For far too long, packaging had one job and one job only: protect the product. Not much mind was paid to what packaging looked like or how one felt when opening it for the first time. This approach led to designs that kept products safe while inflicting stress and anxiety upon the customer.

Then came frustration-free packaging. Just like that, the world became a much better place.

As we at Victory Packaging look ahead at the industry, we can’t help but think frustration-free packaging will become more widely used as companies discover its potential. To that end, here’s why we believe it is ultimately the future of packaging as we know it.

Frustration-free packaging isn’t just a way to make the unboxing experience more pleasant for those who are buying your products. As you’ll soon learn, there are other benefits to implementing this approach to packaging design.

It Improves the Customer Experience

We’ve all been there. You finally get your hands on that product you’ve been wanting for so long. You can’t wait to use it. You drive it home from the store, or you remove it from its brown cardboard shipping box, and you hold it up to admire the outer packaging.

Then you try to open it. Suddenly you find your mood has changed dramatically. What was once delight and glee is now anger and – you guessed it – frustration. Who decided to encase this item in hard, untearable plastic? Whose idea was it to secure every portion of the product with twist ties?

Thanks to frustration-free packaging, these terrible unboxing experiences are no more. Instead, packaging is designed to make the process of opening and actually reaching your item much simpler.

If you’ve ever opened an Apple product, you know exactly what this is: packaging that you only need your hands (and a minimal amount of effort) to breach. The end result is a happier, much less frustrated customer who will remember this experience the next time they go to make a purchase.

It Streamlines the Packaging Process

In cooking, the more ingredients you need to prepare, the more complicated and time consuming a dish becomes. The same can be said of packaging, where multiple elements coming together will often require separate steps in automation and assembly.

When you add more steps to the equation, you may need more machines to handle those additional tasks, which means increased costs. More steps also means less efficiency. You won’t pack and ship near as many products as you would with a more streamlined process.

Frustration packaging – the kind without the “free” – gets its name because it goes overboard. All that extra material results in additional time for a customer to unbox their package once it’s in their hands. But a process must first put all of that extra material into place.

If you simplify and allow only for the packaging that is absolutely necessary, you can cut many of those steps out. That’ll make your customers very happy while enabling you to cut costs and package more products.

It Can Reduce Waste

Those older packaging design methods – the ones that make getting to your product a chore – do more than just frustrate customers. When an unboxing isn’t trivial, it’s likely because there are a lot of different packaging pieces standing in your way.

The more pieces there are, the more waste you’ll likely end up with once an item has safely been removed from its packaging. And we probably don’t need to go into detail about excess waste and the negative impacts it can have on the environment.

One of the blessings of frustration-free packaging is that streamlining the opening process often means using fewer materials. You want a customer to get into and out of a package quickly. A great way to make that happen is by cutting back on packaging elements that only serve as obstacles.

As we’re all discovering with products that use frustration-free packaging, most of what goes into those old-school packages isn’t necessary. By cutting back on it, you’ll not only win the hearts of those buying from you, but you’ll also generate less waste and do the environment a favor, too.

Leave Your Frustration-Free Packaging to Victory

At Victory Packaging, we care deeply about the unboxing process. In fact, we have an entire team of engineers and designers who ensure our customers get packaging that their customers will love.

Send us a message or give us a call today to learn how we can help with your next packaging design project. If you want a little more “frustration-free” and a little less “frustration,” we’re more than happy to design you something that fits your needs.