I’m a big fan of developing exceptional customer experiences. You know, the ones that cause you to take notice, to react in awe and ultimately, to tell the world about what you just saw. And I’m also a big believer in addressing the customer experience at every single opportunity in which a potential customer can interact with the company.
So it absolutely boggles my mind when I run across a company that still finds it necessary to use clam shell packaging. Now I know the rational for a clam shell package. No retailer or manufacturer wants to see their product 
walking out the doors unpaid for. When we first sold our MouseDriver product into Walmart, the first thing the buyer asked us to do was develop a customized clam shell package for their store. So we did. And it sucked. It was impossible to open. The customer couldn’t actually touch the product. The package itself was bulky and felt cheap. And worst of all, there was no way in hell somebody could open it with their bare hands without drawing blood. It was an awful experience and it still irks me.
In my mind, the packaging that you develop for your product is an opportunity to amplify the overall customer experience, reinforce your brand and give customers another reason to sing your praises to others. A package is physical and can apply to almost all of the human senses. Just think of the time and effort that Apple puts into their packaging…..they even address the smell of a package when it’s first opened. The smell! Are you kidding me?
At Rivet & Sway, we’re all about a holistic and differentiated customer experience so packaging is a HUGE focus for us. The good folks at Yiu Studio were instrumental in designing our first iteration of packaging and the Rivet & Sway Team has been improving on that version ever since. In fact, our lead designer Kathleen Ullman, just announced the release of our 2nd generation packaging that launched this week. I expect that this next iteration will take our customer experience to yet another level. That’s the plan anyway.
The lesson here: Pay attention to packaging details as it’s a key component of the overall customer experience. And for goodness sake, stay away from clam shell. It’s a customer detractor.
Anybody else have thoughts on packaging or want to share horror stories with their clamshell experiences? Please comment below.
John
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