Packing it in with Navitor’s New Solution

 

The retail market is highly competitive and brands literally have a split-second to grab someone’s attention when it comes to their products on the shelf. And with the rise of e-commerce, there’s now the necessity to delight and excite consumers on websites and in online search results too. So packaging remains one of print’s most valuable segments. Packaging turns out to be more than just a means of protecting and carrying a product. It’s now an essential marketing tool that conveys the unique charm of the brand. And, most importantly, it influences shoppers to buy.

This is why we are thrilled to introduce our new packaging solution tailored to your customer’s unique requirements. Navitor offers printing solutions for flexible packaging and folded cartons, adding new opportunities and possibilities to propel brand success. But we don’t stop there. We are fully integrated to offer a complete spectrum of packaging products that also includes shipping envelopes, labels, hang tags and gift wrap.

Flexible Packaging

Growing numbers of product manufacturers are switching to flexible packaging thanks to its commanding shelf appeal, protective properties, consumer ease of use and prime storage advantages post-purchase. Flexible packaging is the combination of technology and innovation, and comes in different shapes, designs and sizes, making it truly flexible. It adds value and marketability and helps brands stand out from the competition and solidify their unique brand identity with every product they sell.

Flexible packaging pouches come in both Stand-Up and Lay Flat styles in our most popular sizes and materials, and feature an optional zipper closure or hang hole. Both options are great for a variety of product fill types, from food and beverage products to health and beauty. The print nature of flexible packaging is one-of-a-kind because it has end-to-end printing, allowing your customers to fully customize the look and feel to suit their brand.

Offering increased sustainability, the material utilized is smaller and thinner than glass, paper and metal. It uses 60% less plastic and is 23% lighter than traditional rigid packaging. Because this packaging option is thinner, it has a higher product to package ratio than traditional packages, making it an economical option. It also has reduced CO2 emissions in production and transport making it an eco-friendly choice.

Folded Cartons

High quality paperboard folded cartons stand up and stand out with innovative printing and finishing methods. We specialize in short-run quantities for the changing retail market where niche brands, regional product introductions and burgeoning “micro” markets demand high quality packaging in smaller quantities. Our folded cartons are a brilliant solution to hold anything from non-contact food and beverage products to business cards to health and beauty products.

Supplying the most popular sizes and styles, we also understand that every product and customer has different requirements and that is why we offer more than 50 paper stocks to choose from – as well as unique textures and specialty paper stock options – to help differentiate the package. We also specialize in custom finishes and coatings that add pizazz and pop to retail packaging. Working closely with you through every step in the process, from picking a paper stock to print and finishing processes we are expert collaborators in developing and delivering an exceptional folded carton solution that helps generate higher returns for your customer.

Labels

Labels and packaging are the dynamic duo. They go hand-in-hand. Whether you print a full color carton or pouch, labels provide an added piece of valuable real estate. Our vast label offering provides every brand a unique opportunity to include an added touch to their package. For example, if your customer prints a large quantity of a folded carton with the same artwork for each variety, they can add a label to provide product-specific information without having to run a package for each variety. A cohesive label and package presentation will create an impactful lasting impression to be remembered in the minds of consumers.

Shipping Envelopes

Shipping envelopes are a great way to package flat items that are to be sent through the mail and other shipping services. Our full color or spot color envelopes are available in Terraboard™ and Tyvek® options to ensure your customer’s deliveries arrive without getting bent or damaged.

Hang Tags

Hang tags are an excellent way to give your customer’s product added brand charisma and allure. Hang tags are not just for clothes, they can be added to the outside of a folded carton, around the neck of a wine bottle or used as a personalized message on a gift. Available in a variety of shapes, sizes and stock options for a plethora of appealing possibilities to fit your customer’s needs and captivate consumers.

Gift Wrap

Corporate branding doesn’t need to stop at the box. Get creative and add a personal touch with gift wrap for every occasion. Showcase your customer’s style and identity. Wrapping their packages in custom branded wrapping paper creates an instant brand connection with their customers. Printed full color in various lengths, select from our provided design templates or create your own option.

