Don't just watch the rise of Web-to-Pack: Here are 10 tips to not just defend your position, but to create a winning Web-to-Pack strategy!
Here’s the conclusion of our Web-to-Pack series. After announcing the rise of Web-to-Pack and breaking down its economic model, we’re now sharing our top tips to help you craft YOUR response to this new way of selling packaging.
1 - Learn from the best
It’s clear that Packhelp’s record-breaking fundraising efforts are not just because they were one of the Web-to-Pack pioneers, but also due to their excellent execution. Their offering is crystal clear, the catalog is meticulously curated both in what it displays (with flawless visuals) and in what it offers (a comprehensive range addressing highly sought-after standards). The website is reliable, functional, and the information is always simplified without being simplistic.
Here, nothing was invented from scratch; the codes adopted are those of the Web-to-Print leaders (and more generally, E-Commerce). Your challenge is to make your business—despite its technical nature—as simple and adapted to E-Commerce as possible. Draw inspiration from major e-commerce sites, Web-to-Print specialists, and the few Web-to-Pack pioneers, because these are the standards you’ll need to aim for tomorrow, not those of your current competitors, who are often just as behind on this topic as you are.
On the internet, being the first isn’t enough (remember Copains d’avant? It existed before Facebook!). You have to be the best. The 9 tips that follow will serve as benchmarks, helping you compare yourself to the established players: adhering to them should ensure you surpass the current leaders on the fundamentals.
2 - Be reassuring
In our article “The Price of Web-to-Pack: Our Analysis and Initial Advice,” we discussed how some product descriptions lack transparency. For instance, a description might mention a flute type ranging from “E to EB” without clearly stating what you’ll actually get for the quoted price.
The good news is that transparency can be one of your greatest assets.
Why?
Because—if you’re reading this—there’s a good chance you’re in the packaging industry and can work as a “direct supplier.”So, be as transparent as possible about key elements, such as:
• Add a banner to your site showcasing 4-5 client references you’re proud of. And no, no one will “steal” these clients just because they know you work with them. The trust you’ll build by reassuring visitors with these references will far outweigh any potential downsides of listing a few of your top clients.
• Provide as much information as possible about your standard products: production location, material supplier, flute type, interior and exterior dimensions. You know your products inside and out, so don’t hesitate to describe them in detail.
Your clients have increasing demands, and transparency is one of them. You have the unique opportunity to stand out from the traditional model and competitors who outsource a significant portion (if not all) of their production: leverage it!
3 - Embrace your status
Embrace your position as a packaging manufacturer or converter. This status gives you several advantages:
- It puts you close to your customers.
- You should proudly emphasize the “Made in France” (or “Spain,” “UK,” etc., depending on your location) label on your site.
- Manufacturing and selling within your country allows you to highlight a significantly lower carbon footprint compared to foreign competitors.
- Leverage your history, often family-owned, and your passion for the craft.
- Showcase your certifications, awards, innovations, CSR initiatives, expertise, and the talent of your teams.
Once again, being a direct supplier is likely the best reassurance for your future customers that they’re making the right choice by buying from you. Your website should become the showroom for your factory, where everything about your business exudes trust and quality service.
4 - Maintain your "offline" quality standards
We cannot currently tell you the exact churn rate (the percentage of customers lost over a given period) for a Web-to-Pack or even a Web-to-Print site.
However, it’s clear that this rate is significantly higher than what you experience in your business.
The reason for this attrition is quite simple: the customer buys their packaging independently, with little assistance, from a leading European site that attracts millions of visits per year and outsources packaging production across Europe, with designs created directly online by the customer! Without criticizing the intrinsic quality of the products, it’s challenging to maintain a quality level comparable to yours under these conditions.
On your end, you currently have a well-established and optimized production and quality process. Selling online should represent an expansion of your market reach, the acquisition of new customers, diversification, and a defense against an imminent threat. However, selling online should never mean lowering your quality standards.
The best advice we can offer? In the first few years, take the online order and then continue with the same process you use today, as if the order had been placed by a salesperson. Because perfection is the enemy of progress: if you try to automate everything from day one, you might never start, as the project will always seem too complex. Ultimately, view your Web-to-Pack site as a super salesperson, working 24/7, taking orders and payments independently. Your actual salesperson can then follow up with the online customer to offer additional services, upsell, and more.
5 - Bring in service
Just like with quality, e-commerce has long been associated with discounted prices. However, when it comes to online packaging, the opposite is often true!
