Packaging professionals must embrace opportunities for advancing sustainability, maximising the use of technology, streamlining supply chain operations, incorporating trending packaging design practices, and creating efficiencies. This is according to Esko’s latest report.
2023 is here, and companies need to become more agile to not only remain competitive but thrive in the face of new market challenges. Packaging design, consumer preferences, and technology trends are all interconnected to create the marketplace of the future. Esko’s new ebook addresses key packaging trends influencing the market in 2023 and how technology will help brands and suppliers meet the new challenges.
Some packaging trends include:
Consumer buying behaviour
Consumer behaviours change as the world around them does. It would be an understatement to say that in the last few years, there have been significant changes to consumers’ daily lives.
Retro and vintage packaging
Packaging, like fashion, is cyclical. It is currently seeing a rise in desire for products and design that remind consumers of the past. Products harkening back to Boomers and Gen X childhood experiences create a sense of nostalgia and authority. Beyond that, it’s fun.
Today’s 18-year-olds may not have been born when the television show Friends was airing live, but they can dress like the characters. Sony, for example, released headphones that look like a cassette. If cassettes describe your childhood, these headphones will transport you back in time. If not, they’re still fun to use. Brands using an old-fashioned look and feel for their packaging are using iconic branding to subtly indicate authority, quality and longevity (Source).
The role of technology
Packaging and technology are uniquely intertwined. More and more, packaging teams are relying on technology to meet trend-inspired demands efficiently, sustainably and cost-effectively. Packaging software is at the core of packaging creation as it increases speed to market while increasing supply chain collaboration. This enables brands and suppliers to avoid costly mistakes that lead to recalls and increased waste. From work flow management software to palletising solutions, technology aids brands and suppliers in increasing their productivity, creating right-first-time packaging, and protecting the environment.
Digitisation for converters
Converters are focused on integrating digital tools into the work flow to create connectivity between their systems and automate their processes. In fact, 62% of suppliers surveyed in Esko’s Packaging Trends survey, conducted in December of 2022, believe automation had the highest positive impact on the way they managed their business in 2022. This number is only increasing, as 73% believe automation will have the biggest impact on packaging in their industry in 2023.
Sustainable packaging
Sustainability is a hot-button topic right now, and arguably one of the most important packaging trends. For instance, in a 2021 Esko survey, 71% of consumers said packaging that is ‘sustainable/made from renewable sources is quite/extremely important.’ That number was even higher among the brands at nearly 90%. So, clearly, sustainable packaging must be at the forefront of everyone’s packaging design agenda.
Click here to download the full report.
ESKO
https://www.esko.com