Use case

A major brand was dealing with incompatible print processes, requesting two disagreeing finishing options on their packaging. Successfully combining soft touch UV coating and foil on the same package is an extremely challenging task, due to the high temperature needed to make the foil properly adhere to the paper, and the fact that the UV coating acts as a barrier to the heat. The obvious solution would be to use a soft-touch laminate instead of UV coating, but that process would put the cost for the project far beyond the customer’s budget.

Our solution took some “out of the box” thinking. (Pun intended.) Our packaging R&D team worked tirelessly to test several different potential solutions. In consultation with the paper manufacturer, the team developed a hybrid alternative to soft touch UV coating that achieved the same look and feel, yet allowed the foil to adhere properly. The cost remained comparable to the traditional UV coating and kept the project within budget. Our team also worked to adjust the customer’s artwork to improve the quality of the foil stamp image on the final packages. The customer was extremely pleased with the final product – going beyond their expectations for both quality and price. The final hybrid solution saved the customer nearly 90% in project costs of producing the same package with soft touch lamination. Our extensive print experience and ability to tackle complex print challenges earned the trust of this customer and exceeded their expectations.

The takeaway

Understanding the formidable packaging challenges across all of today’s industries, Navitor has become a leading resource for solutions when it comes to the most demanding packaging challenges. A fully integrated supplier, Navitor offers insights, ideas and opportunities for Distributors to sell packaging solutions that protect and promote their customers’ products perfectly. At Navitor, it is our passion to help you originate and sell packaging products that you can feel good about and that can truly represent each of your customer’s unique brands.

Ready to browse the packaging solution page on Navitor.com? We’d love to have you. Visit us today.

CBD and Cannabis Sales Start with Shelf Presence

Imagine you’re walking through a dispensary or a retail store that sells CBD. There’s definitely no shortage of new and interesting products to choose from on the shelves. How purchase decisions are made is part art, part science. Packaging plays a more important role in those decisions than you might think. It is a driving factor in determining what product you walk out of the store with. Since packaging is often a consumer’s first introduction to a product, it pays to be innovative and unique in order to stand out on a crowded shelf and get noticed.

The importance of product packaging is multi-faceted and can make all the difference in ensuring a great first impression and lasting brand loyalty. Here are a few tips and tricks for strategic product packaging:

Functionality
Keeping the product safe for its journey from production through distribution, and from store shelves to buyer’s homes is where it all starts. Preventing damage with a sturdy and reliable package is foundational, followed by convenience and ease of use. There are plenty of standard options with a wide range of weights to ensure functionality and convenience and also differentiate the packaging. Once fit-for-purpose and functionality are checked off, you can move into the more artistic points that attract customers and encourage them to buy the product.

Image
Packaging is the primary marketing medium in the cannabis industry, making first impressions everything. Buying decisions are influenced by how the packaging promotes and displays the product inside. On average, it takes only seven seconds to form a first impression. With such limited time, the best way to stand out on the shelf is with unique, high-quality, and creative packaging. This includes both printing and finishing methods that help the consumer perceive the value of the product and provide a great experience. We specialize in making the packaging more appealing and attractive while adhering to brand standards and necessary regulations.

Brand Awareness
Product packaging is not just a reflection of the product inside, but the brand as a whole. Innovative packaging differentiates brands. To influence buying and create brand awareness, it’s important that consumers can easily determine what the product is and make associations with the brand. Combining exceptional printing processes with high-quality materials yields a more memorable experience with a brand. Choosing the best substrates and impactful, high-resolution images on the package can help boost brand awareness.

Special Touches
Custom finishes and coatings add uniqueness and help step up shelf visibility. They highlight design elements, elevate the tactile experience and add dimension. Processes like debossing, embossing, foil stamping, spot color, and intricate die-cutting transform the appearance of products on the shelf. Finishing extras such as UV gloss coating, spot UV, soft-touch lamination, aqueous satin, and raised UV give packages a snazzy, polished look.

Integrated Elements
An effective way to set products apart and help them stand out on the shelf is through creative integration with additional elements including matching bottle labels, inserts, and hangtags around the packaging.

Collaboration with Navitor, your trusted packaging expert, is key to making your product stand out on the shelf. Our innovations and ideations will bring your vision to life. Check out Packaging now.

