To effectively sell their products to consumers, convenience stores are always on the lookout for the latest packaging innovations. This market is highly competitive, so a dependable convenience store packaging solution is needed for a wide range of products.
The Convenience Store Market
An increase in the number of people living alone, a decrease in married couples, generally smaller households, and a shifting population distribution are all factoring into the convenience store market today. As a result of these trends, more people, primarily among the Millennial generation, are seeking less processed and fresher food items. Additionally, the changing market has influenced packaging needs in several ways, including:
- Smaller packaging sizes: Many households today consist of one to two people, which has driven the need for smaller packaging, including two-person meals, single-serve packaging, and resealable packages.
- Transparent packaging: A growing number of products are packaged with transparent materials or packaging featuring see-thru windows. This design enables consumers to see how certain food and beverage products appear before buying. Transparent packaging, coupled with transparency regarding sourcing, ingredients, and production processes can significantly increase sales.
- Improved overall convenience: Apart from smaller and more transparent packaging, resealability, lightweight designs, portability, and ease of opening are features that are becoming increasingly popular among consumers and marketers.
Another trend that’s leading to changes in convenience store packaging is the need for eco-friendly materials. Over the years, certain guidelines and regulations have been developed in an effort to improve sustainability. Subsequently, more convenience store packaging is likely to feature more environmentally friendly designs for everything from food packaging containers to bottled water.
Convenience Store Packaging Products & Packaging Methods
To meet today’s various needs, convenience stores need to provide products featuring certain types of convenient packaging. Some of the specific types of packaging products and methods used in convenience stores can include:
Primary and Secondary Product Packaging
Some examples of primary and secondary convenience store packaging include:
- Blister packaging
- Labeling
- Flow wrapping
- Shrink wrap
- Bundle packaging
- Small boxing
- Kitting
Retail-Ready Product Displays
Some individual product packages will benefit from proper display using certain types of racks, floor displays and stands, clip strips, club trays, countertop units, power-wings, and other displays, and quarter to full PDQ displays.
Sampling and Fulfillment Packaging
In some convenience stores, additional packaging solutions may be required for bulk samples, unpack and repack applications, and collation.
One-Ounce Packaging
One recent trend in convenience store packaging that’s also affecting the industry is the uptick in one-ounce packaging amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This is largely due to the increased demand for single-serve packaging.
When it comes to packaging methods, standardization will be a necessity to meet consumer needs. Versatility is also crucial with different stores having different packaging requirements. In an effort to keep the packaging process both cost-effective and efficient, the flexibility of production operations will be yet another requirement, with the ability to facilitate short production runs while maintaining profitability.
Because of these requirements, many companies are turning to contract packaging to keep up with the latest trends while getting the most from their available budget. With the help of contract packaging, manufacturers and retailers can avoid the need to upgrade and maintain their own in-house equipment while benefiting from consistently top-quality packaging.
Work With Econo-Pak
Regardless of what you need for a convenience store packaging solution, the professionals at Econo-Pak can assist in package design for nearly any type of product. We can work with you to produce flow wraps, bags, cartons, gusset bags, master shippers, and much more based on your individual specifications. If you would like to get started on your next packaging solution today, request a quote today.
