There's an old saying that wisely reminds us "you can only make one first impression, so you'd better work hard to make it the best one possible." For many brands, that first impression often comes from the most unlikely of sources: your product's packaging.

According to a study conducted by MarketingProfs.com, consumers are more prone to making snap judgments when making purchases than we may have realized. First impressions in a store, for example, happen in an average of just six seconds and see customers making decisions based on quick bursts of information. To say that both the design of your packaging and the information that it provides play a role in that is something of an understatement.

But mastering the fine art of proper box design can do a lot more than just influence your audience in the way you need when you need it the most - it can also help save you and your company a significant amount of both time and money in a wide variety of different ways that are more than worth exploring.

The Essence of Sustainable Product Packaging

To be clear, when one discusses proper box design what they're really talking about is sustainable product packaging - something that is quickly becoming an essential part of nearly every industry that you can think of. This is due in large part to the fact that it checks a lot of different boxes in the eyes of both consumers and your long-term business plans, all at the same time.

The major benefit of sustainable product packaging is that it isn't just beneficial, safe and healthy for the individual consumers that you're serving, but for the communities that they live in as well. According to the EPA, by 2010 packaging waste in particular had grown to account for roughly 38% of all waste generate worldwide - to the tune of 24 million tons annually. Sustainable packaging shows that your brand is doing your part to help address this issue head on.

But the benefits of sustainable packaging run a fair bit deeper than that, as well. Sustainable packaging and proper box design is often sourced, manufactured, transported and even recycled using renewable energy. It allows you to optimize the use of renewable or recycled source materials and is often manufactured using only the cleanest production technologies and best practices available.

But again, the effect of proper box design won't just have a positive outward effect on your brand - it's results run inward, as well.

Proper Box Design: Saving You Time and Money Across the Board

Many people don't realize that proper, careful and thoughtful box design can save you money in a wide range of different ways almost immediately. The act of using locally sourced materials, as well as box design that is more customized to meet the dimensions of the product in question, cuts back on both shipping distances and weights - a move that can generate a huge amount of savings on material transportation alone.

Cutting back on shipping distances also saves you time in that it allows you to get products to stores (and into the hands of consumers) much faster. This in turn improves the reliability of your own logistics enterprises, which allows you to make sales and generate revenue faster than ever.

But the real benefit of proper box design comes from how it allows you to maintain and expand your customer base. Environmentally friendly products and packages are something that consumers have made a significant priority in recent years. One study even revealed that more than 75% of consumers are positively influenced by eco-friendly packaging and box designs. A further 84% of consumers say that they actively seek out and purchase only responsible products whenever they can.

Meeting this type of demand isn't just a way to save you time and money on box design and production today - it's an investment that will pay dividends for years to come thanks to how it allows you to both maintain existing customer support and attract the attention of eco-friendly new ones.

The Influence of Proper Box Design on Consumers

To that end, proper box design also helps you make the best possible impact in the area that matters the most: the minds of your consumers. As stated, box design plays an important role in the essential first impression that your product makes with a potential buyer - but it's effect also runs a fair bit deeper than that, too.

Proper box design is a representation of your brand, the same as your business' website, interactions with your employees and even the office you're operating out of. It's because your box design represents more than just a way to protect a product - it's a symbol of your brand's essential promise to deliver a quality experience to consumers, no exception.

Think about it like this: proper box design is convenient on behalf of consumers because it helps them quickly find the specific product they want on a store shelf. Attractive design can also be a great way to not only draw their attention, but to separate your product from anything it may be next to in the same isle. Every element - from typography to color to materials - all play a role in this critical moment.

Perhaps the most important statistic of all that underlines this effect is the fact that about 52% of online consumers in particular say they would likely make another purchase from a brand if they receive a product in premium packaging.

In the End

At the end of the day, box design is and will always be just one small part of a much larger story. If the quality isn't there in terms of the product itself, even the best box design in the world isn't going to help generate the results that you need.

If you know that your product lives up to the promise you've made to your consumers, however, proper box design might just be the silver bullet you've been looking for in terms of attracting attention and keeping it for as long as possible. Even internally, proper box design helps to save you the type of time and money that most people spend their lives looking for - and it's been right under your nose the entire time.