The Holiday Shopping Season Redefined

It’s snow joke – we are in for a holiday season unlike any other we’ve been through. The traditional merriment we look forward to each year involves eating, drinking, and singing together in a cozy room … all among the highest risk scenarios for transmitting viruses. It’s pretty unlikely we’ll see shoppers lined up before sunrise for Black Friday deals, or rushing to crowded stores for last-minute gift buying. No matter the circumstances, this is the time of year when retailers and other businesses start to mull over their holiday plans and prepare for what promises to be an unprecedented holiday season. How will the pandemic affect what has traditionally been retailers’ busiest time of year? Rest assured, we have some ideas around what can be expected. If unprepared, yule be sorry … but by preparing for what’s to come and offering innovative ideas and options, yule be sleighing it.

Where the holiday dollars will go
Money typically spent on heavily attended parties and festive gatherings, travel, and enormous grocery bills for huge dinners instead will go toward gift-giving, albeit with some differences. Experiential gifts like concert and event tickets, restaurant gift cards, and massage certificates are out, while popular merchandise categories – things you can hold in your hands (after sanitizing, of course) – are in.

Shoppers starting early
Gift-givers will be coming out of quarantine as holiday shopping season starts earlier than normal. Opting to shop during less volume-heavy times, consumers are likely to buy sooner rather than later in order to avoid crowds and to make sure the items on their lists are even available. From a shopper’s standpoint, one of the biggest challenges during the pandemic has been product availability. Supply chains are compromised and inventory is low. Making matters worse, deliveries take longer than normal because as the volume increases, shipping delays only get worse. To avoid out-of-stocks and account for anticipated shipping delays, shoppers will be starting early.

Business gift-giving
Businesses reaching out to customers and employees at the holidays this year will opt for cards and gifts as alternatives to dinners and parties. In order to show their gratitude and appreciation for the loyalty of their customers and employees over the past year, corporate giving will likely be at an all-time high. Branded promotional products are sure to be in high demand as businesses manage their customer and employee gift-giving from a distance.

Retail shopping holiday makeover
Without question, COVID-19 has transformed the retail shopping experience. The holiday shopping season will look quite different this year as retailers find themselves mired in the coronavirus. Here are some of the changes in store for us this year:

  • No more Black Friday lines – large retailers like Target, Macy’s, Foot Locker, JCPenney, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Best Buy have all announced that they’ll close stores on Black Friday
  • Buy online, pick up in-store – COVID-19 pushed shoppers online early in the pandemic, and not only has that trend not slowed, but it will also pick up speed in the coming weeks
  • Still social distancing – but in a more festive manner – soon all those banners, signs, floor and window decals will look very merry
  • Pop-up sales outside – expect to see outdoor pop-up shops in cities with climates that can accommodate them
  • Extra sanitation – safeguarding the health of staff and shoppers will require sanitation stations and signage throughout stores, especially near return counters
  • Curbside pickup – emerged early this year, and expectations among shoppers are that this option will be made available across all retail brands
  • Heavy communication and signage – to cut down the need for face-to-face conversations, directional signs, infographics, posters, and decals will be used to inform shoppers and direct traffic flow
  • More gift buying – with travel money squashed and big gathering spend down, that means a bigger bankroll for gifts

Stand-out products
With all the social and shopping changes brought about by the pandemic, there are still innovative products in high demand. Some of the top holiday options include calendars, greeting cards, glitter stock items, custom packaging, promotional products, custom gift wrap, labels, face coverings, holiday signage, direct mail, and much more. Communication and information exchange are not the only things going contactless this holiday season: Expressing gratitude and thanks will be done through gift-giving and showing appreciation without the typical holiday get-togethers.

The takeaway
To really make an impact this year, make sure you’re giving your customers the information they need – and preparing early is critical. Have your stocking stuffed full of ideas your customers will love (from head to mistletoe). Even though most hugs will be saved until next year, we’re still here to help you navigate the 2020 Holiday Season. We’re your go-to resource with ideas and innovative ways to work through the challenges you’re facing and uncover the opportunities this shopping season brings. For some great options, check out our online booklet Reinventing Holiday Traditions in the Next Normal.

Custom Letterhead and Envelopes: A Perfect Pair

When consumers go out to their mailbox, what they see can make a big difference in whether their mail gets opened. Polished, branded envelopes and letterhead are an essential way to add your customer’s brand to every mailing.

