The Ultimate Buyer's Guide for Purchasing Clothes Packaging Bags

Whether planning for a quick overnight trip or an extended getaway, there are clothes, toiletries, laptops, phones, digital cameras, and charging cables, plus itineraries, jackets, guide books, and so much more&#;and it all needs to fit into one bag. And getting it to fit isn't the only problem. Unless your clothes, gear and travel accessories are properly corralled, they tend to wander, and before you know it, you&#;re traveling with a suitcase that looks like a rummage sale.

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So, how do you manage to fit everything in your bag and keep it somewhat contained?

Well, you can cram it all in, like many people do, but this will ultimately make your travel a lot more cumbersome than it needs to be. There's a better way to pack and avoid these headaches&#;the revolutionary Pack-It System from Eagle Creek. It's a simple system that eliminates several of the most common packing challenges, from organizational challenges to limited packing space. With smartly designed sacs, cubes, and folders that divide your stuff into cleanly arranged sections within your larger luggage, duffel, or backpack, the system makes it easier for you to find what you need and eliminate clutter, and helps to compress your items so you can fit more in your bags.

The Pack-It® System brings sanity to travel. Packing Cubes, Folders, Sacs and Compression Sacs all help fit more stuff in less space with fewer wrinkles, separate dirty items from clean ones, and generally bring organization to your bags and luggage&#;even a duffel bag becomes perfectly organized using packing cubes. There are many ways to mix and match within this system, so use the product guide below, as well as useful packing tips, to determine which luggage organizers are right for you.

Cubes

Recommended use: Rolling and compressing pants, shirts, shorts, socks, and underwear. Use to sort dirty clothes from clean, and to separate clothing types

Packing cubes are perfect for organizing all types of clothes in your suitcase. Consider large cubes for jeans, shorts, bottoms, and bulky items. Medium sized cubes work well for tees and pajamas. Meanwhile slim cubes are perfect to fill those smaller spaces and perfectly fit socks, underwear, belts, and other miscellaneous items.

In addition to the variety of sizes and options, 2-sided versions allow you to separate clean clothes from dirty clothes, and expandable cubes.

If you&#;re watching your pack&#;s overall weight, Pack-It® Isolate Cubes are lightweight and water-resistant and help compress clothing and minimize wrinkles. All packing cubes are available in durable fabrics and covered by Eagle Creek&#;s Lifetime Warranty.

Folders

Recommended use: Dress clothing, dresses, collared shirts, skirts&#;business trips or in a carry-on bag ; they also work well in unstructured bags or duffels, allowing you to keep items flat and wrinkle-free

Packing folders fit up to 15 shirts, pants, or other clothing items, keeping them compressed, neat and organized within your luggage while also providing wrinkle resistance. The small and medium sizes fit into most carry-on sized bags. All packing folders come with an easy-to-use folding board.

Garment Sleeves

Recommended use: Business travel, formal wear and wrinkle-prone clothing

Garment sleeves are built specifically for longer garments and formal wear, keeping items packed neatly, preventing wrinkles, and allowing you to easily hang your garments upon arrival.

Compression Sacs

Recommended use: Thick outerwear, bulky items, or dirty laundry

Get up to 80% more packing space with clever compression bags&#;no vacuum needed! Just pack, roll to compress, zip, and you're done. Also consider compression packing cubes to easily marry the convenience of a traditional packing cube with extra space savings, but without compromising on suitcase organization. No other compression bags are this easy to use.

Caddies, Organizers, Pouches and More

Recommended use: Small accessories, toiletries, make-up and jewelry

Eagle Creek offers a wide range of additional organizers to fit virtually everything you need for your trip.

Now that you know there's a better way to pack, we've gathered some tips from seasoned travelers on how to use The Pack-It® System in some creative ways for the most organized travel bag around. Below are some of our favorite ways to stay organized on your next journey.

If packing for the whole family, try a large capacity duffel bag or piece of rolling luggage. Then color-coordinate Pack-It® Folders, Cubes and Sacs with each member of the family to easily identify what belongs to whom.

