When To Use Custom Boxes, Custom Tape or Custom Stickers
Pratt Team
| 6 min readCustom boxes, custom tape and custom stickers … it’s a lot to choose from. And how do you know which option is going to pay off? As a business you want to make the right decisions that will get you the best return. While we can’t tell which option will bring in the best ROI, we can help you decide what kind of customization is right for what situation.
Here’s how to decide when to use custom boxes, custom tape or custom stickers.
Use custom boxes if …
You’re trying to build more brand awareness for your business. Custom boxes have a much better curb appeal than a plain brown box. Those designs you put so much time and effort into? It will pay off when you see your custom box on a front doorstep. And it’ll pay off for the customer, too. That’s because 61 percent of consumers get more excited about receiving a package from a brand based on packaging, according to a study from DotCom Distribution. Plus, your customer will have an easier time recognizing a custom box from farther away compared to custom tape or custom stickers. That’s just an easy win right there.
If you’re a business owner concerned with sustainability and eco-friendly packaging, custom boxes are the way to go. Corrugated boxes are one of the easiest forms of packaging to recycle -- for both consumers and professionals. About 70 percent of cardboard boxes that are shipped commercially are recovered for recycling and made into new cardboard boxes. That’s simply because custom corrugated boxes are much easier to break down compared to custom tape or custom stickers. But don’t stress about the ink from your designs and artwork. There’s an entire step in the recycling process to make sure ink is filtered out from the paper fiber. Trust us, it’s a lot easier than recycling stickers or tape.
If you really want to show off your logo. Your logo has a lot of meaning behind it. It’s a visualization of what your company stands for and what your product value can bring to a customer. So why not use custom boxes to get even more exposure to your logo? Don’t panic. They aren’t nearly as expensive as you think. When you shop custom boxes from our team, we make sure you get the price on custom boxes that show off your logo. Depending on what size you want, you can easily pay only $0.44 per custom box, which is about the same as a custom sticker. Yes, per custom box. You don’t have to break the bank to give your logo a little extra love.
Use custom tape if …
You’re looking for flexibility around customer messaging. For many businesses, it’s important to reinforce educational messages about how their product should be handled. For example, if you’re a grocery delivery service you would likely want your consumer to know that their package needs to stay refrigerated. Custom tape can help send that message to consumers. It can also help with seasonal events like holidays or annual sales. Business owners can reinforce the fact that their entire website is on sale for a limited time only.
If you need added protection for your shipping boxes. A simple solution to a history of tampered boxes is custom tape. Seems too easy, right? If you’re worried about a package getting tampered with before it gets to the hands of the customer, you can easily ask the customer what kind of tape is on the box. If it’s not the custom tape your business uses then you’ll know that it’s been tampered with. Your boxes are also a lot less likely to be touched if there’s custom tape.
If you need custom tape for internal purposes. Custom tape is the answer to misplaced and disorganized stock and inventory in your warehouse. Design your custom tape by color or by labels to keep up with your ever-changing warehouse space. You can have a different roll of tape for every product category your business has. What’s even better? If your business has some trouble will mishandled inventory (you know … broken), custom tape is the answer. Order tape with the words “fragile” or “handle with care” and watch the results. We get it. Running a warehouse is a lot of work, but sometimes the answer to chaos is simple.
Use custom stickers if …
You’re not focused on brand awareness. Custom stickers are perfect for business owners who aren’t necessarily focused on brand awareness. That’s because stickers are mostly only beneficial for the end customer who is opening up the box itself. By nature, stickers are small and hard to see compared to custom tape or custom boxes. If they’re stretched to a larger size they may become distorted. Therefore it’s best to use custom stickers if you’re more interested in promotional material and giveaways. That way you can use stickers to put on the physical box or inside the box.
If you’re shipping small batches of products. Using custom stickers means putting one on or inside every single box. And that’s a lot of work -- especially if you’re a small team with few team members to pool together. If you’re drop shipping or shipping out a massive number or products a day, consider this option a no-go. But if you’re shipping out small batches of products then custom stickers are perfect for your business. The lower the amount of orders, the more manageable it is to use custom stickers.
If you’re on a low budget. Can’t break the business bank, but want customization? Custom stickers can be of the most inexpensive choices for branding if you're looking to buy in bulk (we're talking over 1,000 stickers). But size also has to be accounted for as well. While they won’t make the same impact custom boxes would they will certainly get the job done for a low cost. However, it’s important to look through all your options. You may find that buying 50-100 custom boxes is just as inexpensive as stickers.