Smart Printing
Today’s requirements placed on product and transportation packaging have increased dramatically. It now has to be a communications and customer experience space, a tracking marvel, a consumer data gatherer, a security gap closer, a design individualist and more – and it is actually able to deliver this!
Christiansen Print is viewed internationally as one of the pioneers of smart printing and smart and customised packaging printing. On the HP PageWide T1100S, the biggest multi-lane digital web press for corrugated cardboard packaging on the market, continuous form printing solutions are created which offer new perspectives to brands, industry, retail, logistics, converters and consumers.
Customisation, interaction, security, improved processing and traceability: Smart printing can handle it all
Smart printing makes more out of product, shipping and sales packaging and displays. This is because smart printing combines the physical and digital worlds, offering an all-in-one solution for a wide range of requirements and functions along the entire industrial or retail value chain.
Sell smarter with customised packaging: Segmentation, versioning and customisation – consumers want personalised purchasing experiences and will reward brand owners and retailers with brand loyalty and a willingness to purchase at higher prices.
Creating dialogue surfaces for interaction and customer retention: Better interaction opportunities via the product or sales surface. This is what today's consumers want. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, intertwined with digitally printed packaging catapult the possibilities of interaction into a totally new dimension.
Acquiring valuable data: Digital links integrated into packaging open up profound insights into consumer behaviour.
Ensuring control and security: Individual serial numbers and link technology make products tamper-proof – Track & Trace along the entire supply chain.
Improving processing with smart printing: Convenient Digimarc® technology offers time savings of up to 40% at the counter and till.
Smart printing generates customer enthusiasm
Studies prove that the increasing demand of consumers for a wide range of choice along with customisation of products and their packaging is continuing unabated. Purchasers spend much more money on personalised products than on goods in standard packaging. Added to this are the generally ever shorter product lifecycles which in turn repeatedly require the presentation of new ideas and solutions.
Why only adapt a packaging layout once a year? Achieve more customisation! Every sales season, every regional offer, every special campaign or product generation can be designed very cost-effectively with a different look or messaging on the packaging or display.
This also applies to customised packaging designs which over and over again stimulate enthusiasm amongst customers, create exciting purchasing experiences and generate higher margins.
From packaging to customer dialogue with smart printing
When it is a question of how products and services are sold, packaged, shipped and used, closer consumer involvement is required.
Over 65% of consumers – the smart and hybrid shoppers of the new decade – want more customised purchasing experiences and interaction opportunities as well as the ability to call up extra information from the packaging on their smartphone.
What recipe can I cook with this food product? A quick smartphone scan immediately displays a couple of fantastic recipes. How would this lipstick look with this eyeliner? Smart help is delivered here by app. Read a 30-page instruction manual? A thing of the past. The packaging now links directly to a how to use video. Genuine experience and dialogue surfaces, a discourse across all digital channels, the switch between online and offline, between the real and the digital world – this is smart printing.
Data codes, “watermarks” and link technology – integrated into the print image
“Digital watermarks” and link technology are embedded invisibly to the human eye into the print image of the product or transportation packaging. This has no negative impact on the print image at all. Another benefit of the codes is that they can be positioned in more advantageous positions than was previously the case with conventional markings.
Evaluating consumer behaviour with smart printing: Big data for brands and retailers
Smart printing provides brand producers and retailers with valuable data, because digital links integrated into packaging open up profound insights into consumer behaviour. In-store, pre-purchase and post-purchase: How the customer acts, reacts and “ticks” throughout the entire brand experience process can be tracked and analysed. Which online and offline routes does the customer take in the search for the desired product? Which offers awaken his/her interest?
Smart printing gives brand producers a direct contact point with their customers. By evaluating the information acquired they can detect current trends and customer requirements even more quickly. New products can be developed proactively and in a targeted manner and placed in the best possible locations in retail outlets.
More security and control for brands and in retail outlets: Smart printing facilitates Track & Trace and protects against forgery
Integrated digital security solutions and concealed security features in the packaging: These are profitable value-adds for every brand owner and are more secure and easier than a traditional barcode. The individually printed invisible serial numbers or link technology via LinkReader or Digimarc® enable Track & Trace along the entire supply chain. Exclusively original products carry an imprinted label which means that revenue losses due to counterfeit products can be minimised. Seamless control – also of benefit to retailers.
Digimarc® barcode technology for better processing at the counter and till generates time-savings of up to 40% in the retail sector
Thanks to smart printing, the new Digimarc® barcode is invisible to the eye and is printed across the entire surface of the corrugated cardboard product packaging. This means that when it is scanned at the counter it doesn't matter how and from what angle the packaging moves over the till. This makes Digimarc® considerably faster to process than traditional barcodes.
The self-checkout means less stress for the till staff and makes customer registration easier.
