In the September/October 2022 issue of this magazine, Becky touched on how Nashville provides her inspiration and why she specializes in plant-based products. Here, she shares her insights and lessons learned about packaging for wholesale and retail, and how her efforts evolved since launching an Etsy shop in 2016 and her website in 2017.
Why did you decide to use boxes for your soaps instead of less expensive wrap labels?
When I made the decision to switch to boxes, I knew the type of box was important. I did like that the whole soap was visible with our original wrap labels, but I learned that they don't hold up on the shelves of a retail store the labels slip off and the soap isn't protected from little dings and the wear and tear of customers handling them.
I also knew that I wanted to continue to grow our business from a wholesale perspective and to see our soaps on retail shelves, so the switch to soap boxes just seemed like the right choice.
Production costs go down with run size, but what's the cost difference between wrap labels and boxes?
Our original wrap labels were very inexpensive - maybe a few cents each. We printed, cut, and then hand-glued them around each soap ourselves, but this quickly became too time-consuming as larger orders started to come in.
To buy the boxes at a price point that worked for our business, we needed to order in bulk. I believe the first order we placed was for a lot of 500 a big commitment for us at the time. We now typically order lots of 5,000. To offset the jump in the cost for packaging, we did increase the price of our soaps from $6 to $7 each.
It seems the only disadvantage to boxes, other than an additional cost, is that customers can't see or smell the soap. Is this a trade-off for you?
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