The implications arrive once the enterprise decides to make the transition to paper bags; it’s ‘the instinct’ to imbue everything with the logo. Sometimes, that’s just right. In fact, it’s money that would have worked harder somewhere else, just as often. One example of this is that a custom-printed bag is an actual marketing tool in one place and a costly travel bag in another and you need to be aware of the difference before you print up a number of copies.
It’s a true straight-forward answer to when a branded bag is at its price point, when a plain stock bag can perform the same tasks at a lower price and how you can determine this.
The honest distinction
Stock bags are ready-made stock, unbranded, plain kraft or white, in standard sizes, off the shelf. They have no minimums, are they the lowest priced, and ship instantly.
Custom bags are created to your specification: your Print, Your Colours, Your Size, your finish, and your Handle. They are expensive per unit, have a minimum order quantity and have a production lead time.
Both have their own merits abstractly. The only question we have is in short, which one is adaptable to the situation you’re in front of and that very much depends on whether it’s doing brand work or it’s simply doing a job.
When a custom bag is worth it
When the bag is noticed, the custom bag is recouped. The bag is a marketing tool the entire time the customer carries it out of your store, down your own alley, through the hotel lobby or home on the train. Taking the bag off the shelf and down the mall gives you the free advertisement that a plain bag supplies.
It’s a worthwhile investment if presentation is a key component in the product. where the purchase of the item is about the experience of receiving it, where a gift is a gift and where a bag is a piece of luxury, it is part of the experience being purchased and a generic bag will anger the customer while unceremoniously detracting from the experience.
But when it suits the situation, it’s worth it too! Assuming that, you will find that the increase in the minimums is just a decrease in the unit price for that custom order with your branding/size change. A custom printed paper bags also gets its foot in the door when it is integrated into a seamless brand program – a combination wherein the bag, the box, and the store’s exterior all call out to a set brand name, not a trio of names.
When stock is the smarter choice
Brand thinking loses more often than the stock bags.
They are caught for what the customer can’t see – bulk transport, handling back of store, goods movements within the business. It’s basically a throwaway purse.
They are correct if there is a low volume or there is a weak volume. A custom minimum can allow a small or seasonal business to have thousands of bags in stock that will not sell – due to the ageing of inventory – which will hang around clogging cash flow and storage. Stock bags enable you to purchase whatever you need when you want.
They work well during the early stage, before you have fixed your sizes, your branding and/or your actual volumes. Starting a big custom run when it’s still being tested on the market is where businesses end up with a full pallet of garbage bags. On top of that, they win on time: custom is by need and stock is now — and that’s important when it’s time to launch or a season is over.
Last but not least, there are often enough of them to support price-per-led, high-churn usage models. It is often the case that for a take-out that doesn’t need to be a brand moment, a plain stock (also called inventory or a single colour stamp) is entirely appropriate — and all that’s needed.
The middle ground most brands miss
The initial selection is not as dire as plain or a full print. The halfway house is semi-custom, and is the place where many businesses will begin – a stock bag with a stamp, a printed sticker or a print on a blank of a single colour, branded. It has captured most of the brand effect at a much lower price and with a minimum of a full custom run.
When you have a growing business and you’re in the process of getting your volume levels and designs sorted out but are not ready to do a full print, semi-custom is probably your better option, especially when you want your brand on that bag. Implement full-scale customization once the demand and specifications are established.
How to decide: five honest questions
Try the situation run through these before you place an order:
Will the customer use this bag, see it and carry it? If yes, lean custom; if, no, stock. Do you send enough volume to do a custom run before the custom changes or sizes? Otherwise offer stock or semi-custom. Does the presentation form part of its product or is it simply a practical bag? Is your specification in its final stages or still being tested? What lead time do you have for bags in hand?
Don’t over-buy to chase a unit price
Be careful and avoid overbuying due to the unit price.
The biggest and most costly error is when you are ordering a large number of prints of one custom size just to save on the price per unit, only to find that the size is incorrect, the colour is inaccurate with the print or the branding has changed. That isn’t a cost saving if it results in a lower unit cost on the wrong bag.
The honest sequence is the drab sequence, taking a sample and then confirming it on a small number, and thereafter going to the full run. Manufacturers that have stock and custom printed paper bags will provide samples (easiest to test the difference in the hand before putting any money into it), including VITA GROUP. Requires a bit of waiting and gives a lot of it back in return.
The bottom line
Custom bags are worth every dirham when the bag is a brand touchpoint the customer sees and remembers. Stock bags are the smarter spend when the bag is doing a job nobody is watching, or when your volumes and branding are not yet settled. Most businesses need some of both — and the ones that decide deliberately, rather than printing everything by reflex, spend far less for a better result.
Also Visited: Al Sajaa Sharjah