Why Coordinate?
The first reason your customers probably think of for buying letterhead and envelopes together is to create a complete stationery suite, and that’s a great place to start. Stationery envelopes are meant to coordinate with your customer’s letterhead order, which means that they can easily match the stock and print to create a stationery look with the utmost professionalism.

And coordinating stationery pieces does create a more professional look. It will make your customer’s messaging look put-together, and that can help consumers see your customer as more professional.

Beyond Stationery
Envelopes aren’t just the finishing touch for your customer’s stationery suite, though. They can also bring your customer’s brand to every mailing they send out. Stationery envelopes are just one part of a complete coordinated print set for your customer’s business, and bringing it all together can help them look as professional as possible to consumers.

Business envelopes printed with your customer’s logo are a great way to bring their brand to everyday mailings like invoices and account statements even before the envelope is opened. Even better, consumers will know exactly who sent their mail, so they’ll know at a glance who the mailing is from. This makes invoices and account statements more noticeable.

And if your customer has a larger mailing to send out, envelopes can bring their brand to catalogs, large booklets, paperwork packets, and more. Not only are these pieces branded, but they can also help protect these larger pieces better than sending them as a self-mailer will.

Which are your customers’ favorite envelopes? Leave us a comment below to tell us more about how your customers use envelopes in their business.

We Love Print

There’s a lot to love about print, from the subtle look of embossing to the texture of a particularly well-chosen stock to the ability to personalize cups, pens, and much more. To celebrate the holidays and our love of print, I talked to a number of members of the Navitor team and asked them what they love about print.

What did they love most?

infographicWhat do you love about print? Did any of these quotes hit home with you, or is there another product you particularly love? Tell us about it in the comments below.

5 Creative Holiday Uses for Business Cards

The holiday season is here, and your customers probably have a checklist. Send out greeting cards? Check. Decorate a tree? Check. Purchase gifts? Check. But have they considered adding business cards to their checklist?

The business card might seem like an everyday item—and it is a business essential for a reason—but it can also be a small canvas for big holiday plans. Because of the wide variety of stock options available for business cards and the variety of print options, business cards could be an ideal addition to your customer’s holiday season when they are used creatively. Even better, you’ll save instantly on business card shipping throughout December. Here are our five creative ideas for using business cards in the holiday season.

Drink Tickets
Is your customer hosting an event for the holiday season? Whether they are hosting a New Year’s Eve bash, celebrating the holidays with employees or hosting a fundraiser for a good cause, drink tickets could be a must-have element of the evening. Business cards make ideal drink tickets because they are pocket-sized and easy to personalize to match any event décor.

Gift Tags
Whether your customer is creating a gift for top clients, employees, or simply friends or family, a business card could be a creative gift tag option with flair. Not only can they easily be branded for your customer’s business gifts, but they can easily be taped or tied in place with ease. Gift tags can also be printed to match event décor to add an instant finishing touch to door prizes and gifts alike. – Check out our Shaped business cards for more ideas.

Coupons
Holiday sales and special offers are a hallmark of the season, and business cards make ideal colorful coupons that can be sent alongside invoices, scattered on tables at storefronts, or stacked by the register. Your customer could also give these coupons as a gift for customers who make holiday season purchases and to encourage them to start the New Year with another purchase.

Business Cards for Santa
Does your customer want to add an extra touch to Santa’s presence at their retail location? They should consider creating business cards for him! Full color print will make them festive, and these business cards could even point kids to a Santa phone number for an extra surprise.

Event Favors and Easy-to-Distribute Gifts
Is your customer looking for a lightweight favor or gift that they can give out at large events or send to a large group of their clients? Magnetic business cards are a fun option that is a colorful surprise they’ll appreciate now and may keep for weeks and months to come.

Want one more reason to order business cards for the holiday season? You’re in luck! Business cards and other Stationery items have 50% off shipping through December! These savings will be applied automatically for online orders. Be sure to place your order by December 31st to save.

Do your customers get creative with business cards during the holiday season? We’d love to see your creative uses in the comments below.

