With the third quarter well underway, marketing managers are thinking about the 2021 holiday season. In the last year, e-commerce experienced a historic rise across the globe, accomplishing three years of growth in just under one year.  

In 2020, people who never made an online purchase before became used to the new reality of ordering both essential and non-essential goods over the Internet.  

Most retail businesses have started to return to 2019 shopping habits — but there have been significant changes in the world of e-commerce. Companies should expect more online orders and meet the rising demand for appropriate packaging as the 2021 holiday season approaches. 

What Are Consumers Ordering Online 

Before stocking up their wares for the 2021 holiday season, retailers should consider what products are in the highest demand among online purchasers. According to Amazon, home-related and self-care products experienced the most significant boom over the 2020 season. That’s no wonder, considering the increased time spent at home. The top performing e-commerce categories in 2020 were home, beauty, and fashion. These same categories are also expected to perform exceptionally in 2021. 

Another trend in online shopping is the purchasing of ready-made gifts. This could be a bundle of products the store already sells grouped together or a re-packaging of a best-selling product. With advancements in printing technology, companies have the option to create impactful and engaging designs that are printed on the inside and outside of their packaging. For many customers, their first real-life interaction with a brand is when the package is delivered. 

Creative packaging can make an unboxing experience stand out from it’s competitors. Development of beautifully packaged gifts options for online ordering to send to a friend or family member will continue to be an area of expansion in online sales. 

Getting Prepared for the 2021 Holidays

There’s a host of improvements that businesses can make to increase their competitiveness when it comes to online shopping. For starters, improving your online platform with quality-of-life digital tools for customers is a good idea.  

Walmart and other major retail chains have added “Last Minute Discount” sections that tease great deals on the most popular product categories. The holiday season is always a period of more significant impulse shopping, and online retailers should also lean into that.  

Bundles are also an excellent way to attract customers — with logical product packages that people tend to buy together anyway, but at a discounted price. And if you want your marketing strategy to ensure a further edge against the competition — the proper visual representation of your bundles is another step in the right direction. 

It is also important to consider the integrity of the packaging for your product or bundle of products. While your packaging may look pretty, that will not be important if it doesn’t to the end-consumer in near pristine condition. Learning more about frustration free packaging and also how to package products sustainably is a way to ensure your product goes through the shipping process smoothly.  

Creating specific packaging for each bundle will help — something fun and visually attractive, like the colorful subscription boxes that have become immensely popular in the past couple of years. Improvements in printing technology mean that you can print a heavily branded design on the outside of your package, while simultaneously printing a colorful pattern on the inside. 

All of these preparations and considerations are why it is important to plan for e-commerce success during the 2021 holiday season.  

If you want to develop unique and appealing packaging solutions quickly, Green Bay Packaging is more than glad to help. Our company provides custom-tailored and scalable packaging solutions for any kind of product or bundle.