If you’ve ever had a product that performs seemingly well in retail or your own DTC website, yet quietly underperforms on Amazon – the problem may not be the product itself. It may be the packaging.
Amazon is a fundamentally different channel, with different customer behaviours – and a stripped back but competitive user interface. What works in retail – or in a carefully curated brand-led DTC experience, doesn’t always translate to the Amazon marketplace.
For brand owners, the challenge is understanding how packaging design needs to work harder in a crowded digital environment, where the brand, box, imagery and product presentation all play a different role in winning the sale.
How do Amazon shoppers actually search and choose?
Amazon shopper behaviour follows a different decision order to in-store shopping, and understanding that order is the foundation of optimising for it.
Amazon shoppers typically search and decide in this sequence: reviews and star rating first, brand recognition second, and visual standout third. This is the biggest shift from physical retail – on shelf, packaging is often the first filter. On Amazon, it is frequently the third.
Branding – what needs to look different on Amazon?
Amazon shoppers behave very differently to shoppers in a supermarket. They are not in browsing mode – they have come onto Amazon in a particular need state, and need to find the brand which is most trustworthy to solve a problem for them.
If they already knew exactly which brand they wanted, they would likely return to a previous order or search for that brand by name. Whilst they are scrolling through filtering out by reviews – brand standout becomes essential.
It is the brands which look different in the category that will gain a click through.
On Amazon, your brand has to earn attention before a shopper ever experiences the product itself. As they scroll through search results and compare product pages, they are making rapid judgements about credibility, relevance and trust. The brands that stand out clearly and communicate their value quickly are the ones most likely to stop the scroll, win attention and make it into the consideration set.
Packaging design – what actually stands out in an Amazon grid?
Packaging design for Amazon needs to be functional. The very nature of the site and app means that all products are being viewed in isolation, on a white background – this immediately means that any packaging with a lighter, pastel, cream or white backgrounds will immediately recede into the background. On Amazon we want our brand and packaging design to advance – to ‘pop’ forwards and catch the attention of scrollers.
Consider: what colours are being predominantly used in our category on Amazon, are all brands using the same so that they fit in? Has a category shorthand been collectively made where all brands are using the same visual cues, imagery and colours?
This is your opportunity to create something different – differentiation creates standout.
We recently worked on a rebrand for a client in functional dog products – a client with decades of experience in selling on Amazon. They couldn't work out why their product was underperforming, our research showed that out of 37 products in their SKU category – nearly every product was using the exact same colour. Dog teeth health products = mint toothpaste green. Every product which had launched into this category had used the same shorthand. Some brands would win on reviews alone – but on the whole, the category was a sea of competition which all blended into one minty blur. The brands which win in an environment like this make bold brand choices – the reward? Immediate standout and differentiation – it is that differentiation that brands need when they are retailing a product at a more premium pricepoint.
Packaging messaging – how fast does your pack communicate?
Another key consideration is around messaging and packaging hierarchy – SKU names, product benefits, servings and descriptions should all be visible within the isolated ‘image on white’.
If it isn’t – it is highly unlikely that a shopper will click through when they are already browsing in a sea of hundreds of similar products.
What else is crucial for packaging design on Amazon?
Trust signals
While you are building your Amazon reviews (which is another job in itself) – trust signals are key in “de-risking” your product, and reassuring your customer. Awards on the front of packaging signal trust and a reputable brand. In food and drink we have Great Taste Awards – a well known symbol of quality assurance in FMCG, 74% of those who recognise the logo, say a Great Taste award makes a product more tempting. B Corp is another great example of credibility which signals premiumisation and which consumers will pay more money for.
Range navigation within a single search result
When several SKUs from one brand appear together in search results – brand blocking, colour-coding and consistent naming conventions will allow your brand to dominate the category – signalling it as the wise choice and category leader.
Product proposition clarity
Does your product immediately make sense to a customer shopping this category? Make it immediately obvious what your product is, what it does, and how much the customer gets. A shopper (on any platform) – shouldn’t have to take the time to learn what you are selling – it should be immediate and obvious.
Design as trust
Having a well designed brand and packaging design signals trust – that a shopper is buying from a reputable company. When we are shopping and in a need state – for example in supplements, it’s likely we are looking for a supplement which we will purchase monthly and continue to use. Design as trust is crucial as it signals a safe and wise purchase decision.
Getting started with your Amazon packaging design
With Amazon attracting an annual 2.8 billion visitors – it is definitely not a channel to let pass by for consumer product brands. Amazon shoppers are engaged and actively looking for products to solve need states – the brands which win have strategic standout in their categories, propositions which make sense – and packaging design which reinforces brand promise.
Common questions about packaging design for Amazon
How is Amazon packaging design different from retail packaging design?
Retail packaging competes across a category of physical shelf, seen at arm’s length alongside a handful of direct competitors. Amazon packaging competes at thumbnail size, scrolled past in under a second, against an unlimited number of near-identical listings.
Do Amazon shoppers look at packaging design first?
Amazon shoppers typically check star rating and review count first, then brand recognition, this makes packaging design even more crucial because it is one of the only opportunities for brands to create real standout outside of their review count.
Can the same packaging work in-store and on Amazon?
Yes, when it is designed with both in mind from the outset – built to hold its impact at full scale on shelf and at reduced scale in a search grid.
What makes packaging stand out in an Amazon search grid?
High contrast, simplicity, and consistent visual blocking across a range perform best against Amazon’s white background.
How important is the SKU name in Amazon packaging design?
Very – a shopper needs to confirm they have found the correct variant without zooming in, so SKU naming needs to be instantly legible at small scale.
Do you help brands already live on Amazon, or only new launches?
Both – we work with brands launching their first Amazon listings and with established sellers whose packaging needs strategic redesigns to maximise sales.
Need help optimising your packaging for Amazon?
We’ve supported clients across Amazon in categories including cosmetics, functional pet products, sustainable baby wipes, alcohol-free drinks and more
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