Pantone Announces 2020 Color of the Year

Pantone, the leading authority in color, has announced their choice for color of the year in 2020: Classic Blue (PANTONE 19-4052)! A timeless and enduring blue hue is elegant in its simplicity and satisfies our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.

What Does Pantone Say?
According to Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, this color is the constancy and confidence needed for the New Year. “We are living in a time that requires trust and faith,” says Eiseman. “Classic Blue, a solid and dependable blue hue we can always rely on. Imbued with a deep resonance, Classic Blue provides an anchoring foundation.”

Eiseman also says that the 2020 color of the year is a boundless blue evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, Classic Blue encourages us to look beyond the obvious to expand our thinking; challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective and open the flow of communication.”

A Dependable and Stable Foundation in Design
Incorporating the color of the year into print and design is a great way to keep things focused and help bring clarity to your design, and “dependability” is the name of the game with this reflective blue tone. Its sense of peace and tranquility offers refuge to the human spirit.

If your customers want to pair Classic Blue with another color, they’re in luck. Pantone has a number of suggestions for color pairings when your customer is creating their print. From cool blue pairings and an array of warm and soothing shades to help induce a gently calming effect and feelings of peaceful tranquility to the human spirit.

Looking for a way to make Classic Blue even more special? Consider pairing it with a specialty stock or process! Consider pairing with Enhanced Finishes for another level of design.

A Color for All
Classic Blue is a great fit for many different industries, it’s a particularly natural fit for customers that need to convey dependability and stability in their business. From Healthcare to Banking and Finance the reassurance of Classic Blue will put their customer’s minds at ease.

What do you think of Pantone’s choice? Do you think your customers will want to use it in their print? Tell us about it in the comments below.

The Best Folder Experience

Are your customers looking for ways to increase their business success? Are you looking for a way to boost your bottom line? If so, FolderWorks™ has the answers to both of these questions!  We are confident that our products, solutions, and services will deliver success for both you and your customers and provide you with the Best Folder Experience.

Created for your Customers
Believe it or not, presentation folders are an effective tool for your customers to market and promote their business.  They present information in a professional and organized fashion to both employees and customers and are a great way for your customer to present the informational, educational, or promotional materials you are likely already providing for them.

A Boost for Your Business
Importantly, the average retail dollar value of one presentation folder order is almost $800.  If you aren’t selling folders, you are missing out on a product line with high sales (and income) potential!  And, if you aren’t using FolderWorks™, you are missing out on the Best Folder Experience in the industry!

Numbers Your Business Can Count On

  • Orders are produced On-time more than 98% of the time.
  • Customers rate our quality at 99% on orders purchased
  • We answer the phone within 5 seconds of your call.

The Best Folder Experience is our commitment to being fair and honest to all our customers. This is a significant differentiator among our competitors and key to providing high ticket/high profile products like presentation folders! We focus on the following key issues that impact your presentation folder business:

We don’t believe a +/- 10% over/under policy is fair to you. We send you the quantity you order. No shortages and no automatic additional charges if there happen to be extras.

We aren’t afraid to talk to you, in fact, we encourage it! We know presentation folders are high ticket and high profile products and we want to help you find the perfect folder for your customers!

We know your time is valuable! Our friendly and knowledgeable sales associates and customer service representatives strive to answer your call within 10 seconds. In fact, since 2017 our average speed to answer is 5 seconds!

We do NOT sell to your customers. We are your silent partner and you can trust that we will never contact your customers.

Want to know more about how FolderWorks™ is supporting you as a silent partner? Take a look at our non-branded materials that help you increase product awareness and help build your brand loyalty. Want to learn more about new market opportunities? We’ve created this flyer to help you. Or, if you’d rather call us, we’d love to hear from you. Give us a call at (877) 294-5028 to ask your question and try us out!

Product Spotlight: Magnets

Are your customers looking for simple promotional products and will stick around? A fun way to promote events or a special occasion? Whether they want something as small as a business card or as large as a sign, magnets are a versatile canvas that are practical and flexible.

Full Color Magnets
Full color magnets are an ideal size for a wide variety of different uses. Printed with a sports schedule, they can make a great fundraiser for high school sports teams, take-home to keep parents and students organized, or “than you” gift for donors. Printed with essential phone numbers, they can be used by realtors looking to introduce homeowners to neighborhood restaurants or hotels wanting to keep contact information close for guests.

