Chicago, Illinois, USA - RR Donnelley's 2024 Packaging & Labels Insight Report highlights that most companies, facing inflation-related pressures, are prioritizing packaging and label functionality along with product safety. They are also investing in sustainability initiatives and focusing on expanding their e-commerce operations to better meet customer demand.

"As consumers demand higher accountability from the brands they choose to support, building functional design and safety features into packaging remains essential to ensuring product integrity and a great user experience," said Lisa Pruett, president of RRD Packaging & Labels Segment (pictured below). "Meeting this increasing demand will require a balance between three competing priorities: protection, convenience, and brand appeal. Brands that strike this balance with their packaging will have an opportunity to deliver a product experience customers can trust, boosting loyalty and reducing damage concerns."

Focusing on the Fundamentals

The company’s third-annual survey of 300 packaging and label decision-makers shows that with increased in-store and online competition along with inflation and rising costs of materials, many are paying specific attention to the core fundamentals of production protection and material composition.

As e-commerce demand increases, functionality and product safety remain top priorities, and brands are willing to make the investment for the right materials. RRD’s latest report shows three quarters (75%) of packaging and over half (60%) of label respondents expect to make functional design-related changes (strength, size, opening) in the next two years, while 73% and 70%, respectively, plan to make material composition changes. Additionally, the large majority of packaging (86%) and label (79%) respondents agree that inflation and rising costs of raw materials have caused changes in the way their organization sources packaging and labels over the past year.

When asked to assess factors motivating their expected packaging changes, respondents rated consumer or end-user appeal (48%), efficiencies in storage/distribution (47%), and increased product protection (46%) as the top three major priorities. Top motivations for label respondents include pressure to lower costs (45%), meeting new regulations (41%), and new products or product changes (40%).

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