If you thought that the cardboard industry will disappear soon, then think again. Cardboard has been around for decades and has been the most preferred packaging solution since then. With time, the cardboard industry has progressed a lot and has emerged as one of the most profitable businesses out there. However, this is not it. The industry has so much more lined up for the future. There will be significant changes in store and intriguing prospects for new growth. As a whole, the industry is growing and we have put together a few of many trends below in this article that are serving as a foundation to the trends coming in the future. If you are interested to learn about them, continue reading!
E-commerce
Let’s be real. We are living in the internet-obsessed world where everything seems not to be done without the internet. One thing we cannot overlook is the increasing popularity of online businesses and shopping. When it comes to e-commerce business, retail sales are continuing to increase. Alone in Europe, e-commerce retail sales are experiencing over 20% of annual growth in e-commerce trade. It comes as no surprise why we’re experiencing an upsurge in online shopping. Today, people have no time to take out of their busy schedules. They barely got time to complete their day-to-day tasks. It is the reason they are gravitating more towards buying their stuff online. From clothing to makeup and from grocery to home décor stuff, everything is available online for you to purchase.
According to an estimate, global online sales are expected to reach $5.5 trillion by 2023. It will profoundly impact the packaging industry, especially printed cardboard boxes industry, as it represents over 80% of demand in e-commerce business. It is because shipping boxes are expected to be handled more than 20 times during standard distribution. It means the need for custom cardboard boxes has increased as secondary packaging. Now, in addition to retail outlets, more and more brands require secondary packaging so it can carry their brand image on the shippers as well.
Sustainability
Sustainability is a trend that isn’t going to disappear anytime soon, and we are here for it. Sustainability has become an essential issue across the value chain, and cardboard has been proven to be a perfect sustainable packaging solution. Though it has been around for decades now, there is no denying that cardboard is one of the best packaging and sustainable packaging solutions to date. It is easy to recycle and offer a wide range of benefits that one cannot even imagine.
Cardboard boxes are lightweight, which have long been affecting the cardboard industry. In this industry, rightsizing and right weighting is also playing an increasingly important role. It is not only because customers demand more for effective packaging solution, but also as a result of the logistics chain’s adoption of dimensional weight (DIM) pricing. In some cases substituting to the heavier board grade can be very beneficial overall because it gives extra protection to more fragile products. However, heavier boxes can add to the overall shipping cost. Lightweight packaging has been popular successful all over the world, and the importance of lightweight packaging will continue to be felt in the future as well to reduce cost and appeal to the end-user.
Retail Advancements
Retail-ready packaging has been one of the major cost savers for retailers. This continuing profit pressure is motivating to utilize more retail-ready formats as a labor-saving solution. It has been estimated that secondary packaging formats can decrease shelf restocking and handling costs by over 50%. This is particularly very popular in discount retailers like Aldi and Walmart or sales into convenience stores. On the other hands, for brands, it is more beneficial as it allows them to have full control over how their goods should be presented within the retail environment.
Moreover, the development of e-commerce trade into the grocery sector is likely to impact retail-ready packaging use as online sales don’t really need these packaging types. Cardboard boxes will continue to be used to distribute stuff to an online retailers warehouse but they don’t need to be retail-ready formats. The rise of meal kit services and subscription box offer direct-to-consumer delivery of items using a weekly or monthly subscription. It is providing new opportunities for cardboard suppliers to come up with more delivery-friendly custom cardboard boxes such as dir-cut boxes to pack food and other goods in them.
Digital Printing Innovations
As the digital print market is progressing day by day, cardboard sector seems also to be embracing these digital printing advancements. Cardboard industry has now developed systems to resolve the demands of the high-volume liner and post-print markets. Through the latest technologies, you can now customize and personalize your packaging according to your requirements and specifications. In this regard, cardboard has proven to be the ideal choice as it allows brands to print anything on their packaging.
Brands owners are taking full advantage to build and grow brand loyalty through better engagement with their customers. They see packaging as an essential component in giving customers a memorable shopping experience that they will want to share on social media. Attractive packaging that is printed and created using latest technologies helps in attracting more customers, drives sales, marketing, and encourages repeat business.
Final Words
We believe that paper and cardboard industry is moving into an interesting decade. The future in which the industry will experience nothing less than a transformation in terms of packaging solutions and technologies that goes into making custom cardboard boxes for products. There will be barriers to overcome, but those who are going hand in hand with the latest trends are expected to be the next big thing in the industry.