Flexo and offset packaging printing: A future beyond five years?

Three-quarters of Germans are smart shoppers
There is strong demand for products that build closer ties in consumers as part of the sales, packaging, shipping and consumption of products and services.
In Germany alone, 64.25 mn consumers use their smartphones or tablets daily to surf the WWW. These consumers are ready for real dialogue with brands and retailers — the smart shoppers of the new decade! Their number is growing rapidly and so are their demands. They want MORE: personalised experiences and interaction options, the ability to switch between real and digital worlds.

The effect is impressively presented by a study titled “Retail is change: What role does packaging play in retail”, recently presented by the IFH Köln in cooperation with Verand der Wellpappenindustry. Apropos convenience: 65% of consumers — and 78% of those who use smartphones — expressed interest in being able to gather more information such as recipes, nutritional values and allergy warnings for foods directly from the packaging. These value-adding links facilitate the consumer's ability to make targeted, safe and convenient selection of products. On the topic of shopping experience: greater customisation is desired! Studies have shown that one in three consumers is interested in personalised product and shipping packaging, with customised texts and images.

Benefits for consumers, brand article sellers, logistics & retailers
Establish spaces for dialogue: technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, when linked to digital packaging printing, catapult the opportunities for interacting with smart shoppers into completely new dimensions. Packaging is what combines the digital communication with the real product.  Printed digital links help consumers toggle between the real and virtual worlds. When living, working, playing, making contacts and shopping, Digital printing helps industry, brands and retailers address consumers in a personal and targeted way at precisely the right moment, building strong ties before and after the purchase.

Acquiring valuable data: in-store, pre-purchase and post-purchase. Analyse and evaluate consumer behaviour. Digital links integrated into packaging open up profound insights into consumer behaviour. Observe, evaluate, control, personalise and respond more quickly to new requirements and needs.

Getting to market quicker and more economically: huge and tiny print runs; shorter time-to-market; reduced waste and streamlined inventories; optimised total costs and supply chains; the ability to react to customer desires — all of these are quicker and more economic than ever before, all to outstanding print quality.

Sell better: segmenting, versioning, personalising, celebrating any season, any region, any generation with a different set of packaging and ultimately generating higher margins, because buyers are willing to pay significantly more for individualised packaging.

Safety and better handling: individual serial numbers and link technologies make brand products impossible to counterfeit and easier to handle. Track & Trace along the supply chain and time saving of up to 40% at the counter and till.

Digital packaging printing opens up a universe of completely new opportunities, including potential that remains truly untapped right now by flexo and offset printing. Christiansen Print has been working since 2016 on the know-how and impressive technology — including the largest multi-lane digital printing installation for corrugated board packaging on the market and a fully digitalised workflow — that industry, retail and brand article producers need to leverage the potential behind these changes.