Full color magnets are available in three different sizes: 5 1/2” x 4 1/4”, 4” x 10”, 8” x 10”. These sizes are large enough to contain plenty of information, but small enough that they are easy to use as promotional pieces because consumers can place them on refrigerators, filing cabinets, and other household locations.

Magnetic Business Cards
You’ve probably seen plenty of magnetic business cards before, so I won’t spend too much time describing what they are. These business-card sized magnets are a classic promotional option for the service industry customers, tradeshows, and more. Traditionally, they are printed with contact information just like a business card: a phone number, an email address, and sometimes a physical address or an employee photo to make a more personal connection.

These business cards aren’t just business cards, however. Any information that can be printed on a business card can be printed on these magnets. They can be used as specialty drink menus for hotel room service, a “welcome” gift from realtors to new homeowners, “save the date” reminders for upcoming events, and to express a wide variety of other shorter messages.

Shaped Magnets
These full color magnets are available in five popular shapes that fit nearly every customer’s needs: House, Circle, Van, Square, Oval. Sized as the perfect giveaway at their next event to share company information. These magnets can be viewed in our catalog and ordered manually.

What makes all of these magnet options so versatile is that they are printed in full color, allowing your customers to personalize magnets large and small with their company logo, photographs, vibrant designs, and more.

Do your customers order magnets? Which size is their favorite? We’d love to hear more about it in the comments below.

Adding a Touch of Luxury to Announcements

A personalized announcement delivers more than an invitation to a big event, holiday greetings, or thanks. It elevates your customer’s message to a new level, whether your customer is looking for a traditional announcement for their grand opening or a luxurious specialty announcement for their biggest events. Here are our tips for adding a touch of luxury to your customer’s print order.

Capture the Look of Gold or Silver Leaf with Foil Stamping
Nothing says “luxury” quite like a metallic, and bringing that metallic to your customer’s design is a great way to give it a touch of luxury and to emphasize their message or their logo. Whether your customer wants the tried-and-true look of gold foil on an ivory or white stock, pairs the sheen of foil with muted colors for a vintage look, or is seeking the sophisticated and chic look of foil paired with darker hues like black or jewel tones, foil stamping is a great choice. It makes an especially big impact on Announcements, where it shows off that high end feel with every invitation delivered.

Add Depth With Enhanced Finishes
An alternative to traditional foil is the variety and luxury provided by Enhanced Finishes. Choose Spot Gloss to add a glossy finish, Raised Foil to add depth and shine, or Raised Spot Gloss to provide a tactile element to a spot gloss finish.

Choose a Heavyweight Stock for a More Substantial Feel
Sometimes, luxury is something you have to feel, and heavyweight stocks are one way to convey that luxury if your customer wants to use a full color image in their print. Extra thick stock can give business cardsannouncements, or postcards a substantial feel that instantly makes an impression, and color core pairs that heavyweight feel with a vibrant colored core that shows along the edge of the print piece. Choose the color core stock that matches their design, or use a black core to add a sleek touch that matches any design.

Make Something Really Extraordinary! Consider our Crystal Glitter Stock
If your customer wants something completely unique and eyecatching, they should consider a design that takes advantage of the heavyweight thickness and unexpected pop of color that comes from color core stock with the sparkle of a glittered surface! The crystal white finish of our glitter stock is more than just sparkly. It has a subtle, iridescent look that adds depth and visual interest to the glitter finish. And we are pleased to note that the glitter stays put on the stock’s surface—this means that it won’t lose its sparkle before it’s been handed to the customer.

The glitter also adds a textured surface to any business card, announcement, or postcard that uses glitter stock, adding an extra touch of tactile appeal. This means that when a design features heavy ink coverage and the glitter itself is covered by that ink, there is an appealing textured surface on those areas. And because of the colored core, Crystal White Glitter Color Core stock will weigh in at an impressive 45pt. thickness that is sure to stand out from the crowd.

We are offering a special deal just in time for the holidays 25% off the new crystal white glitter color core and color core announcements and postcards from now until December 31st. Visit Navitor.com to save automatically through our online ordering tool.

How do you help your customers decide what print products and processes are best for them? Do you have any suggestions to share? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.