The ROI of Unboxing

With off-premises dining capturing a massive share of restaurant revenue, packaging has become a storefront marketing tool that brands must treat as a proxy for hospitality and intentionally design the unboxing experience.

“The real opportunity is less about how the box looks and more about how it makes the guest feel,” said Alexis Gillette, VP of Brand Management at Craveworthy Brands. “A package can do quiet work — a thank-you, an easy way to reorder, a perk for coming back to us directly — that turns a one-time delivery into a guest who comes back. Done right, it doesn't feel like a hard sell; it feels like hospitality that happens to convert. That's the headroom, and it's where we're leaning in.”

Packaging as a New Storefront

This matters most where there's the least to fall back on as eight of Craveworthy's 22 brands are virtual and delivery-first, with no dining room and no host, Gillette added. There, the package is the only touchpoint the guest gets, so it's where they extend the experience and where the relationship has to start. The package is also important as much of Craveworthy’s delivery business comes through third-party partners, and on those orders the platform owns the guest along with the data and the relationship. 

“The delivery package is the one piece we actually own: it lands in the guest's home, gets full attention for the two or three minutes of unboxing, and no algorithm decides whether they see it,” said Gillette. “That makes it the single best tool we have to do the one thing third-party reach can't — turn a borrowed customer into a direct, first-party guest we keep.”

To optimize packaging, brands should always start with the bite and then build around it, said Kristin Albert, Craveworthy’s SVP of Corporate Operations.

 Food-First Focus

“The food is the product. Packaging exists to protect and present it, not the other way around. Brand efforts won't make much of an impact if the fries arrive soggy or the lid pops in the bag. So before we talk about a logo, the specifications have to survive a real delivery journey — hold temperature, hold structure, no leaks — and let the food clear our Craveworthy standard when the container's opened.”

Every packaging decision has to be an additive to the business and the brand with the best moves doing both jobs at once, noted Gillette. 

“Never design in a vacuum. Take something as small as a cup — at our coffee brand, Gregorys Coffee, a simple design can deliver everything the current one does for the guest and the brand at a lower cost, with the savings landing right on the margin of every drink. That's the test — save money but lower the brand, and it isn't optimization, or look great but bleed margin, and it isn't either. You want the change that earns both.”

On top of that, design for how the product actually gets seen, Gillette advised, because delivery orders get photographed whether you planned for it or not. 

“Give the guest a frictionless reason to reorder direct and hold a consistent standard across all brands so each one reads like itself in every market.”

The Promise of Perceived Value

Effective packaging can drive perceived value and, once again, it starts with the food with the only question that matters is if it shows up the way it should, Gillette noted.

Napkins might be the most forgotten item in delivery, and the one there's never enough of — get them right, and the guest feels taken care of, even if they couldn't tell you why.

“If it's been knocked around because the packaging didn't preserve it, we've potentially lost the guest; no clever design saves a $10.00 sandwich that arrives crushed and cold. So, the packaging a dish genuinely needs isn't a place to cut corners — it's table stakes, cost of doing business. Get that right and the value takes care of itself: a solid, sealed container tells the guest the food was worth what they paid, and the wait, untouched from our kitchen to their door.”

Much of perceived value is simply removing every reason to feel let down such the leak that didn't happen, the dip that was actually in the bag and enough napkins, Gillette said, adding that, in fact, napkins might be the most forgotten item in delivery, and the one there's never enough of — get them right, and the guest feels taken care of, even if they couldn't tell you why. 

“Those details are what people remember as ‘this brand has it together,’ and they trace straight back to a team that cares about the guest experience, no matter the form the order takes.”

Be Intentional

To avoid mistakes and capitalize on marketing opportunities, operators need to be intentional with package marketing instead of just filing it under cost of goods, Gillette advised.

One missed opportunity Albert noted was branding the bag instead of the box as the bag gets torn open and tossed while the container is what sits on the guest's table. 

