Wellness Wrapped: The Power of Thoughtful Packaging Design

In today’s market, the role of packaging goes far beyond just holding a product. It shapes how customers see your brand and influences their buying decisions—especially in a competitive field like the wellness industry. In this industry, stellar packaging is more than just superficial looks, it is instead the overall design that conveys a sense of comfort or trust in the buyer when seeing the product. After all, the average buyer of wellness products is someone who wants to feel safe and empowered when choosing to lead a healthier lifestyle.

In this blog post, we dive into how thoughtful packaging design can profoundly impact wellness products and leave a positive impression. We will recap the basics of wellness packaging, before jumping into the key packaging design principles that elevate a consumers’ perception of wellness products. Read on to learn more!

The Importance of Packaging Design in Wellness

Let’s first define what we mean by wellness products and packaging. The wellness industry is huge, recently worth $4.7 billion dollars in Canada alone. This extraordinary growth is thanks in part to its diversity, wellness products take a wide variety of shapes and sizes. This may involve anything from:

• Candles
• Clothing
• Dietary supplements
• Fitness equipment
• Mental health
• Skincare products
• Smartwatches
• Water bottles
• Yoga equipment

While each of these products serve a similar purpose, they are all produced, packaged and sold differently. Therefore, wellness product packaging tends to be less about conforming to a common package type, such as a box, container or wrap, and more about the design.

When it comes to the design specifically, wellness packaging caters to products that promote health and well-being. For a product that claims to enhance wellness, every aspect of its packaging needs to convey trust, from its environmental impact to its ethical production methods. Customers looking for wellness products are particularly drawn to packages that promise sustainability and natural ingredients.

The Psychological Impact of Packaging

The choice of colors, shapes, and materials used in wellness packaging is not just about aesthetics. In fact, these elements are deeply strategic, designed to evoke certain feelings and responses from customers.

For example, the use of green can suggest natural ingredients, while a clean, minimalist packaging design often signals that a product is pure and simple. Such psychological cues are powerful, and as a result can be a powerful driver of sales and brand loyalty.

Key Design Principles for Wellness Packaging

Having defined what we mean by wellness packaging and what defines it, let’s consider the key design principles that make wellness packaging special. Below are some of the most essential factors you will want to take into account, or even strive to guarantee. Remember, the wellness market is extremely diverse, so feel free to adapt these principles to your target audience and specific product.

Simplicity and Transparency

Less is often more in wellness packaging. A simple and clear design can signal that a product is transparent in its intentions and ingredients, which is crucial for building trust with health-conscious consumers. In many cases, this can actually help your product stand out among competitors whose packaging is dense or cluttered.

You should also aim to make your packaging information clear to the consumer, this includes any ingredients or materials used. In some cases, such as nutritional supplements, you may want to showcase the benefits of your product and how it contributes to a healthier lifestyle. By specifying to the buyer what your product is and how it helps them, your buyer will feel more confident about the value of the product and be more likely to purchase it.

Be sure to follow correct practices when advertising any benefits of your product.

Authenticity in Storytelling

Packaging is a great place to share your brand’s story as well as who founded your company, or why. These stories do more than just sell a product; they connect emotionally with consumers, making your brand feel more relatable and trustworthy. This is particularly useful for smaller businesses.

Sustainability as a Standard

Sustainability is not just a nice-to-have in the wellness space; it is expected. Consumers prefer products that are as good for the planet as they are for their bodies. You may wish to leverage iconography demonstrating your product’s recyclability and sustainability. Brands can get playful with this, such as teasing some post-consumption uses for the packaging or how many bottles or grams of CO2 the packaging has helped save.

Tip: Getting sustainability right in packaging can be more difficult than it may appear. For example, while you might be able to quickly craft an excellent packaging design, the materials required to produce it may not be sustainable. For example, a common trap that catches businesses unaware is using packaging that is not curbside recyclable. This causes a headache for the consumer since although the package is technically recyclable, they may need to inconveniently travel great distances to dispose of it in an environmentally friendly way. To make this easier for you, be sure to work with a sustainable packaging company who can help deliver your custom packaging to your consumer needs.

Enhancing the Consumer Experience

Now that you are familiar with the main design principles in great wellness packaging, let’s explore how you can level up your consumer experience by enhancing your packaging. This includes improving the feel of the package and how it is used and opened.

Here are 3 packaging aspects you will want to examine when crafting quality wellness packaging:

The Feel Factor

The materials you choose affect how a package feels in the consumer’s hands and can be a subtle nod to the product’s quality and sustainability. This is particularly important for products bought in stores, but also matters for delivering a solid first impression for goods purchased online. Textures that remind consumers of nature can reinforce the product’s wellness claims and elevate the user experience, particularly from materials like bamboo. Alternatively, tactile designs like embossed surfaces can convey a sense of sophistication and technology, traits that tend to be most popular in the male market for wellness products.

Functional Beauty

While excellent designs should be a treat for the senses, wellness consumers need practicality as much as they need beauty. Packaging that looks good and works well (easy to open, reseal, or store) shows that a brand cares about the consumer’s experience from start to finish. Every addition to the design should be for a particular function.

Memorable Unboxing

A great unboxing experience can turn a simple purchase into a memorable event, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. For wellness products, where customers seek health benefits, delightful packaging can reinforce the product’s value and encourage repeat purchases.

You may also want to consider the brand and marketing benefit of a top-notch unboxing experience. Given the prevalence of influencers and social media creators in the wellness sector, an unboxing experience is now commonly seen not just by the buyer, but potentially in front of hundreds or thousands of potential consumers. An excellent unboxing experience can quickly become an asset to your marketing if showcased on platforms like YouTube and Tiktok.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Wellness Packaging

Looking forward, one of the biggest changes to wellness packaging is the integration of more technology. Smart packages that provide usage tips or product freshness data directly to your smartphone is an emerging field on the horizon, enhancing the functionality of wellness products even further. There is plenty of room to innovate and experiment in this space, and selecting a quality packaging provider who knows is at the forefront of this can make a big difference.

Purchase Custom Packaging with Crownhill Packaging

Getting the most out of your wellness packaging requires a packaging provider that is able to go the extra mile to deliver the quality your design and consumers expect. If you are looking to purchase custom packaging goods for your wellness brand, consider Crownhill Packaging, a SupplyOne Canada company. Our team specializes in providing the latest in high-quality, custom packaging solutions that are perfect for wellness brands aiming to make a significant impact.

Reach out to our experienced team of packaging experts today and learn how we can help transform your packaging into a key asset for your business.