75% of Brands Plan to Expand SKUs as Packaging Fully Shifts to Short Runs

Driven by fast-changing consumer tastes, intense cross-category competition, and strict environmental regulations worldwide, brands are changing how they evaluate packaging and labels. At a recent PRINTING United Alliance seminar, Nathan Safran and Lisa Cross from research firm Alliance Insights shared key findings from their latest report, Digital Packaging: Maximizing Innovation and Impact. They explained how brand buying decisions are fundamentally changing. For printers and packaging converters, the days of relying only on large, long-run orders and price wars are over. Understanding a brand's need for speed and its challenges on the store shelf has become critical for survival.

Brands of different sizes take very different approaches to packaging. Large multinational companies have big budgets and high-volume orders, but they tend to avoid supply chain risks. Their packaging changes usually focus on protecting existing customer loyalty. In contrast, small and medium-sized emerging brands are far more agile. Although their order volumes are smaller, they make decisions quickly and love to frequently change text, colors, and graphics on their packaging. Small brands are eager to try new things, whether launching bold new products or testing unique packaging shapes. For print suppliers with flexible digital production lines, serving these smaller brands offers good profit margins and a great way to refine fast-response production systems.

Regardless of size, competing for attention on crowded store shelves and online thumbnails is a constant battle for market share. Constantly launching new products and expanding the number of SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) has become the main strategy for brands to defend and grow their business. Industry data clearly shows this trend. 61% of interviewed brands increased their total SKUs over the past two years, and 75% plan to expand their SKU range even further in the next two years.

This SKU expansion is driven by several key factors. The primary reason is consumer demand for personalized and specialized products, mentioned by 59% of brands. Other major drivers include keeping up with competitors' new releases (43%), launching seasonal or limited-edition packaging (43%), and meeting retailers' demands for different packaging sizes (34%). Together, these factors shorten the shelf life of individual SKUs and increase the frequency of packaging redesigns. This shift creates a crucial question for packaging suppliers: do they have the technology and workflow to handle frequent, small-batch orders, and can they prove to brands that they are the best choice for these fast, short-run jobs?

Based on in-depth research with brand managers, Alliance Insights identified three main challenges troubling brands today, pointing out clear directions for packaging suppliers to upgrade their capabilities:

First is supply chain efficiency and speed, which 47% of brands view as their top challenge. As e-commerce sets new standards for fast delivery, the "Amazon effect" has reached the packaging supply chain. Brands can no longer wait weeks for plate-making, proofing, and scheduling. As a result, 89% of surveyed brands now use digital printing for packaging and labels. Brands report that digital printing delivers three main benefits: cost-effectively handling tiny order quantities (51%), significantly speeding up time-to-market for new products (44%), and allowing low-cost design updates (33%).

Second is creating high-impact packaging that drives buying decisions, a top priority for 47% of brands. In physical stores, sight and touch often determine whether a customer buys a product. According to a Harris Poll, 86% of young consumers aged 18 to 44 say that touching the packaging before buying is essential, and 71% believe a great physical interaction strengthens their connection to the brand. To meet this demand, special finishing techniques have become essential for brands. Post-press enhancements like foil stamping, 3D embossing, tactile coatings, and spot UV give packaging a memorable physical texture. The study shows that 27% of brands require suppliers to have special finishing and embellishment capabilities, while another 46% view it as a major advantage when choosing a partner.

Third is meeting increasingly strict, multi-dimensional sustainability targets, cited by 38% of brands as a major pressure. As environmental laws take effect globally, sustainability means much more than just one thing. While material recyclability remains the top concern at 42%, other goals are gaining strong attention: lightweighting and sizing optimization (37%) to eliminate over-packaging and cut material weight; reusability (34%) focusing on durable containers; waste reduction during processing (30%), requiring better printing accuracy; compostability (25%); extending product shelf life (24%) without losing barrier performance; and plastic reduction or elimination (20%), encouraging the use of coated paper and fiber-based materials.

From handling short-run orders and complex tactile finishes to meeting tough sustainability rules, managing packaging has become more complicated than ever for brands. As Lisa Cross noted, brands no longer need traditional factories that simply follow instructions and fill basic containers. Instead, they urgently need professional solution partners who understand material science, digital fast-response workflows, and how to balance cost with regulatory compliance. In this changing packaging market, suppliers that turn fast response times, high-quality finishes, and green compliance into standard workshop capabilities will secure the core budgets of brand clients.