Offering services like fast delivery, the option to store products for the customer, and more can allow you to increase your prices, sometimes significantly (in addition to setting yourself apart from competitors who either don’t offer these services or do so at prohibitive prices).
You’ll always be faster than an e-commerce company that outsources its production, especially if it’s done abroad—make sure to highlight that.
Also, maintain all the services you currently offer your existing customers: personal contact, dedicated sales representatives, prepress services, and so on.
As for your current clientele, the website itself is already a service, allowing them to order whenever they want through an interactive and visual catalog.
6 - Build a well-thought-out catalog
Your catalog should reflect your market positioning while also offering standard products that may appeal to customers very different from your current ones (e-commerce boxes, regular slotted containers, etc.).
Build it thoughtfully: don’t offer products you can’t deliver with the same high standards as your other offerings, but also don’t miss out on highly demanded products that you could easily provide.
Remember, your catalog needs to be web-friendly, and the internet is all about visuals. Structure your catalog—sometimes artificially—to make the selection process simpler and more visual for your visitors.
For example, a single design—let’s take a FEFCO 427 or a tuck-end box—can be split into three distinct products online:
• Tuck-end box with 1-color black print • Tuck-end box with 1-color white print • Tuck-end box with full-color print
By doing this, you’ll add depth to your catalog and give your customers the impression of an extensive range of options. You might even achieve upselling by offering finishes your customers weren’t aware of or hadn’t considered purchasing from you before.
7 - Ship quickly (and for free?)
We return to the topic of shipping because it’s truly what will immediately set you apart from foreign competitors and those relying solely on subcontracting. We all know that our industry is going through challenging times, with supply chain issues, price volatility, and other challenges impacting your business more than ever. However, we also know that these problems affect everyone. A French manufacturer, producing in France and delivering to a French customer on a sale where payment has already been received before production begins (thanks to online payment), will always deliver faster than the competition.
Take precautions and be conservative with your shipping and delivery timelines, as delays are often the leading cause of dissatisfaction after an online purchase. Nevertheless, you’ll still be faster than the competition (even with a 10-15 day lead time on some custom productions)!
And for your best customers, your long-time clients, or those in neighboring regions, why not offer free shipping?
8 - Offer Customization
As a cardboard converter, customization is your greatest value add. It’s the product range that sets you apart from the rest of the market online and is likely where you’ll achieve the best ratio between margin and price competitiveness. However, today—even through your sales reps and traditional distribution channels—up to 90% of your quotes do not convert into orders, and the demand for pricing continues to rise. This increase can sometimes be challenging for your estimators and sales teams to keep up with, especially now with the raw materials crisis.
You might be thinking that your custom offering is too complex to sell online?
That’s no longer the case, thanks to the HIPE software, which calculates your custom prices using the best standards and practices in the packaging industry. The prices delivered by HIPE are predicted using powerful algorithms that account for over 1,000 parameters (financial, procurement, machinery, logistics, etc.), all of which you control.
Compatible with the leading e-commerce solutions on the market, HIPE opens the doors to Web-to-Pack for your custom product range.
9 - Display Your Prices
Nearly 50% of B2B orders are won by the supplier who responds first to the customer’s request. Whether it’s through a catalog of standard products with prices listed in your e-commerce solution or instant pricing from HIPE for your standard and custom products, you’ll always be the first to provide your prices to the customer.
Your e-commerce site is not just an online store; it’s also a sales representative and a catalog enriched with your expertise. Beyond the sales generated on the site, you’ll be surprised by the number of qualified inquiries you’ll receive through your contact form or via HIPE after launching your site.
10 - Take the Leap
If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably thinking it’s worth the effort. So why not try launching your own site? As we discussed in the article “Record Fundraising by Packhelp: Why You Should Learn from Printers,” the rise of Web-to-Pack is inevitable, so why deliberately miss the boat?
In the article “4 (False) Obstacles to Digitalization in the Packaging Industry,” we explained how industrial reluctance often prevents you from investing in your digital tools in favor of your industrial equipment (such as your machines). But what’s the point of investing millions in machines that significantly reduce production time if your processes, customer relationships, and sales responsiveness don’t evolve in tandem?
It’s not too late, and if you want to talk about CMS, PSP, CDN, and other acronyms and buzzwords, we’re here to give you the right advice. Additionally, if you want to understand how HIPE can be the ideal tool for your future site, whether it’s to sell standard or custom packaging, or simply to generate qualified and standardized leads, feel free to contact us.