Making and Eating Nice Food

People who are planning to open retail outlets to sell food and drinks need to pay special attention to the packaging of the different products which they are considering to put on the shelves. This article discusses some of the reasons why packaging is important.

More Buying Decisions

The packaging of foods and drinks plays a crucial role in driving consumer behaviour. This is because packaging can draw customers to one product and not to another. For example, some people may be drawn to a product whose packaging lists the strong points of that product (added calcium for stronger teeth, for example) as opposed to packaging with a message which can be regarded as negative (hormone-free meat, for example). It is therefore important for you to assess the impact of beverage or food packages upon buying behaviour before you include those items on your store's shelves.

Less Need for Marketing

The packaging on the different foods and drinks can also have an effect on the magnitude of marketing which you should conduct in order to promote those products or brands. For example, buying carbonated beverages with the private label of your store may force you to invest heavily in marketing that private-label brand if your store isn't a recognisable brand in the area. In such a case, you may be better off starting with beverages from known brands so that you don't have a hard time convincing customers to buy products from a well-known and trusted brand.

Impact on Differentiation

Packaging also plays an important role in helping you target customers who consume the same products. For example, different packaging can make various brands of the alcoholic beverage (such as beer) to appeal to different segments of the market. Colourful packaging may be more appealing to younger buyers, while more conservative colours and images may appeal to older buyers, for example.

Pay attention to those subtle messages conveyed by the packaging as you select the products to stock in your outlets. You will then be able to find the correct mix of items to appeal to various categories without creating unnecessary direct competition between similar products on your shelves.

The importance of packaging can never be over-emphasised. Work with people who have experience in the beverage supplies industry so that you can be helped to select the beverages whose packaging will increase the volume of the sales which you make once your stores open to the public.