What should go on the front panel of a retail box?
Four things, in this order: your brand, what the product is, which version it is, and the one reason to choose it. Everything else moves to the back and sides.
A shopper takes in the front of a pack from a step or two away, before deciding whether to pick it up. From there they need to recognise your brand, see what the product is and, in a range, spot the version they want. Details and directions are read once the box is in their hand.
When we lay your artwork on the dieline, we keep the front panel for those and give product text its own panel. If you add foil or spot UV, we recommend giving it to one element, the logo or the product name, so it catches the light without competing with the wording.
- Front: brand, product, version, one benefit
- Back and sides: details, directions and barcode
- One finish on the element you most want seen
Shelf, peg hook or counter: does the way it is displayed change the box?
Yes. Tell us where your product will sit in the shop and we build the box for it: a flat base for a shelf, a hang tab for a peg wall, or a display box when several units stand together on a counter.
On a shelf, we run the print to match whether the box stands upright or lies on its side. Custom Folding Cartons cover most shelf products. On a peg wall, Custom Hang Tab Boxes hang at eye level from a die-cut euro slot or round hole. Boxes hang one behind another, so we keep your brand and product name high on the front and set the box depth to the length of the peg.
Small items bought on impulse near the till sit well in Custom Display Boxes, with an angled tray and a front lip so every unit faces the shopper. If your stockists show the same product in different ways, we give a hang tab box a flat base and a tab that folds away or comes off along a perforation, so one box works on a peg and on a shelf.
Can a display box arrive at the shop ready to go out?
Yes. We make display boxes that travel as the case and open into the display, so your stockist puts the whole unit out instead of unpacking items one by one.
We deliver the displays flat, ready to fold up and fill. Packed and sent on as a case, a display opens in the shop when its perforated front or lid comes away, leaving a tray, a back panel and a header that carries your brand at eye level. We draw the tray around your product and the number of units it holds, with a slight backward tilt and a front lip set to the height of the pack, and add dividers for tall or narrow products.
Tell us how heavy a full display will be and whether it will be refilled, and we choose paperboard for light products or E-flute for heavier counts, with a scuff-resistant varnish for a long run on the counter. If a retailer you supply has given you its own packaging guidelines, send them to us and we work to them.
Should a retail product go in a folding carton or a rigid box?
We recommend a folding carton for products that sell steadily from a shelf or peg, and a rigid box for gift lines and higher-value pieces, where the box is part of what the shopper takes home.
Custom Folding Cartons are made from one printed sheet and reach you flat as a glued tube, so a full order takes little stockroom space. Every panel takes print, and for heavier contents or faster packing we add an auto-lock base that forms itself as the carton opens.
Rigid Gift Boxes are thick greyboard wrapped in printed or textured paper, with a lift-off, shoulder or drawer lid. They arrive made up, or flat in a collapsible build. To keep the lid wrap clean, we put the barcode and details on the base, or on a printed outer sleeve with Custom Rigid Sleeve Boxes, so one plain box can wear a different sleeve for each product.
When is a window worth adding to a retail box?
When the product sells on sight. If its colour, shape or finish says more than a photograph could, a window lets shoppers see the real thing without opening the box.
Toys, tech accessories, socks, candles and craft kits are typical examples. We make Custom Window Boxes with the opening placed over the part you most want seen, and an insert that holds the product in line with it, so it reaches the shelf best side out. On Custom Hang Tab Boxes, we place the window below a band of solid board that carries the box on the peg.
Film keeps dust and fingers off the product, with plant-based cellulose film as an option, or we leave an open cut-out for items already wrapped. Where a product differs from piece to piece, we recommend a fully printed carton, which shows it the way you want.
How do I make every product in a range look like one family?
We recommend keeping the logo position, typeface, layout and base colour the same across the range and changing one clear cue per product, such as a colour band or icon, so shoppers see one brand first and separate products second.
Sharing a layout turns products sitting side by side into a single block of your brand that is easier to find than any one box, while the changing cue lets the shopper pick their version. Across different sizes, we set your artwork on each dieline so the logo sits in the same place and the product name keeps its weight, and the family lines up.
The same ink looks different on different boards and coatings, so we print the whole range on one board and finish, and recommend ordering it in one run where you can for the closest colour match. For ranges with many versions, one shared carton with a variant sticker, or one plain tray with a printed sleeve per product using Custom Sleeve Boxes, keeps the look consistent with fewer print versions.
Where should the barcode go on a retail box?
On a flat panel on the back or a side, low down and clear of folds, seams and windows, so it scans cleanly at the till.
Send us your barcode artwork and we set it at a readable size with clear space around it, in dark ink on a light background. On kraft board, where every colour prints darker, we can put a white underprint behind it. On Custom Hang Tab Boxes we keep it on the back or base, so staff can scan a box without lifting the row off the peg, and on very slim cartons we can run it vertically.
The information panel sits alongside it: contents, directions, any warnings and your business details. Tell us everything your box must carry and we plan the space before placing the artwork, then show it at full size on the proof. Check the barcode number and each detail against your own records there, since what you approve is what we print.
What do you need to know to make my retail packaging?
Your product's measurements, how it will be displayed and how it will be packed. With those three, we can size the box, choose the style and draw the dieline.
Measure the product as it goes into the box, including any cap, hanger or inner wrap, and tell us its weight. Then tell us how it will be shown: standing or lying on a shelf, on a peg and how long the peg is, or in a counter display and how many units each one holds. If your boxes are filled on a cartoning machine, give us its make and model, so we set the creases and glue seam to suit it.
For a range, send all the sizes and versions together, so we plan one family of boxes rather than one box at a time. We then send the dieline with your measurements marked on it and a digital proof, so you can check the fit and every panel before production.
