Luxury brands often operate in a different mode from other sectors of the fashion industry, with booms and declines facilitated by various factors. As more people gain disposable income to spend on luxury items, the businesses providing them tighten competition for market share.
While it’s hard to challenge the dominance of established names like Louis Vuitton or Versace, the newer generation of consumers does not mind experimenting with upcoming brands. Interestingly, this generation is increasing its luxury brand patronage. Faced with the evolving demands of these consumers, coupled with growing competition, luxury brands are exploring more ways to cement their position.
One notable way luxury brands are making their products more appealing to consumers is by using soft-touch packaging. These packaging solutions possess velvety textures, giving off a premium feel that makes the products appear more luxurious. The goal is to enhance the consumer experience, giving a wholesome sense of utter luxury.
Benefits of Soft Touch Packaging
Soft touch packaging, also known as soft-touch, is gaining immense popularity among luxury brands and is becoming the standard option. Its popularity primarily stems from the various benefits it offers these brands, which are looking for every opportunity to make their products more appealing to consumers. Here are some of those benefits.
Premium Feel
People rarely buy luxury items just for their usefulness. On most occasions, buyers are looking forward to the whole experience of owning a luxury product. A crucial part of that experience is the feeling of holding something beyond the regular. In fact, that is the whole idea of luxury branding. Soft-touch packaging helps to achieve this as it adds an additional layer of uniqueness to the product, elevating the experience to greater heights.
Enhances Tactile Experience
Consumer psychology has revealed that touch influences perception and, thus, purchasing behavior. Soft-touch packaging supports this as it heightens the sense of quality and elegance, encouraging longer interactions from consumers. High-end brands understand this, with most using tactile packaging exclusively for luxury items like fur, cashmere, and leather.
Elevate Perceived Value
Another reason soft touch packaging is becoming the standard in luxury branding is how it improves the perceived value of products. Consumer perception matters a lot in luxury branding and high-end packaging like soft-touch materials only add to the overall outlook of products. In addition to aesthetics, it also appeals to those who prefer to incorporate intricate designs like embossing, foil stamping, and UV spots treatment into their luxury purchases.
Other Interesting Factors to Note
The adoption of soft touch packaging in luxury branding is not necessarily a revolution yet. However, it is taking over enough to note some factors brands consider when choosing it for their products. We will discuss some of these factors now.
The Role of Sensory Packaging
The appeal of soft touch packaging is mainly because it evokes a sense of sophistication in luxury packaging. Unlike regular packaging with glossy or matte finishes, soft touch materials give off a premium feel that connects with the target market for luxury products. The consumer experience is also one of exclusivity, as this packaging is often reserved for luxury items.
The Shift Towards Sustainability
The fashion industry is facing increasing demands for sustainability in their activities. Stakeholders, including governments, NGOs, and even consumers, are demanding that fashion brands be more eco-conscious in their operations. One of the most notable ways fashion brands are responding to this is through what is being tagged as sustainable luxury.
Concepts like sustainable luxury enable manufacturers and consumers to purchase the products they desire without having to worry about ecological impacts. This is because the concept is based on using eco-friendly materials and processes to make luxury products. Overall, soft-touch packaging provides a way for the luxury industry to thrive responsibly.
Cost Implication for Businesses
If you are wondering why fashion brands are not adopting soft-touch packaging more, leaving it to those focused on luxury items, cost is a major factor. Soft-touch packaging has a significantly higher production cost compared to standard finishes, dissuading most brands from adopting it.
Luxury brands are better able to adopt this packaging because even with the increase in production cost, it fits right into their image. Their target audience is people who appreciate the price they must pay for luxury, and most do not mind the additional cost. Most luxury products also thrive off sensory marketing, as the return on investment (ROI) is often satisfactory for the manufacturers and buyers.
Wrapping Up on Why Soft Touch Packaging is Becoming the New Standard in Luxury Branding
A lot about the fashion industry is about perception. When it comes to luxury products, this is even more pronounced. The market typically appreciates features that increase the premium feel of their purchases, a psychology that soft touch packaging easily buys into. A considerable amount of thought goes into choosing packaging for luxury products, but the result is often worthy for those who desire it.
