The manufacturers of corrugated cardboard boxes are working to keep transport packaging flowing to makers of essential products including packaging for food and other consumer products, medical and pharmaceutical products, tissue and hygiene products and more amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

2019 seemed to be the year of refining. Be it ecommerce campaigns, seasonal packaging or moving into a new sector, consumer packaged goods companies, manufacturers and designers worked with what they had and made it better.

As ecommerce platforms continue to grow, brands face the prospect of SKU proliferation and the challenges of ensuring products reach consumers in excellent condition. 

Packaging has always been a means of communicating a brand’s value proposition — who your product is for and why it’s better and different than anything else on the market today. But in today’s increasingly competitive consumer product landscape, the critical need to stand out is inspiring marketers to push the boundaries of design in new and unexpected ways. Based on what we’re seeing from design projects on our global platform, here are five new trends that will dominate packaging design in 2020 and beyond.

Trends around the world are moving fast and changing how we live and interact with the world. Brands will need to understand how these trends will impact their ability to do business and find solutions to adjust.

From a branding perspective, especially brand naming, Cheerios is brilliant. It’s a suggestive name that gives you a hint of what you’re about to experience: cheery Os. The funny part is that wasn’t the original name.

The post-purchase experience is an area that is often neglected in ecommerce. Branded packaging is more costly than using stock shipping boxes. So many ecommerce businesses feel that it’s simply not worth the investment.

The food and beverage industry is being transformed by growth in e-commerce; however, many grocers see it as the biggest threat to their businesses, according to a recent survey by TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank.

Package theft is a growing problem across America as 36% have reported having a package stolen at least once. C+R Research asked 2,000 consumers who have shopped online in the last 12 months about their experience with theft and what preventative measures they have now taken.

Between labor shortages, customer expectations, automation quandaries and, of course, the high cost of doing business, challenges abound for e-commerce companies — and optimizing processes wherever possible is a priority for everyone.