Smartphoto - sustainable e-commerce packaging solution for creative photo products

Sustainable e-commerce packaging for creative photo products

Since digitization and the existence of the smartphone, you can take photos anytime, anywhere. All too often we end up with an abundance of images that are stored on our laptop, tablet or smartphone, which we hardly look at afterwards. Smartphoto has adifferent view. Special moments deserve to be immortalized as a lasting memory. And they offer a lot of creative solutions for that.

Photos in an original jacket

This Belgian international e-commerce player is passionate about photos and focusses on the values "smart, simple and smile".

With this in mind, the company processes photos in clever ways into an original end product. Its goal: to make it as accessible and easy as possible for everyone to enjoy their photos through affordable and high-quality personalised products. Smartphoto's assortment ranges from photo books, photo cards, photo calendars to wall decorations and dozens of other photo gifts.

The employees of Smartphoto make it their personal mission to put a smile on the face of each of their customers. When you receive such a package at home, you naturally want your photo product to arrive in perfect condition. To do this, they were looking for a suitable packaging - and found it at VPK.

Smart packaging for precious photo products

The values of smartphoto are not only reflected in its photo products, but also in the packaging we developed. Smartphoto was specifically looking for one multi-purpose packaging solution for sending photo books and photo frames. These products are available in different sizes and thicknesses. A photo book can contain up to 100 pages and the frames can be produced as a canvas, in thin glass or aluminium plate. Plenty of choice! As a result, we developed packaging that could be used for the different product variations. It had to be a smart solution of top quality, just like the products smartphoto sells.

As usual, we sat around the table to get a clear picture of the needs and wishes of our customer. Within the e-commerce process, from placing the order to delivery at home, there are many steps that we had to take into account. We are often not always aware of the journey such a package takes. It was therefore crucial to gain sufficient insight into this. This resulted in a detailed briefing that our Design & Expertise team got to work with.

We created a sturdy pack that contains several perforation lines on the inside so that the box always fits nicely and adapts itself to the “thickness” of the product that is packed in it. These folding lines have the additional advantage during the wrapping of the photo products, enabling the packaging process to be smooth and fast while ensuring the product remains firmly in place inside the box.

To replace the former manual tape work, we applied a strip of double-sided tape so that the packaging can be closed nicely and easily in 1-2-3. As a finishing touch and to give extra visibility to the brand, the exterior was provided with a striking branding with blue full surface, including the smartphoto logo.

In short, a sleek, eye-catching and handy package, all ready for shipment to its final destination. Once there, it can be easily opened using a practical tear strip.

Speed and flexibility

The products that smartphoto offers are mostly seasonal. Communions, Mother's and Father's Day and the end of the year period are very busy weeks. In addition to the more technical requirements that the packaging had to meet, it was also extremely important for the company to find a reliable partner who could be agile at crucial moments. With our flexible stock management we anticipate busy peak periods so that smartphoto always has sufficient stock to deliver the packages to their customers on time. Also during the last bizarre year, which 2020 was, we managed to keep up with the fluctuating demand from the market.

A tight final result with many advantages

Our sustainable packaging not only provides the necessary protection that these valuable photo products deserve, it also supports Smartphoto as a brand.

The combination of the perforation lines and double-sided tape offer the ideal solution for an efficient packaging process. This not only brought ease of use during the preparation of the packages, but also saved time. A clear and measurable benefit.

Since the start of our collaboration, we have examined other products from Smartphoto and developed more tailor-made solutions. A practical example of our one-stop-shopping approach where we offer our customers a complete and extensive range of packaging solutions.

According to smartphoto

“For us, VPK is the first partner who thinks along with us so well and provides the solution we are looking for. Moreover, our contact person is not only commercially but also technically skilled, which is of high added value for us. As a result, we can quickly respond to the needs we have during briefings and discuss possible improvements immediately. This ensures that the process from brainstorming to creation and production runs very smoothly.”

Steven Peck – Purchase Manager

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