Pack-It® Sacs are great for organizing snacks and children&#;s games.

Pack-It® Cubes are useful when packing a change of clothes for during the day.

Pack-It® Folders are great for people who like to fold all their clothes&#;for people who roll their clothes when they travel, Pack-It® Cubes are a better organization and packing solution.

Think of your packing organizers as drawers and group items according to where they came from. You don&#;t keep your underwear with your shoes, or belts and electronics in a drawer with your pants, so separating them in your travel bag just makes sense. They act like compact drawers and shelves in your bag, keeping similar items together and separating them into categories.

Roll your socks, scarves, belts and underwear and put them into an extra small cube.

Keep your make-up, brushes, and all your small odds and ends in sacs.

Use shoe sacs to keep your shoes from sullying the rest of your bag.

For business travelers, photographers, or any other travelers with a lot of electronics, use an eTools Organizer for computer accessories like your cables, computer and chargers, external hard drives.

Depending on the type of travel you're doing, sacs and pouches make great first aid kits: For more adventurous travelers who need to be more prepared for dehydration and greater injuries, a gear pouch is perfect.

The Pack-It® Clean Dirty Cube allows you to put clean clothes in the breathable mesh side and dirty clothes in the water-resistant side.

Moms love packing cube sets to help them keep their diaper bags organized and to allow them to transfer important baby necessities from one bag to another.

No matter what your style of travel, discover how the Pack-It System helps you stay organized and travel better.

Related Links (from Eagle Creek blog):

Minimalist Camping: How to Pack for a Weekend in Nature

What to Pack: The Ulitmate Travel Packing List

Product packaging&#;everything from garment hang tags to mailer boxes&#;serves a number of functions, such as identifying product details and providing protection during shipping. It&#;s also one of the most overlooked marketing opportunities for online brands. 

By , nearly 23% of consumer purchases are expected to happen online. This growth has coincided with an increased focus on improving the packing and shipping processes to recreate the personal touch of in-store shopping.

While most packaging is designed to protect or identify your products, taking a purely functional approach means you might be missing out on its full potential. Ahead, learn how to use customized packaging to deliver your products safely while creating a positive experience.

What is product packaging?

Product packaging refers to the physical materials that house your product. Its main function is to protect products, and can contain usage information, help your product stand up on a retail display, and maintain its contents&#; shelf life. But it&#;s also a company&#;s chance to delight customers and build brand loyalty through a memorable branded experience.

Product packaging for ecommerce includes both the product packaging itself (say, the glass bottle that contains body cream or hang tag on a sweater) and the outer packaging (box and tissue) that gets that product to its final destination. Both of these types of retail packaging can be branded and customized to deliver impact.

A holistic branded packaging experience is a set of thoughtful design choices and selection of shipping and packing materials. Its purpose is to provide additional value for your customer and your business by way of creating a positive first impression of your brand identity&#;ideally, one that&#;s memorable and shareable.

What is product packaging design?

Product packaging design refers to the phase of brand identity design where you apply logos, branded graphics, and copy to product and shipping packaging. In some cases it refers to designing custom packages from scratch for your unique product. Packaging design applies to any primary packaging that comes into contact with your product (like blister packs) and secondary packaging for shipping purposes. 

The product packaging design process often involves working with standard size templates from a digital printing company. You can use a tool like Adobe Illustrator to design your product&#;s packaging or outsource to a professional designer.

The importance of product packaging 

Online stores have fewer direct touchpoints to deliver delight compared with physical retail. While there are many advantages to ecommerce for both seller and buyer, the tradeoff is a lack of direct connection between them. When ecommerce shoppers interact with your package after delivery, it&#;s your first chance to make an impression through a direct touchpoint.

Adding brand value

Product packaging can become an extension of your brand. The choices you make can reflect your brand voice, aesthetic, and even values. For example, Seed, a direct-to-consumer retailer selling probiotic supplements, uses simple branded packaging made from biodegradable sachets and paper foam inserts. This reinforces Seed&#;s brand values and increases customer satisfaction among its target audience of eco-conscious buyers. 

