Make Your Candle Packaging Work For You

Thousands of small candle businesses create candles every day with meticulous attention to every aspect of their candlemaking process. They strive to create a product that lives up to their standard and are proud to sell.

Unfortunately, candle jar packaging is often overlooked as an afterthought; a peripheral component that businesses have to “deal with”. On top of that, when it comes to shipping glass products, you begin to touch on a topic that basically no one feels comfortable with. It seems the only option is MASSIVE amounts of bubble-wrap and a prayer that your packages arrive safely at the doorstep of your customer.

With a shift in perspective, proper candle jar packaging can have extremely beneficial impacts on not only a small businesses’ bottom-line, but on brand perception through proper product protection, candle box design and an elevated unboxing experience.

Discover the Best Way to Ship Candles

Candle Packaging Protection

Regardless of the type of containers your candles are packaged in - whether it’s candle tins, jars, or tumblers – they are all fragile. They need to be packaged with care. After all, the last thing we want is to have products arrive damaged to a customer! What do you think the chances are of a customer reordering your candles if they get a box of broken glass at their door?

Shipping environments are HARSH. In my 8 years of packaging design experience, I recommend my clients to pack their boxes as if they are handing it to someone who doesn’t care what’s inside. Assume it will be thrown, smashed, and kicked into oblivion. Assume Ace Ventura will be handling your package:

I wish I were joking but this is not that far off from what millions of boxes are subject to every day!

So how does a small candlemaking business go about packaging their fragile candles? If you're wondering how to ship candles so they don't break in the mail, you're in the right place. The safest and most common approach was to grab an oversized box, a GIANT roll of bubble wrap, and add as much cushioning as possible… until now:

Ace was one of our inspirations for creating the world’s toughest corrugated candle packaging and the first line of off-the-shelf candle jar packaging candle boxes specifically made for shipping candles. Here you can see our CandleScience Medium Straight Sided Jar 3-Pack sustain a ridiculous, comical level of abuse. Although no one should be treating your packages like this, we want you to rest assured that your candles are safe in our candle box design.

Presentation: Your Candle Box Design Matters

In a competitive online marketing landscape, how many opportunities do you get to standout from the rest? Maybe you practice some combination of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), paid marketing campaigns, and an active social media presence. Quality of your candlemaking ingredients? Super important. Nice product photography? Also important. One by one you check off the list to make sure no steps are missed. Your goal is to maximize the probability that a potential visitor to your website converts into a customer.

What about after they place their order with you? The truth is, you still have opportunities to shine and standout. There are still opportunities that will contribute towards retaining your customer for the long term. One such opportunity is through product presentation.

How photogenic are your candles after you pack them for shipping? I am willing to bet that most look like this:

No wonder you never see pictures of packaged candles on Social Media or Websites! The fact is that this is the FIRST thing your customer sees when they open their box. Now, I’m not saying this is bad by any means. After all, they look properly protected and they did survive the harsh shipping environments of today. But I am saying that there is headroom here for making a meaningful and lasting impression on your customer.

First impressions can make all the difference. What’s going to make your customer want to reorder again? In a sea of Amazon-like boxes, you can improve customer experience and stand out with creative and unique shipping boxes for candles.

Big difference, right? Now of course we’re biased in this comparison because, well, we’re a custom box company that promotes our designs. But if we abandon this for a moment, all we are trying to highlight here is the potential impact of packaging on your customer. If a customer that would have otherwise ordered only once comes back and orders twice, three times, or more, it's easy to see how much value a more presentable package can have.

Candle Box Packaging As Part Of The Product

If we can leave you with just one takeaway, it’s the importance of candle jar packaging and your candle box design beyond that of just being a means of protecting your products during shipping. Instead of looking at candle packaging as a necessary evil, view it as a key component of your candle business brand – one that should add value and increase customer satisfaction and reorder rates. You don’t need to think outside the box – but just think about the box.