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What Unboxing Videos Teach Businesses About Product Packaging

Riley Panko Feb 11, 2020

3 min read

In the age of e-commerce, your product isn’t the only desirable part of making a purchase. The act of simply opening the packaging on a product is also appealing to customers. Unboxing videos, or videos of people unwrapping products they’ve ordered online, are a hugely popular category of videos.

According to Google, almost 62% of people viewing unboxing videos are researching products they are looking to purchase. The rest are enjoying the excitement of unwrapping a new product.

This indicates that businesses should use their product packaging to make an immediate and lasting impression on customers.

This article explains how product packaging can help you create an exceptional product experience that drives customer loyalty.

YouTube Birthed The Unboxing Video

One year after YouTube launched in 2005, organic interest in unboxing videos began to climb.

Since then, unboxing videos have become a thriving business for influencers.

Professionally-produced videos pull millions of views and feature high-value products like gaming consoles, sneakers, or the newest iPhone.

Many influencer channels are also aimed at new toys for children. Forbes reported that one influencer, the 8-year old Ryan of RyanToysTV, reportedly earned $22 million from his YouTube channel in 2018.

Regardless of the audience’s age, camera-ready packaging drives excitement and sales for image-conscious brands on YouTube.

Unboxing Videos Highlight The Importance Of The Packaging Experience

For online shoppers, shipping and packaging materials are core to the product experience.

Online shoppers forgo the in-store shopping experience, but a unique unboxing experience can compensate by providing a tangible, physical moment that customers want to repeat.

Meanwhile, receiving a unique package helps the buyer feel valued while also elevating the perceived quality of the product.

While this increases packaging costs, consider that online shoppers are more likely to share their purchased items online. By adding a flourish to packaging, you can garner increased shares and brand visibility on social media where aesthetics are highly rewarded.

In an age when people receive a stream of unremarkable parcels, a unique packaging experience can set your brand apart from the rest.

How to Create an Unboxing Experience

Product packaging should make an immediate, lasting impression on customers.

According to a 2013 study, attractive packaging stimulates the area of the brain associated with impulse purchasing. Plain packaging produces no effect, though.

For best results, both the external and internal product packaging should be aesthetically pleasing.

This includes:

A branded external box
Unique packaging materials
Product placement within
Inserts such as coupons, personalized notes, or free samples

In the age of porch piracy, however, flashy external packaging is vulnerable to theft by porch pirates. Businesses must weigh the security of packages and the impact of external package design on the receiving end.

In the example below, Klein Constantia presents customers with a box-as-beehive, a honey pot within, and a swarm of paper bees to match.

The packaging succeeds because it aligns with the brand values and reinforces the product as organic and natural.

Packaging should make sense visually, but also have a strong tactile impact on customers.

According to “Contagious” by Jonah Berger, the box for the Apple iPhone was designed intentionally so that it requires a stronger tug to open. Apple’s product team figured, correctly, that opening a box with more heft and weight would be perceived as more luxurious.

Logistics companies can help businesses understand how to integrate an aesthetically pleasing packaging experience into their supply chain.

Create an unboxing experience that’s unique and elevates your brand experience.