DS Smith gives a lecture at impackt 2015

In May the packaging conference impackt 2015 took place in Bad Erlach in Austria, according to the motto “Packaging killer Online?”. Besides other different economic experts as well as speakers from the packaging industry, DS Smith was represented among the referees.

Changing consumption habits of the online community also have an influence on packaging. A suitable and to the particular product aligned distribution requires new solutions. At home, when the product is unwrapped, the visual and haptic feeling plays an important role. These and several other aspects were discussed at the impackt 2015 and inspired representative from the industry to think in new directions.

Martin Greb, Creative Consultant at DS Smith, used a number of online test orders as basis for his presentation. The about 45 participants were impressed from the results. “A real customer would have been disappointed by some of our online test orders and would probably not buy again: Some of the packages were wrapped in adhesive tape all around and therefore not really appealing. Some of them could only be opened with a cutter knife. That bears the danger to damage the products and even results in a high risk for the shopper to get hurt when opening the package”, emphasizes Martin Greb. “In addition we had to dispose a bunch of plastic and filling material. Although the package is delivered home, the shopper has a real disposal problem right after unpacking his ordered products. A reshipment is complicated as well – a customer-friendly packaging solution must definitely look different.”

In his presentation Martin Greb showed the participants with the help of different packaging solutions how a company can be successful, both on- and offline, when using the right packaging solutions, which simultaneously present the brand in an optimal way.

The impackt 2015 was organized by OFI, the Austrian research institute, in collaboration with the Austrian trade newspaper austropack.