Creating a sharable experience

A great experience is worth sharing. If you deliver a delightful experience from the first website interaction to the moment your customer opens their package, they&#;ll be more inclined to share it. User-generated content and word-of-mouth marketing are both valuable forms of organic marketing that can benefit brands.

Building loyalty

A positive unboxing experience can also increase customer loyalty and affinity with your brand. Building a long-term brand means bringing customers back time and time again. Investing in retention can move you off of the acquisition treadmill, giving you more time and money to improve your brand experience for your biggest fans.

Growing sustainably

Demand for sustainable options has meant that companies are popping up everywhere to meet it. It&#;s easier than ever to walk the walk and truly be a sustainable brand, from manufacturing all the way to shipping.

Mingyi are exported all over the world and different industries with quality first. Our belief is to provide our customers with more and better high value-added products. Let's create a better future together.

When Hero Packaging ran Google Ads for its biodegradable shipping supplies, the response was overwhelming. &#;In a week, we got a thousand people signing up [for a free sample], and that was the first sign where we said, &#;People are really interested in this,&#;&#; says co-founder Anaita Sakar.

Types of product packaging

Product packaging refers to both the packaging in direct contact with the product and the packaging used for shipping. Both types can be customized through a digital printing company that specializes in custom packaging. Before you dive into packaging design, let&#;s look at the different types of packaging you can customize.

Primary packaging

Product packaging that is in direct contact with your product is called primary packaging. This refers to the packaging of the product itself, before it&#;s placed in a shipping box with added materials. Examples of primary packaging include:

• Blister packs
• Hang tags
• Glass or plastic bottles and jars
• Shrink wrap
• Stickers and labels
• Resealable pouches 
• Drawstring fabric bags
• Bundling cord or tape
• Air-tight wrapping
• Clamshell packaging
• Paper bands
• Cardboard or plastic tubes
• Shoe boxes
• Jewelry boxes
• Cans
• Paper labels

Secondary (shipping) packaging

Before you can ship your products, you&#;ll need to package them for safe transport. Most products will require some type of box or envelope to protect the order for safe transport, as well as a cushioning material.

Corrugated boxes 

Cardboard boxes are the most common type of product packaging used by online retailers. They&#;re sturdy, don&#;t add a ton of weight to packages, and can be recycled. Double-walled corrugated boxes can provide extra strength and durability for heavier weight items. Many cardboard boxes are also made from recycled components for a sustainability factor.

Padded mailers

These packages are best for shipping smaller, flat, or delicate items such as jewelry, handcrafted goods, or books. Many of these mailers are made from a polyethylene and contain a cushioned or &#;bubble&#; insert. In recent years, more companies have switched to eco-friendly versions made from biodegradable materials or paper.

Bags and envelopes

Unpadded polyethylene mailers, Tyvek envelopes, or sustainable alternatives are great solutions for soft items that don&#;t require impact protection&#;a perfect packaging solution for apparel companies. Bags and poly envelopes are inexpensive, lightweight, strong, and self-sealing, adding efficiency to your shipping process.

Tertiary packaging

Tertiary packaging is the outermost layer of packaging and is used for shipping and distributing products. It protects products from damage during transit. A corrugated cardboard shipping box containing multiple units of a product is an example. 

Custom product packaging

All packaging types described above can be customized with your branding and to your product&#;s specifications. For specific primary packaging, you may need to work with a manufacturer to design and produce your packaging from scratch. But many standard shipping products can be customized using a company like Hero Packaging or Better Packaging Co.

There are many options for printing and customizing everything from tissue and gift wrap to jewelry boxes and shipping envelopes. Branded outer packaging makes an impression the second it lands on your customer&#;s door stop.

11 steps to create a product package

1. Choose the right packaging
2. Add branded tissue paper
3. Consider filler
4. Brand with stickers
5. Tuck in promotional material
6. Add a packing slip
7. Write a custom note
8. Include educational materials
9. Consider custom tape
10. Design seasonal packaging
11. Add a free sample or gift

Decide which small business packaging options deliver the best experience and most value for you and your customers. Strategically investing in a few of these product packaging supplies can go a long way to creating an unboxing experience that cements your brand&#;s identity in the minds of customers.

