyer’s experience, the boxes must be custom.

The value of custom packaging

Custom boxes will initially seem more expensive that their overseas counterparts, but when you crunch the long-term numbers, keeping your supply chain close to home saves you a ton. Custom boxes will be dollars per box instead of cents, but you will get that back in brand recognition, brand perception, and higher product price points.

Customers are willing and ready to pay a premium for brands that meet their physical, emotional, and philosophical needs. The objective for clothing and apparel manufacturers here is to create an emotional attachment to not only the products, but the brand as well.

Making it worth it

When choosing custom packaging, you must be reassured that the added dollars to your cost of goods sold will come out on the other side in returns.

It can be difficult for some manufacturers to justify the added expense of premium packaging, but let’s consider the cost of your salesforce. Is your salesforce capable of speaking directly to every prospective customer that comes across your brand? Probably not. In their absence, your packaging becomes your salesperson. If you’ve ever had to deal with a salesperson, you know the best ones say the least. Your boxes can speak volumes simply through the quality and craftsmanship of your products and packaging.

Quality packaging leads to the elevated brand experience we discussed earlier, and that is what gets customers excited. Those evangelists become salespeople for you too – without the overhead costs! If you can get a few customers excited about your brand and encourage unboxing, you can grow your sales rapidly.

Deciding if you should get custom packaging

Custom packaging is not for all brands. It is reserved for those that want to deliver premium experiences to their customers and aren’t afraid to invest in their long-term success. Think of custom packaging as a boost to your sales team with the goal of improving and increasing customer loyalty. When you get your customers as excited about your packaging as they are about your products, it creates a full spectrum experience, and they will come back every time.

If you’re ready to invest in better packaging, talk to a Brimar Custom Box Expert to see how you can elevate your customer experience with premium custom apparel boxes.