The holiday season will be here in no time. And while you may not be thinking about family gatherings and seasonal gift-giving quite yet, the summer is the perfect period to put in an order for holiday gift boxes.
Packaging that communicates heightened significance for consumers, any brand can benefit from integrating holiday gift boxes into at least one of their products.
Let’s consider the uses and packaging options available with holiday gift boxes.
Gift Box Uses
As the name suggests, gift boxes are ideal for presents, celebrations, and commemorating special occasions. Businesses employ gift boxes in their product lines to not only endear themselves to consumers, but to nurture an association between their brand and especially meaningful moments.
Your logo or visual cues will be staring right back at them from a countertop or bedroom desk when they reflect on the thoughtful gift a loved one or friend bequeathed to them.
You may be surprised by the varied industries that can benefit from gift boxes. Here are just a few uses:
- Home office decor and gadgets acknowledging a new remote job
- Beauty product packs with facial creams, lotions, and cleansers for an at-home spa day
- Variety of snack products for road trips to visit family and friends
- Selection of wines as a house-warming gift
- Cadre of olive oils for a seasoned chef
- Assortment of “Get Well” items for a sick loved one
- Set of outdoors essentials for those new to hiking and camping
- Premium chocolates for a romantic interest
- Cooking set for new college students
- Wrist watch for a grandchild
- Mishmash of holiday cocktail ingredients
- Variety pack of t-shirts
- Collection of dress shirts for a Father’s Day present
- Handheld electronic devices
- Smattering of bite-sized candies
Holiday gift boxes are appropriate for almost any industry.
Tis the season to spread good cheer, but which kind of holiday gift box should you choose?
Types of Gift Boxes Available
In addition to custom gift boxes, there are several classic holiday stock options to choose from, each generating a stronger relationship between consumers and your brand.
Advent Calendars
These holiday favorites have been part of the end-of-year festivities since the 1800s. Amplifying anticipation, advent calendars can be used for almost any holiday—be it Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or even Halloween—or occasion to send cheer to important people (and pets).
Advent calendars enable your brand to become part of the nostalgia and joy connected to the holiday season. Each day somebody opens a countdown element, they are reminded your brand helped create the warm sentiments they feel that time of year.
Rigid Gift Boxes
While common to luxury brands year round, rigid gift boxes proliferate store aisles and retail shelves during the holiday season. Their sturdy structure connotes high quality and a rich pedigree.
Their robust grain is usually three to four times thicker than standard folding cartons, suggesting to consumers that the product contained within is no ordinary item.
It’s standard practice for rigid gift boxes to exhibit a more minimalist or modernist design, once again leaning into compositions common to luxury or premium brands. However, you can enhance packaging design with textured materials and fabrics, stretch bows, ribbons, stretch loops, and other memorable details.
And this isn’t to say rigid gift boxes can’t succeed with more elaborate ornamentation. That will depend entirely on how it connects with the rest of your brand’s iconography.
Ultimately, the key with rigid gift boxes is to add more emotional weight and consumer satisfaction to the unboxing experience.
Clear Boxes With Bows
If you’re seeking something more on the light-weight side of packaging, you might consider clear boxes in tandem with bows or ribbons. Their translucent nature gives recipients a chance to preview the product inside before actually opening it. This adds a certain degree of expectancy endemic to gift-giving, while providing protection for your products.
Notably, clear boxes are usually less expensive than rigid gift boxes and advent calendars.
When Should You Order Gift Boxes?
Naturally, the sooner you order holiday gift boxes in the year, the better. You need to provide consumers ample time to see them on the shelves and then buy your gift boxes weeks or months ahead of the holiday season.
As you might surmise, late summer is typically the best time to purchase holiday gift boxes. This gives you a long runway for reviewing your product line and packaging before your items hit store shelves in September and October.
Working With a Stock-Ready Packaging Partner
There are many reasons not to create custom-designed holiday gift boxes. Primarily, time and the need for a quick turnaround. And costs. Maybe you don’t need an irregular and painfully uncommon packaging design.
By working with a packaging partner with a large variety of stock options, you can expedite your process from ideation to the retail shelf. With a hoard of holiday gift boxes eager to be filled with your merchandise and adorned with minimal printing, you can get your products on the shelf faster than your competitors who may still be midway through the custom-design process come early fall.
Put simply, holiday gift boxes are a great way to spread holiday cheer, and a worthwhile investment for brands hoping to foster a stronger relationship with consumers.