Winning Black Friday: How to Stand Out in the Wild West of Discounts

The choices you make about your products' eCommerce packaging have implications that travel far beyond their customers' journey. The moment of unboxing is often the first physical interaction an eCommerce brand has with a new customer – and that moment has the potential to make a significant and lasting impact. It's crucial for brands navigating today's competitive online climate to win over new shoppers and convert them into repeat customers. That's why the people responsible for making decisions about product packaging must educate themselves about these materials. Paper is the Sustainable Choice - Compared to other materials, paper creates a minimal impact on the planet. Consumers Prefer Paper - Modern online shoppers are increasingly conscious of – and interested in – how businesses operate on a sustainability level, bringing packaging to the forefront of the many factors considered when deciding what brands to shop with. Creativity Elicits Enthusiasm - Contrary to plastic void fill options (commonly bubble wrap or air pillows), colorful and printed tissue paper-based interior packaging alternatives create endless possibilities to tell a brand's story while creating a unique and memorable unboxing experience. Adaptive, Efficient, and Innovative - Fortunately, an array of paper-based packaging options that serve an aesthetic purpose also offer protective advantages, adding operational efficiency to the fulfillment process – like Seaman Paper's robust portfolio of multipurpose paper-based products.

Think paper isn't sustainable? Think again! We are super proud to be owned by a brand who believes in sustainability. MIDLAND has partnered with the World Land Trust, and their exciting Carbon Balanced Paper program. Ultimately this program helps protect endangered forests and threatened habitats. Learn more here. Thankfully, recycling has become almost a given in the corporate world and the majority of homes. But it's time to move into the new frontier, looking beyond recycling to tap more heavily into the other two, often overlooked R’s in the sustainability trio: reduce and reuse. These initiatives can reduce pollution and waste on the production side, while simultaneously giving consumers easier access to greener choices for their households, something that 88% of consumers reportedly want. As every business takes a different shape depending on operations and industry, finding ways to reduce and re-use at the corporate level is a complex and highly individual challenge. But some companies have found creative ways to limit their carbon footprint and give products a second life, forging the way for other companies to follow suit. So what can we learn from them? read more at: https://www.jschmid.com/blog/the-overlooked-rs-reduce-and-reuse/

There’s a lot to look forward to in 2021. With wide-spread vaccination on the horizon, relative relief from the global pandemic is close at hand. But even with a new layer of safety added to the retail shopping experience, one factor remains irrevocably changed — the consumer. The numbers back this. More than 65% of consumers intend to continue new buying behaviors acquired due to the pandemic during the post-vaccine era, according to one recent study. Another survey reveals that 56% of consumers plan to use BOPIS (buy-online-pickup-in-store) after the pandemic ends. While retailers ready themselves to meet the post-pandemic consumer online and in-store, one thing is clear. Retail success in the post-pandemic era isn’t so much about where you serve your customers as it is about how you create authentic, personalized omnichannel experiences that transcend the limits of your digital and physical touchpoints and create lasting brand loyalty.