1. Choose the right packaging

The most significant element to consider is your ecommerce shipping container. Depending on your product, this might be a box, bag, or poly mailer. White and brown corrugated packaging options once ruled as the sole option because they&#;re cheap, sturdy, and get the job done, but they may not create the first impression you&#;re looking for&#;or be the right fit for your product.

Do you own a sustainable company? You can opt for biodegradable packaging alternatives made from compressed coconut fibers or compostable mailers made from corn rather than plastic.

2. Add branded tissue paper

Wrapping your products in tissue paper adds an extra level of luxury, creating anticipation during the unboxing experience. It can also provide protection for delicate items. Custom-printed tissue is another opportunity to add your brand aesthetic to the experience.

3. Consider filler

Traditional filler includes Styrofoam packing peanuts, foam inserts, air pillows, and bubble wrap. Many brands are meeting customer demand for sustainability and opting for eco-friendly alternatives like recycled crinkle paper (colored or brown), excelsior (wood fibers), and biodegradable packing peanuts made from wheat or cornstarch. The type you choose depends on your product and brand values (i.e., sustainability).

4. Brand with stickers

Using stickers on a plain box or bag is a versatile and fairly inexpensive alternative to creating custom packaging. A branded sticker can seal tissue paper or brand the outside of your packaging. You may also want to include a few extra stickers in the package as a way to thank your customers for their purchase.

5. Tuck in promotional material

Business cards or postcards can be added to packaging to tell customers more about your brand, thank them for their purchase, and even offer a discount on a future purchase. Use QR codes to link customers to a special landing page that you can update more easily than a printed card. You can also send other types of packaging inserts such as newsletters or a branded magazine. This unique packaging idea serves as reading material that deepens the brand&#;s relationship with customers.

6. Add a packing slip

It&#;s standard to include a receipt or packing slip in your package, but many businesses don&#;t use this as a branding or marketing opportunity. Add your logo and on-brand messaging. Then, place the receipt and packing slip in the package at a point that makes sense&#;not at the top of the box where you want to make the biggest splash.

&#; Tip: When you print a packing slip on Shopify, you can customize its contents and product packaging design by adding or removing elements like your logo or product images. You might also consider including a coupon code on your packing slip to encourage repeat purchases.

7. Write a custom note

Though handwritten notes may be tricky to scale, new businesses are fighting to earn every customer. Connecting through a personal note can show customers there are real people powering your brand.

8. Include educational materials

If you sell products that require assembly or instructions for set up and use, add educational materials to your packaging. Sharing educational materials like usage instructions shows that you care about their experience, builds trust, and ensures that customers have a positive initial experience with your product.

9. Consider custom tape

Like stickers, branded packing tape can be added to a plain box at a lower cost than customizing the whole box. It comes in a variety of colorful options off the shelf, too. 

10. Design seasonal packaging

To improve customer experience during the holidays and seasonal events, consider limited edition packaging design that maintains your recognizable brand identity with a festive flair. For more tips, check out this holiday shipping guide to survive and profit during the seasonal rush.

11. Add a free sample or gift

Surprise customers with a free sample or gift with purchase inside the packaging. This tactic can help you cross-sell by introducing a customer to new products. Choose an item your customer is likely to be interested in to encourage them to purchase the full size at a later date. 

Product packaging costs

A downside to a custom-branded packaging experience can be the associated cost. You&#;ll need to decide based on your average order size and profit margins what options are financially feasible, along with which present the greatest value to your business and customers.

Unbranded packaging

Unbranded packaging is the cheapest solution with many options available off the shelf in a number of quantities and colors. If you go this route, you can always add inexpensive customization with branded tape or stickers. Custom stickers can cost between 10¢ and $2 each, depending on order quantity and size.

Branded packaging

Custom boxes and mailers tend to be the most expensive solution. 

