Custom T- Shirt Packaging – Give Your Brand the Edge and Build Loyalty

If you’ve never considered custom packaging for your t-shirts, you may want to reconsider after read this article. It’s far too easy to get caught up in driving sales and neglect these finer marketing details, in fact, one of the single most overlooked aspects of tee shirt selling businesses is packaging.

The majority of sellers focus on getting products out the door as easily, cheaply and quickly as possible. After all, cardboard boxes or envelopes are the most cost effective solution and can be purchased in bulk or issued by your drop shipper without a sweat.

Now the last thing you want is to be considered another one of those generic t-shirt sellers. You want to pleasantly surprise your customers, leave a lasting impression that differentiates your brand from the rest forever. In this day and age, the market has been flooded with competition. So if you want to take the lion’s share, you've got to have a bigger impact on your customers. Switching up the standard, expected packaging for something more fun and creative is an excellent way to achieve this.

Why It's Worth Going the Extra Mile

So long as you make the sale and the customer doesn’t have any complaints, you’re good, right? Technically, yes. But think about this; receiving a boring old package is will not even register as an event.

Some sellers are going to argue that creating custom packaging is a waste of both time and money. They argue there is no value as the customers have already bought the shirt and care only about the product and not the quickly discarded packaging. They don’t believe it warrants the added time, money, and energy put into them.

Creating Memorable Experiences

Yet, if receiving their t-shirt is a positive, memorable experience, they are far more likely to sing your praises. This could be across social media platforms, word of mouth or even reviews.

When you find a fun and exciting way to deliver shirts that also represents your brand, you are placing yourself firmly into the hearts and minds of your shoppers. It shows that you are more than just a business, but someone who likes to be fun and creative as well. What’s more, it adds value to your sale and makes it easier for people to choose you over a competitor. It’s also the very first thing they’ll notice and it if you can make their purchase feel more valuable now, you’ll gain their loyalty.

Winning Hearts and Loyalty

Think of it like this; how often do you see shirts being sold in a creative way? Some of the brick-and-mortar stores get creative, but it’s mainly an advertisement board for the journey home. Or if buy on Amazon, they’re in standard orange letters or generic brown cardboard packages.

When you find a fun and exciting way to deliver shirts that also represents your brand, you are placing yourself firmly into the hearts and minds of your shoppers. It shows that you are more than just a business, but someone who likes to be fun and creative as well. What’s more, it adds value to your sale and makes it easier for people to choose you over a competitor. It’s also the very first thing they’ll notice and it if you can make their purchase feel more valuable now, you’ll gain their loyalty.

But get this right, and it’s well worth it. Surprisingly cool packaging is free viral advertising to friends, followers, and even strangers. If they are impressed enough to share, they’ll be sure to send a link to your store!

It Doesn't Need to Be Costly

Many sellers are afraid of the additional costs of getting creative and forgo it in favor of maximizing their profits. This is not going to do them any favors in the long-run, plus they’ll need to find other ways to differentiate themselves to attract their customer’s attention.

But it's not hard to find cost-effective creative ways to ship shirts. The small increase in shipping costs will be well worth it if you can leave a lasting impression and have buyers coming be back for more.

By selling t-shirts and shipping them in a fun, creative way will take your brand marketing to the next level. Since not many other sellers explore this idea, it’s an opportune way to set yourself apart from your competition and receive a lot of positive attention from fans.

Creating Your Own T-Shirt Custom Packaging

1. Choose a Medium Relevant to Your Brand

Those who have already gone the custom packaging route can provide great inspiration. Some of the most adventurous have used hand-painted envelopes, pizza boxes, coffee mugs, old VHS covers they found at a thrift store, even a Chinese food to go box! Others play it safe, opting for cylindrical cardboard tubes or other shapes with interesting branding.

But there’s quirky to the point of being weird, then there’s unique with purpose. No matter what your shipping container is going to be, it needs to tie into your product and brand.

Whether you choose to go simple or exotic, stop to ask yourself, “Does this make sense?” Whether it represents your brand as a whole, or fits the theme of each individual shirt, it has to be relevant. Otherwise, you run the risk of making your customers scratch their heads in confusion.

2. Consider Keeping it Low Key

With all of that said, your package design must be closely aligned with your brand. Not every brand needs far-out and wacky designs, instead opting for more serious and low-key designs. Always consider your target audience and customers first.

The other thing to consider is whether your products and business can handle these added expenses. Suddenly raising your prices just to cover new may not always be the wisest move. There are always cheap packaging options you can buy specifically made for shipping tee shirts. Even the smallest amount of color can separate your brand from the other guys when they’re using the old yellow mailer envelopes!

Numerous tee shirt sellers simply put stickers on the outside of packages, transforming a simple brown mailer to a Lisa Frank collection. Others use stencils and spray painted the outside, which could be effective, especially if your shirts are centered around more urban designs.

Finally, another method some big-name sellers use is custom shipping stamps. These are real postage stamps that can feature their name and/or brand, giving it an air of professionalism and an appearance that it cost far more than it actually did.

3. Consider Including Freebies

How many times have you seen a cake that looks amazing, only to be disappointed with how bland it tasted? Your packaging is going to have the same effect. No matter how good it looks on the outside, it needs to not leave your buyer disappointed once they see the inside.

It doesn’t matter if you use a generic package or a unique one; placing some freebies on the inside is always a welcome surprise. It can even make a boring outside better, or great package even more fun. Best of all, including a small item or two can be quite inexpensive. These may include items such as:

• Stickers
• Buttons
• Postcards
• Coupons/Discount Codes
• A Playing/Trading Card
• A Small Toy from a Discount Store
• Balloons
• Candy
• Other small, inexpensive trinkets.

Another tried-and-tested could include a small, hand-written thank you note. It doesn’t have to be large, and it doesn’t have to contain a lot of words; just something unique that will leave a lasting impression.

Your goal here is to be unique; but not at the actual expense of going nuts. You don’t want to include anything so large or heavy that it requires you to pay for additional shipping charges.

Get Packing!

Just remember, first impressions are everything. When it comes to packaging your products, this isn’t simply an expense; it’s an investment. Take this opportunity to impress both first-time and repeat customers and keep them coming back for more. It adds the value of unexpected “WOW!” factor and it makes them smile.

Now go and turn those buyers into thrilled customers by giving them something to brag about!