Packaging design and first impressions: what shoppers notice first

Edara Akpan · Sep 12, 2026 · 4 min read

On a shelf or in a scrolling product grid, your packaging has a very short window to answer three questions: what is this, who is it for, and is it worth my attention? Everything else, including your story, your ingredients and your best design ideas, only gets read if the pack passes that first test.

Does packaging really influence buying?

A 2018 Ipsos survey of 2,002 US adults, carried out for the Paper and Packaging Board, found that 72 per cent said the design of a product’s packaging often influences their purchase decisions. The figure rose to 81 per cent when people were choosing a gift.

Treat that with care. It is self-reported, American, from 2018, and commissioned by an industry body for paper packaging. It is consistent with what designers see in practice, but it is not a precise measure of what makes people buy.

Set the hierarchy

Shoppers read packaging in layers, and your design should decide the order for them. A reliable sequence is:

1. Brand: who made it
2. Product name and variant: what it is and which one
3. Key benefit: the single reason to choose it
4. Supporting information: details, claims and small print

Test it by squinting at the design or blurring it. Whatever you can still read is what shoppers will read first. If the loudest element is not the most important one, the hierarchy needs work.

Make it recognisable before it is readable

People often recognise a product by its colour, shape and logo before they read a word. Distinctive assets such as a colour block, a pack shape or an illustration style help repeat buyers find you quickly, and they are expensive to rebuild if you change them carelessly. (The Tropicana story is a good warning.)

Design for the thumbnail

For many products, the first sight of your packaging is a small image in a search result or marketplace grid. Check that:

• The brand and product name are legible at roughly 200 pixels wide
• The colours stay distinct next to competitors
• The pack is photographed straight on, with no important text hidden on the sides

Mock up your pack inside a screenshot of a real marketplace page, next to competitors, and look at it on a phone.

Use colour to organise, not just decorate

Colour can separate flavours, scents or product strengths in a range while keeping the family look. Keep variants inside the brand palette, make each one easy to tell apart, and check that text on each colour is readable (see the contrast guide).

Let materials and finishes signal price

Paper weight, matte or gloss, uncoated stock, foil and embossing all tell the shopper what price level to expect. Match the finish to your positioning. A premium finish on a budget product feels odd, and a flimsy pack on a premium product undermines the price. Remember that every added finish raises the unit cost.

Include what the law requires

Most products must carry certain information, such as ingredients, net quantity, barcodes, safety statements or origin. The rules vary by country and product category, so check the requirements for each market you plan to sell in before you design. Required text takes up space, and it is far easier to plan for it than to squeeze it in later.

The second impression: opening the box

For online sellers, the pack is the first physical contact with your brand. A simple inner design, a printed card or a well-chosen tissue can make opening it memorable, but the pack’s first job is to protect the product.

A five-point checklist

1. Can someone identify the brand and the product in three seconds?
2. Does it still read at thumbnail size?
3. Does it look right for its category, while staying different from competitors?
4. Does it signal the right price level?
5. Is all the required information included and legible?

When you are ready to commission packaging, prepare a proper brief first (how to brief a packaging designer).

Sources

• Ipsos, Most Americans say that the design of a product’s packaging often influences their purchase decisions (survey for the Paper and Packaging Board, April 2018)