Trend Tracker: Packaging for the online consumer

Consumers in India are getting ready for the next big e-commerce revolution, especially as global retail giants such as Walmart and Amazon are setting up shop in India. It is essential that brands and companies start assessing the opportunities and threats that online shopping can potentially bring, while considering the implications for packaging to remain an integral piece of the purchasing decision.

According to Mintel research, supermarkets are losing to online retailers across many parts of the world. For instance, back in 2014 in China, more than one in four urban consumers bought prepared meals online compared to just over one in 10 who did the same in 2013. Meanwhile over in India, 13% of internet users have indicated that they have shopped for food online in the three months leading to June 2016.  

Packaging will continue to remain an important factor when it comes to shopping overall, especially as it moves beyond just performing the basics, to becoming more integrated and intelligent - characteristics that are advantageous in this day and age.

The online experience and the shift from in-store to in-home will become a core part of the packaging design conversation and brief.

To align with e-commerce, it is important that brands are mindful that a packaging format is both compact and robust for shipping. Brands and companies could also consider simplicity by stripping back their pack designs. To help influence consumers’ purchase decisions while they’re buying online, brands could consider moving the more important information to the front of the pack to help in making things easier for consumers to read from the screens of their devices.  

It is also vital to consider the current trends influencing demands. Consumers today are highly interested in portable or reusable packaging, and this is something that both brands and companies can capitalise on. Indian online grocery brand Bigbasket, for instance, is one such example that has been doing this.

Mintel is the world's leading market intelligence agency. Their global team of packaging analysts identify and monitor packaging, product, consumer and market data, and alert clients to issues and opportunities that create consumer engagement and build brand value. 

For more information, please visit www.mintel.com