The “unboxing” experience - choosing how to pack

One of our earliest challenges was deciding on the first interaction experience many of our customers would have with our brand, Better Than Belts. In our pursuit to perfection we needed to balance a memorable experience with cost, and environmental consciousness. 

 

I’m sure you can imagine that starting a company with your brother means many critical business conversations can happen in front of other family members. My mom, a woman who rarely shops online, wanted us to ship as quickly as possible. While I tried to relay the importance of the unboxing experience to her, I leaned on one of the few times she did purchase online, for Lilly Pulitzer. My mom was so excited to regale her experience that she jumped up from the kitchen counter to run to her desk, where she pulled out the card that came in the package… two years ago. It said “We love you too much AMY”. That simple personalization left such an impression that my very non-pack rat of a mother kept it. 

 

So, our goal was to create that unboxing experience for each of our customers. Excitement and the desire to keep part of the package for years to come… That said, we wanted our packing to be environmentally conscious. We didn’t want to use packages that were oversized or used more stuffing or packaging (ie. tissue paper) than was needed. Ideally our packaging would be made of recycled material or would be recyclable. Finally, we had to consider package cost, especially since it can range between $0.20 and $5.00+ a package before taking into account shipping.

 

We decided on a kraft bubble mailer made from recycled kraft paper. 

  1. Cost/Function: They are weather resistant and cost effective from both a package and shipping perspective. It was important to us that the bubbles would protect the metal clasps, without requiring additional packing materials. 
  2. Branding: Custom printed boxes are super popular right now. Everyone from HelloFresh to Duvin uses them. Not only are boxes more expensive to ship than envelopes, but we really wanted to stand out and do something different. We decided to design and order a custom stamp to brand and humanize our packaging.
  3. Inside: Our brand experience has just started with the outside of the package. On the inside each pair of suspenders comes with a Better Than Belts sticker and a ‘thank-you’ postcard that has space for customized messaging. The postcard shared our story and included some outfit options for how to wear suspenders. Many of our customers have never worn suspenders before, so we wanted to highlight some of our favorite ways to wear them!

 

In the end we were overjoyed by the response from our first shipment fulfilling the orders from our successful Kickstarter campaign. We’ve been tweeted at, Instagrammed, Facebook Messaged, texted, Slacked, and yelled at on the street.

 

The end of this video shows a glimpse into our packing process!

 

About Better Than BeltsSuspenders for the modern human


Better Than Belts (BTB) was founded by siblings Tori and Tyler Farley who are alumni of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Tyler’s weight fluctuated due to health issues and he grew tired of tight belts. He wanted to buy suspenders but found everything on the market to be costumes / novelty goods, formal wear, and construction apparel. No clothing brand was making a suspender durable and good-looking enough to replace a belt. Cue BTB, a modern suspender that is comfortable and versatile. As he neared launch, Tyler recruited his sister Tori who has extensive experience with startups, growth marketing, and analytics. The BTB Kickstarter raised $11,400 in one month, bringing the project to life and spreading quality, genderless suspenders to our first wave of dedicated customers. The suspenders are made in New York, USA of the highest quality components sourced from around the globe.