“Put your money where the guest actually interacts. On a delivery order your team cannot greet the guest, engage with them or fix an issue on the spot. We’re a people-first company that values human interaction, and the packaging must carry the hospitality our team would have delivered in person. So, we built the system that lets a team member execute it exceptionally, no matter the day or time, because the packaging is only as good as the hands that pack it.” 

Another mistake to avoid  is using a less expensive material and finding out at the guest's table that it didn’t hold up. Try to test under various conditions including drive time before you commit, Albert suggested.

It’s also vital to have consistency across the board because when every operator buys their own packaging, you don't have a cohesive brand; you have 300 versions of one. 

“Consolidated purchasing is important,” said Albert. “With our restaurant platform, we drive the cost down through scale.”

The Tech Factor

Technology must be an integral part of the delivery packaging experience for at least one operational reason that matters more on delivery than anything else, Albert pointed out. 

“When an order comes through a third-party platform, it owns the customer data – not you as a brand. A smart code on the package is how you connect with that guest and build that relationship.”

Scan to join loyalty, scan to reorder in one tap, scan to leave feedback, scan to unlock the next offer. Make it worth the guest's thumb.

It’s also an early-warning system for feedback on guest experience because a scan can catch a problem at the guest's table and let you make it right before it becomes a public review that everyone can read, Albert said. 

“Used in such a way, the packaging becomes a channel for data capture and service recovery that otherwise hands operators neither. That is real value flowing back to the operators.”

The package is a doorway and the simplest door is a QR code, but only if it does something intentional, Gillette added. 

“Scan to join loyalty, scan to reorder in one tap, scan to leave feedback, scan to unlock the next offer. Make it worth the guest's thumb.”

To keep packaging costs minimal, but still authentic to the brand, Albert suggests to spend where it’s seen and touched; cut where it isn’t. 

“Right-size while you’re at it – most operators are paying to ship air and matching the container to the portion cuts material cost and improves how the food presents. Win-win.”

The greatest lever is scale, Albert said, as consolidating stock keeping units (SKUs) and buying across the portfolio is how you hold spec quality while costs climb. It’s a core reason Craveworthy centralizes the supply chain across every brand instead of letting each concept go at it alone.

Match the Material to the Concept

 Lastly, authenticity doesn’t necessarily mean expensive, Albert noted.

“We don’t soul-strip brands to save costs; we match the material honestly to the concept, and for the right brand, simple can read as more genuine, not less. A great-looking container with a branded sleeve or stamp gets you most of the impact of a full custom print at a fraction of the cost and lets you change the creative on a dime.”

The cheapest packaging in the building is the one that doesn't generate a refund,

The cheapest packaging in the building is the one that doesn't generate a refund, Albert explained. 

“A remake, a complimentary item or a one-star review from a leaked or cold order costs the operator far more than the few cents saved on the box. Protecting that margin is protecting the partner.”

The number one thing guests want and expect is that the order is correct, complete, and hot, Gillette said. 

“It's food-first, and it gets overlooked more than anyone wants to admit. Miss on any of those and no discount, coupon or personalization will help. At Gregorys, we'll put a guest's preferred name on the cup with a kind note; simple, real and human. There's an affinity to earn, too.”

Quality Product and Quality Messaging

When the packaging is genuinely good quality, guests keep it and a recognizable cup becomes a brand symbol they carry around with them, Gillette added. 

“On messaging, the evergreen play is loyalty: put the program and its benefits right where the guest is already looking.”

Seasonal is the other lever because a timely, relevant design gives brands a natural reason to re-engage without a hard sell. And if you do add an incentive, make it one that pulls them to order direct next time, Gillette noted. 

“The discipline through all of its restraint is one thing done well beats packaging shouting five messages at once.” 

The way to measure ROI of delivery packaging is to bet on our food, always being it’s the foundation, Albert and Gillette agree. Packaging has one job: get that food to the guest exactly the way it’s made and the returning customer rate is the reflection. 

“It's the simplest, truest signal there is, because guests don't come back for a container. They come back for the food, and for the packaging that brought it to them right. 

You can put numbers around it, of course — reorder rate, third-party orders that convert to direct; the remakes you stop paying for in food cost. But it all rolls up to the same question: do they come back?