Last year, a few standout brands, including Tatcha and Rare Beauty, wowed the UnDigital team with their engaging, fun, and memorable unboxing experiences. Be that as it may, those highlights were few and far between, with most of our unboxing journeys in between ranging from bad to worse (we’re looking at you, Revlon and Glow Recipe).
In any case, this year is (thankfully) off to a great start, no doubt thanks to Simply Earth. Its packaging was crisp, the included inserts were vibrant, and every product was positioned beautifully within the pair of boxes we received. Simply Earth’s unboxing experience captivated us from start to finish, earning itself an honorable 8 out of 10 under our unboxing scoring rubric.
At UnDigital, we make use of our Unboxing Experience Guidelines for Brands, a ten-point, unweighted system designed using research conducted on millions of direct-to-consumer (DTC) packages. The system is divided into two categories — personalization and presentation — which are then split into five subcategories each.
The personalization category comprises customer name, product information, relevance, call-to-action (CTA), and story, while the presentation category involves branding, cleanliness, space utilization, returns, and delight.
Like any brand we score, Simply Earth was eligible to earn 0 or 1 point in each personalization category and 0, 0.5, or 1 point in each presentation category; with that in mind, let’s dive into our scoring criteria and see what Simply Earth did to earn an 8 out of 10.
Despite its stellar showing later on, Simply Earth lost a point right out of the gate by neglecting to include the customer’s name on any personalized insert.
Simply featuring the customer’s name on the shipping label is not enough; by adding the customer’s name and displaying it prominently on a package insert, you significantly increase the odds that they will read your marketing content.
Across millions of unboxing experiences, we have definitively proven that a highly visible first name personalization outperforms a generic piece in every scenario.
The top unboxing experiences provide supplemental product information inside the box, whether on the product packaging itself or by way of an insert; that said, we aren’t huge fans of printing product-use information directly onto an item’s packaging, though. As most beauty products are small, the print is often hard to read.
Simply Earth did, unfortunately, feature product information on individual item packaging, but it saved itself by also including a large, foldable insert that explained how the essential oil recipe box we ordered works. The information was easy to read, eye-catching, and broken down into a few simple steps, and for good measure, a QR code link to recipe video tutorials was even applied to one of our product boxes.
We ordered the essential oils monthly recipe box, and Simply Earth loaded it with supplemental materials that were undoubtedly relevant to our order; that insert we mentioned above included a subscriber rewards journey infographic, a map outlining different things we could create with essential oils, and even a $50 voucher!
While they received the point, this approach to relevance targets many different people and may risk generalizing the experience due to the overwhelming amount of content in the package.
The best way to speak to your customer base, will always be at the individual level. Segment your audiences. Give non-subscribers a reason to sign up. Treat your loyal customers like royalty. Don't try to both simultaneously though.
Without exception, every unboxing experience needs a CTA; otherwise, brands are leaving money on the table and missing out on the chance to re-engage with their customers.
Fortunately, Simply Earth included a strong CTA on its marketing insert and even gave us a little extra incentive to reorder with the $50 voucher. This is the most common thing brands miss when optimizing their unboxing marketing strategy, so hats off to the Simply Earth team.
As a reminder, your calls to action should be clear. Tell your audience (preferably your very niche audience) what they need to do to gain some benefit.
They should also be explicit. This means you need to be direct in your message. Don't beat around the bush with ambiguous CTA or implied buttons with irrelevant text.
You can use our shameless example below to improve your CTA. We know you're learning about your unboxing experience. We also know you're reading through our Unboxing Score analyses to improve your content. That being said, here's a free copy of our eguide to improve your understanding of unboxing marketing.
For lack of a more descriptive phrase, Simply Earth is a cool brand with an intriguing story; to that end, it shares snippets of its story throughout the unboxing journey it provides. For instance, the marketing insert includes the phrase, “Make your home toxin-free,” and the brand refers to its customers as “Earthies” in the greeting on the marketing insert.
They did great here. An easy way to bring this up a notch is to separate your story snippets. Your audience will only read so much of the content you put out there. So keep it short and sweet while delivering supplemental story information across multiple orders.
The external box didn’t feature any branding, but that’s pretty common, as it helps safeguard your order against theft.
That said, once we got past that primary shipping box, we uncovered a treasure trove of great branding ideas: The two smaller cardboard boxes featured vibrant red imagery and text, and inside those, we were greeted by branded products and marketing inserts, which elevated the entire experience.
Overall, the Simply Earth unboxing experience was pristine and confidence-inspiring. Each of the boxes involved in our order — the one generic shipping box and the two interior product boxes — was crisp and clean. Simply Earth may have used generic brown packing paper, but it was clean, and it did the job.
At UnDigital, we despise wasted space; it’s not only bad for the environment but just plain inefficient overall. It would seem that Simply Earth shares our distaste for poor space utilization, as both product boxes held our products perfectly in place. After we finished unboxing everything, there were only a few sheets of packing paper and a couple of boxes to dispose of.
Simply Earth nailed most of the unboxing experience and ensured that the products arrived in great condition. As such, we had no reason to return our products, but it’s always nice when brands make the process easy. Simply Earth, unfortunately, didn’t deliver on that front.
At a minimum, we would’ve liked to see the brand include some return instructions or even a link to their returns page. If they had added a pre-printed shipping label, it would have made initiating a return frictionless.
This is especially important for wellness brands where customers often imagine or inflate the benefits a product could bestow on them. Once they develop a more realistic expectation of the product, they have a tendency to develop buyer's remorse.
Ultimately, our unboxing review team sets out to answer one vital question: “Is this unboxing experience delightful?” In the case of Simply Earth, the answer is “Absolutely!”
From a consumer’s perspective, the unboxing process was fun, engaging, and informative; it featured all of the information needed to start using the products right away while also providing some incentive to reorder immediately or set up recurring orders.
Overall, Simply Earth delivered a fun and engaging presentation, though it did miss out on a few opportunities to personalize our unboxing experience.
At UnDigital, we use our reviews to showcase what brands like Simply Earth do well and draw attention to what they can do better. If you want to revamp or fine-tune your unboxing marketing strategy, check out UnDigital’s Unboxing Guidelines for a winning roadmap to wow your customers and capture more revenue.
