Our packaging is why customers buy

That's a secret not everyone knows.

Here's a quote from our top-selling retailer, Cathy, from Crafty Wonderland in Portland:

"We love your packaging at our shop! For us it makes the product so much easier to display and stack without having a house of cards disaster with mugs coming tumbling down. Plus we just throw it in a bag and don't have to wrap in tissue when they sell."

Before we had sturdy, informative packaging for our products, we faced a lot of challenges selling our cups. Potential customers admired, but didn't buy our items, and they had a lot of questions about durability and washing instructions.

They also didn't think they were getting a good value, because they didn't know anything about how and where it was made, or how long it would last.

Once we developed our unique packaging for pint glasses, handled mugs, and travel mugs, our sales and customer satisfaction rates soared, even with a price increase. Not only did our rate of breakage in transit for these items drop to absolute zero, but customers actually rave about our packaging online now.

Want tips for taking advantage of the sales benefits our packaging has to offer?

Let's address these common retail concerns to help you improve your merchandising:

Shelf space is limited.

• Height is value, so take advantage of the stackability of our boxes to reach new heights and make more product visible at once. This also gets them closer to light sources so they’re easier to see.
• Store overstock on a lower shelf than the main display. It's easy to spot the matching boxes, so you don't need to take up as much prime display space by having everything grouped together.

Customers are afraid to pick up breakables.

• Getting a product into a customer’s hand is halfway to making the sale, and a lot of folks are uncomfortable grabbing and moving around fragile items. People are confident picking up a cardboard box, and are more likely to connect to the product once it’s in their hands, even if they're just checking the bottom for a price.

The “tester” item gross factor

• Items without packaging scream “damaged”, like maybe it was used and returned, or has already been treated roughly, and shiny ceramics and glassware attract dust and fingerprints like nobody’s business. Keeping the majority of items in their boxes means they will stay cleaner and seem newer.

Invisibility

• Put unpackaged display glassware in a very bright spot so the etched design is either very well back-lit (like in a window), or in front of something dark and solidly colored. Too much distracting busy-ness behind a clear glass makes the etching basically disappear, and the item will become invisible.
• Our packaging gives a solid background to our clear pint glasses, so lighting from the front is all they need to have lots of shelf presence.

Pricing seems high.

• Customers love to hear our story and connect with our brand. They feel good supporting a small business like ours (and yours!) when they know more about us. Make sure customers know our handmade products are not cheaply made overseas by attracting attention to the story on our boxes.
• You get what you pay for, and these cups will last a lifetime of everyday use, even run through the dishwasher and heated in a microwave. Knowing this often makes the sale! Creating shelf-talkers with our story and product features can really help, along with having salespeople that can point out these things.
• We give you more for your money. You don’t just get an expensive cup tossed in a shopping bag at checkout--with Bread and Badger, you get a gift ready to give, and it’s easy to wrap! Even when shopping for yourself, it’s satisfying to unbox a new thing for the first time so it feels truly special.

Obviously, every shop is different, and you may have your own merchandising secrets that work perfectly for you. If you have a great tip, let us know so we can share it! If you have a pain point we haven't addressed, let me know and I'll come up with a solution for you.