To create your own custom printed boxes, you may be looking at a minimum order of 250 and a cost of $2 to $25 per box. Some printing companies have no minimums&#;but you&#;ll pay for it. For example, Packlane will print 15 standard boxes for around $6 each, but if you order 10,000, your cost per unit drops to just over $2 each. On top of that, consider that ecommerce boxes will add more total weight to your shipment than a poly mailer.

Poly mailers will average 40¢ to $3 per printed mailer, depending on your order size and material&#;but you can order as few as 25 at a time with some suppliers (at a cost). Remember that the weight of this solution is low and will keep your shipping rates lower, too.

Tips for keeping packaging costs low

• On sites like AliExpress, unbranded colored and patterned boxes can be purchased with a minimum order of 50 units for less than 40¢ each (depending on size), with free shipping to most countries.
• The greater your order size, the cheaper the cost per unit. Strategically plan which items you will use and place larger orders to bring costs down.
• Consider the impact of weight when looking at the overall cost of your packaging. Higher weights mean higher costs to ship, which can impact your shipping strategy as a whole.

Best product packaging design examples

To improve your ecommerce packaging design, we&#;ve highlighted some creative ideas for shipping you can borrow from these best-in-class online businesses. 

Caraway

Caraway Home is a direct-to-consumer retailer that sells non-toxic ceramic cookware in unexpected colorways. To convey its values, the brand uses recycled materials with zero-plastic bags, low-impact print dyes, and biodegradable or recyclable inserts to package and ship goods.

Caraway also includes a welcome booklet with orders, made from recycled paper, along with messages printed directly on the packaging that improve the unboxing experience.

Overall, what stands out about Caraway&#;s ecommerce packaging is how organized and true to its brand aesthetic it is. Because this is a premium product (with a premium cost) little touches like this go a long way to assuring the customer they&#;ve made a smart purchase.

Otherland

Otherland is a brand known for its beautifully packaged and fragranced candles. Otherland&#;s founder, Abigail Cook Stone, is a former art buyer for Ralph Lauren stores and therefore understands the importance of aesthetics at every stage of a customer&#;s interaction with a brand.

Whether a customer purchases a limited edition seasonal product or items from the core collection, the experience is familiar and consistent with pops of color and beautiful branding.

Allbirds

Allbirds is an ecommerce brand selling shoes made from sustainable materials, like tree fiber and sugar cane. This commitment to the planet extends to packaging that&#;s recycled and printed with soy inks.

Clever details in Allbirds packaging reflect the brand&#;s personality and focus on creating a seamless experience from the moment the package arrives. It&#;s playful and functional&#;just like the Allbirds brand. 

Wild Deodorant

Wild is a pioneer in personal care, tackling one of the biggest issues in the category: plastic waste. The brand solved this problem with product packaging. The packaging design process is at the heart of brand identity for Wild, as it serves as the brand&#;s unique selling proposition.

&#;Everything from shampoo, conditioner, shower gel through to toothpaste and deodorant, people&#;s bathrooms are absolutely packed full of plastic,&#; says co-founder Charlie Bowes-Lyon. &#;Not only did we want to reduce that problem, but we felt we could remove plastic and single-use materials completely.&#;

Clever packaging means that customers buy a reusable applicator once, and refill with a product that uses much less waste than conventional deodorant. The refill packaging is made from a compostable bamboo pulp.

Notice Hair Co.

Notice Hair Co. sells sustainable products for your hair, body, and home, with a mission to get as close to zero-waste as possible. It goes against the grain to offer packaging that is minimal and compostable to align with its values. The brand&#;s signature conditioner and shampoo bars also come wrapped in compostable paper, so there&#;s virtually no waste.

The brand continues to seek out fulfillment centers that commit to its zero-waste and no-plastic policies to lower the brand&#;s carbon footprint.

Create an unboxing experience worth sharing

High quality packaging that reflects your brand&#;s voice and values can give you the competitive edge to not only generate repeat customers but also attract new ones.

Consider the customer&#;s experience from the first visit to your website to the moment their purchase lands on their doorstep. A thoughtful packaging strategy can create a memorable impression that turns one-time buyers into lifelong brand advocates.

Want more information on Clothes Packaging Bags? Feel free to contact us.