Is Smart Packaging the Future of Product Packaging?

Companies worldwide are attempting to gain an edge over their competitors by switching from traditional packaging to smart packaging options. The size of the global smart packaging market is expected to reach $37,797 million by 2022, and to register a CAGR of 7.8% during the forecast period. The latest and most popular packaging trends are enabling products to become more digital in nature than ever before.

The question is this: why are smart packaging options gaining popularity over traditional ones? Here are a few reasons why this trend is gaining momentum:

• Digitally enhanced packaging options provide a far better customer experience:

Customers are now living in an era in which information can easily be updated and referred to online as and when required. It is also common knowledge that most of the customers have their own smartphones and companies worldwide are figuring out how to use that information to their advantage. Smart packaging options allow customers to scan the QR codes on the products’ packages to learn more about the specific and relevant details about the products. Such a feature allows each customer to find out more about the product they are about to purchase by doing a simple scan using a smartphone.

• Brands can highlight the appealing qualities of their products more effectively with smart product packaging:

As the competition across industries rise, brands are doing everything possible to make a mark, and to establish long lasting relationships with their customers. It is for these purposes that smart packaging turns out to be really useful. Several brands are trying to make their product packaging trendy and minimalistic, while letting the QR code provide all the interesting information to their customers. Brands can highlight all the reasons why their products are better than those offered by their competitors. Based on general trends, brands that offer such an immersive shopping experience to customers are most likely to earn higher sales in the long run.

• Customers can make well informed decisions regarding their purchases:

Customers are faced with a lot of options to choose from  every day for every kind of product imaginable. It can become easy for customers to get overwhelmed by the choices, and therefore it is upto the brands to assist customers in making an informed decision. With smart packaging, customers can come to an understanding of the products that suit their needs better. As a majority of customers nowadays are looking for products that meet their ethical requirements, brands can improve their appeal by providing all the related information regarding their products.

• The authenticity of the products can be confirmed by consumers using smart product packaging:

Thousands upon thousands of counterfeit and forged products are circulating the market every day on a global scale, and customers continue to become victims of such problems. Counterfeiters might copy the designs of the original product down to the last detail, and it can get difficult to differentiate the genuine form the fake. Smart packaging is turning out to be a blessing for customers who want to quickly figure out whether the products they are about to purchase are authentic.

By scanning the QR code using a smartphone, any customer can identify whether the product on the store shelf is genuine or not by learning more about its origin and life cycle. The better traceability a product has, the more its authenticity can be proven. Any brand can therefore add the details regarding the supply chain of the product for the benefit of the customers so that they will not get duped by counterfeit products ever again.

As smart packaging options provide such incredible benefits both to brands as well as their customers, it is highly likely that smart packaging is the future of product packaging. Efficiency and convenience come together for a better smart packaging experience through Authlink. Authlink helps brands track and update details regarding their products online on a secure and accurate basis. Authlink also allows customers to scan their product packages to access such relevant information as and when required as well. Authlink is thus paving the way to smarter and digital product packaging.

Schedule a free demo of the Authlink platform here, or sign up for the beta version here.