In 2017 four out of ten purchases in the U.S. were made online. The three-dimensional shopping experience of standing in front of a shelf lined with products is quickly being replaced by a two-dimensional experience of consumers buying products they view on their computer monitors, tablets or cell phones. Since the buyers of products are increasingly viewing those products on monitors and screens, does that mean the printed packaging that products carry is becoming less complex? Is the role of a primary label as a purchase influencer becoming lost as consumers increasingly purchase goods by clicking a mouse or tapping a cell phone screen? This blog illustrates how brand owners and label buyers answer this critical question.
Every year LPC surveys North American brand owners and label buyers, asking them about sourcing trends and what in their view are the most important market forces impacting the design and purchasing protocols of printed labels. We surveyed more than 100 brands and packaging buyers in the fourth quarter of 2017 asking them about their printed packaging standards. Are their pressure-sensitive label requirements becoming more or less sophisticated? Will the graphics on the labels, pouches, bags and sachets they source be easier or more challenging for converters to print? Are labels and other types of printed packaging becoming more or less complex? The graph below indicates brand owners’ and packaging buyers’ responses to this central question.
Seventy-three percent of surveyed brands and packaging buyers state that their printed packaging requirements are becoming increasingly complex, specifically in the areas of labels and flexible packaging. The North American label sector is divided into two primary categories: prime labels (labels that identify consumer products) and non-prime labels (labels such as barcodes and industrial labels applied to durables, electronics and automotive components). According to brands and packaging buyers, the prime labels they source are becoming more complex and the non-prime labels they source are becoming more functional. Prime labels are carrying more colors, embellishments and increasingly higher fidelity print-quality levels. Non-prime labels have to be more environmentally resilient than ever before, and meet regulatory standards driven by serialization and track & trace compliance.
Given this changing environment, label converters have to bring more innovation to the table than ever before. They have to go beyond simply supplying labels and learn to become a process engineer, six sigma specialist, technical consultant and constant educator. The most successful industry suppliers will ensure they’re helping their label converting customers adopt these roles in the most effective ways possible by giving them the tools and resources they need in each supply niche. The process of purchasing a product has never been simpler. However the labels on those products will become more and more complex.