Seasonal Unboxing Tips for Customer Engagement and Brand Growth

Your packaging does more than protect what’s inside; it creates an experience. For businesses sending out seasonal gifts to clients or ecommerce shipping direct to consumers, the unboxing experience is where you can make a lasting impression by motivating the receiver to document the moment, and make your brand shine.

Although custom-printed boxes already set you apart, there’s one secret weapon that takes things to the next level: inside-the-box printing. It transforms a simple delivery into a moment worth sharing and remembering.

Why Seasonal Unboxing Matters More Than Ever

In the age of direct-to-consumer, doorstep deliveries, “opening the box” has become a special event. It’s one that people look forward to and even record for social media. The holidays can showcase this more than any other time of the year. Your packaging isn’t just the first impression; it sets the stage for your brand’s personality and the contents.

This is especially true during the holiday season, when your recipients are likely getting multiple packages. A standard brown box? Forgettable. A custom-printed box that surprises them with vibrant colors, meaningful messages, and playful designs inside? Impactful. And even more likely to be saved as a “good box!”

The Power of Inside-the-Box Printing

Most businesses focus on the outside of their packaging, whether that’s logos, seasonal patterns, brand colors, etc. While that’s important, the inside is where you get to create the “wow” moment. Imagine your customer opening a package and being greeted with:

• A brand oriented seasonal message
• Customer service information: links to how to assemble videos or product registration information
• Fulfillment control by using a check box for contents
• Personal touches, like space for a handwritten note or QR codes linking to webpages or special content like video from your team.
• For customers in high crime areas, some clients will leave the outside of the box simply branded and then go all out on the inside to avoid tempting porch pirates.

Imagine their surprise when they open a personalized box and realize the time and effort it took to make something special for them. It’s the Etsy effect, but at scale. This unexpected attention to detail turns a box into a keepsake, creating instant brand connection.

How to Maximize Seasonal Unboxing with Inside Printing

1. Start with a Theme

Choose a design that showcases the holiday season while tying in elements of your own brand. Consider your logo, brand colors, and recognizable graphics. The theme should be consistent inside and out. Or if you prefer not to use seasonal branding but want to create that wow effect, think about the box theme being tied to the product. Perhaps a curated clothing box has a beach theme that plays out on the inside print. A meal kit with an ethnic design to match the cuisine. Or sports equipment with iconic athletic patterns on the inside. This can especially be the case for pick and pack style fulfillment where the items inside are curated, packed, and waiting for an order. Seasonal “gift packs” are very popular at the holidays and enhancing those themes can create a memorable experience.

2. Play with Color and Pattern

Don’t be afraid to make the inside a bold contrast to the outside. A clean, brand-focused outside can set up the surprise of bold colors or distinctive messaging. If unboxing videos are the goal, then be mindful that those insta-worthy shots will look best if you avoid overly busy patterns and use easy-to-read fonts. But don’t shy away from emotive words or feelings in your imagery. And the great thing about Pratt’s 100% digital print is that photography is a no brainer - it looks great and holds fine detail. And if you want some hashtag love or social follows, include the QR to the page.

Not only are the branded boxes you need to impress your customers affordable, they’re also accessible. Pratt gives you easy online access to the shipping boxes for small business you’ve been searching for.

3. Make It Personal

Inside printing is a great place to print individualized messages or a heartfelt “Thank you.” This is also a great place to tell your story and build a connection. Share your origin story or a client testimonial. Links to helpful or personal content take this a step further.

4. Coordinate with the Contents

If you are shipping an assembly-required toy, you can include links to assembly instructions, and related products and content. Electronics can include a QR code to the registration. Sending kitchen supplies? Try making the box a part of your customer engagement strategy by including links to recipes. The goal is to make the box feel like an extension of the gift itself and deepen the customers’ engagement with your brand in a moment you have already captured. You’ve done the heavy lifting with your customer acquisition, now take it a step further and increase customer engagement.

It’s Not Just a Delivery, It’s an Experience

In the brand cluttered holiday season, the businesses that stand out and convert those one time buyers into long-term customers are the ones that make people smile before they open the box. This year, make your box the best part of the delivery.

Is boxing a faster-growing trend than unboxing?

Wait, what? It’s true. Maybe not a bigger trend, but one that is definitely growing, is for boutique brands and bespoke content creators is they take a video of the BOXING experience to send to customer to let them know their box has been lovingly packed and on the way. While this trend isn’t for most clients with any kind of scale, how can you adapt this strateg to your 3PL or fulfillment center? With a dynamic customer fulfillment processes, and a beautiful boxing experience inside and out, you can communicate “lovingly packed for you” in a scalable way.