Packaging Tips For Your Sustainable Fashion Brand
As our world increasingly moves toward e-commerce, you’ve probably found yourself trying to better understand sustainable packaging so that your brand can uphold its values in all areas of production. We know firsthand how difficult it can be to navigate sustainable packaging, so we’ve pulled together our best tips for you to implement with your brand!
With everything having gone digital in the past year, you might have noticed an uptick in your online orders. You probably also realized that your packaging isn’t as sustainable as it could be and decided that you needed to change that. But there are some common problems that we hear all the time from sustainable fashion brand founders when it comes to implementation…
Firstly, there’s the concern that the clothing and accessories won’t be protected by sustainable packaging alternatives. You of course want to make sure that your product reaches the customer in perfect condition because this is your opportunity to get off on the right foot with them and start building a lasting relationship. So with that, sustainable fashion brand founders often opt for traditional packaging methods, without considering the environmental impacts that they have.
Secondly, as a premium-priced brand, there is this expectation on behalf of the customer that the unboxing experience will feel just as luxurious and exciting as the product itself. Sustainable fashion founders will then rise to this expectation by using packaging that portrays luxury, at the expense of the environment.
Although sustainable fashion brand founders are often hesitant to implement alternative packaging, it’s important to remember that traditional packaging is only a one-time-use product. Meaning that the waste could potentially be rotting and decomposing in landfills for centuries to come if we aren’t careful about it.
Sustainable Packaging Tips
#1 Less Is More
Whatever packaging you can avoid… avoid it. Of course, you want to make sure that you’re creating a luxurious and exciting unboxing experience for your customers, but you also need to remember the values that you and your brand share. Consider if you need that extra piece of plastic in your mailer or if you must have tissue paper in your delivery.
#2 Delight The Unboxing Experience
Consider how you can still make your customers feel as though they’re having a luxurious and exciting unboxing experience without all the extra plastic and waste. If you could send a hug to your customer, through the mail, how would you do it? We’ve had clients send personalized cards with every order, while others have created automated email sequences with videos for their customers to watch after purchase!
#3 Paper Is Your Friend
Whenever possible, avoid plastic and opt for paper packaging. There’s a trend recently surrounding compostable and biodegradable poly mailers, but it’s just greenwashing. Without the right conditions to break down these poly mailers, they’re no better than the plastic packaging that is just going to sit in the landfill…
#4 Provide Reusable Packaging
If you want to elevate the unboxing experience for your customers, think about how you can make your packaging reusable. Not only is this going to prevent your packaging from going directly into the landfill, but it’s also going to excite your customers and get them thinking about what they could use your packaging for in their everyday lives! You might want to try packaging your products in a nice box with minimal branding (ex. Gucci has really clean, minimalistic shoe boxes) so that people can keep it to store their mementos in. You could also try adding silk ribbons or bows to your packaging that customers could later use as hair or purse accessories.
#5 Communicate With Your Customers
The truth is, incorporating luxurious sustainable packaging in your brand isn’t always feasible, at least not right away, so it’s important to be upfront and honest with your customers. Make sure to let them know that as a sustainable fashion brand founder, you’ve given this issue a lot of thought and the solution you’ve arrived at is the best you can currently do. If it’s a solution you’re not the proudest of, you can also share that with your customers and tell them your action plan to get you to where you want to go. At the end of the day, it’s only going to benefit you to be open with your customers about your business decisions, while also raising awareness about how harmful unsustainable packaging can be for the environment.
Want More Tips?
We’ve only skimmed the surface here on all the possibilities for your sustainable fashion brand to become even more sustainable! If this is something that you want more help on — becoming more environmentally friendly while also being cost-effective — make sure to check out our Sustainability Consulting Services.
Beyond just helping your brand with sustainable packaging, we’ll support you in developing an entire sustainability strategy that includes everything from your company’s corporate social responsibility pillars to your ethics and values, as well as sourcing ethical materials and production partners. We will also help you with reporting on the progress that you’re making towards sustainability and how you can effectively market and communicate that with your customers so that they’re always in the know.
