If you would have asked me 6 months ago what one area of my cookie business was that I was not willing to spend money on, I would have said...packaging.
I didn't see a point in spending additional money on fancy boxes, bows, and tags when people are going to come and pick up their cookies (or get them in the mail), put them out at their event and throw away whatever box I put them in. After all, the cookies really speak for themselves! Do they really need to be in a pretty box too?...
...But then I ordered my Laurel Denise Planner
It is truly one of my greatest obsessions. I should add that these planners are not cheap. I could easily walk into any Home Goods and find a planner with a pretty cover for a quarter of the price...but it would never be a Laurel Denise Planner. The quality, design, and functionality of these designer planners is simply unmatched. So much so, that I would literally pay anything for it at this point. It might sound crazy, but it really is a luxury planner...
It came in the mail and arrived on my doorstep and I was like a little kid on Christmas morning. I opened up the bubble wrap envelope and pulled out the most gorgeous pink floral box. Inside the box was my planner wrapped in the prettiest pink patterned tissue paper with a sticker and fun little card. At that moment it dawned on me...in a crazy way, the packaging was making me appreciate my planner even more! Opening it up was a full experience of all things pretty and pink. The luxurious packaging matched my new designer planner and honestly it truly made me feel like Laurel herself wrapped up a special present just for me.
I realized that packaging DOES matter.
Packaging is the direct reflection of a brand.
A great brand has the ability to make people feel a certain type of way. When a brand is able to make people feel, that is where connection is built. From a business standpoint...connection = recurring customers.
My whole mindset flipped. I know that I have the ability to create beautiful cookies and my customers know that too...that's why they order from me. But my planner from Laurel Denise made me realize I was selling my customers short. I wasn't giving them the "Christmas Morning" experience they deserve when getting their box of luxury cookies from me. My cookies may have been giving "designer brand", but my packaging was giving "Amazon." So, it was time for a change.
I didn't go all out and throw away all of the boxes and all of the stock packaging I already had...that would have been a waste. Instead, I just decided to spruce things up a bit in simple ways with ribbons, hand written tags, and my favorite....branded packaging tape. I have been shipping a lot of orders lately so I wanted those customers to feel that excitement when they see their box of cookies arrive by their front door. Branded packing tape from PackM was just the thing. I made my design in Canva, uploaded it to the website and clicked order! My tape came and now my shipped orders get the same designer treatment as my pick ups!
So, if you want my personal opinion, I say SPLURGE on that packaging and give your customers that "Christmas Morning" experience when they get to open up a box of cookies from you!! They will remember how it made them feel and they'll keep coming back for more ;)
PS. I know this post is really all about packaging, but I will say my planner truly is my saving grace when it comes to managing my cookie business & LIFE. I cannot recommend it enough. If you're interested, here is the link! (I personally have the vertical weekly planner). Feel free to use the code EMILY10 for a discount too ;)
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