I’ve seen packaging make or break brands. Not just the aesthetics, but also the boring stuff like logistics. In this world, packaging is more than a box. It’s infrastructure.

When I started working with fast-growing brands, I quickly learned that packaging touches everything: your unit economics, fulfillment throughput, conversion rates, and even how buyers judge your professionalism. Yet far too many brands treat it like a one-time design project. They come up with something pretty and then try to use it everywhere. (That doesn’t work.)

D2C, Amazon FBA, and club/retail channels are entirely different operating environments. Each has its own rules, constraints, and friction points. Trying to force a single packaging solution across all three? That’s like bringing a carry-on to ship freight. You’re going to slow everything down, and that friction kills scale.

Here’s how I think about packaging design across channels and what we’ve learned helping brands build packaging systems that support growth.

D2C: Build the Brand, Win the Second Sale

Direct-to-consumer is where packaging meets emotion.

You control the entire customer experience, so your packaging has to do more than protect the product—it has to tell your story. Every element is a touchpoint. A chance to build trust, inspire loyalty, or simply make someone smile.

Here’s what matters:

• Brand-first presentation. Use materials and visuals that align with your positioning. You’re building perception here.
• Unboxing moments. Small details go a long way—tissue paper, inserts, even a sample. These aren’t gimmicks. They’re growth levers.
• Durability without excess. You don’t want breakage, but you also don’t want to ship air or overpay dimensional weight.
• Operational fit. Make it easy to pick, pack, and return if needed. Your warehouse team (and your bottom line) will thank you.

We’ve seen customers triple their LTV just by dialing in D2C packaging. It’s not magic. It’s strategic follow-through.

Read: 7 Ways to Gather Customer Feedback

Amazon FBA: Packaging Built for Compliance, Cost, and Speed

Amazon is a different animal. It’s not emotional—it’s procedural. Packaging here isn’t about branding. It’s about compliance, cost control, and throughput.

Most brands either overdo it (adding complexity and cost) or overlook it (triggering hold-ups and fines). Both are painful.

Amazon-ready packaging needs to:

• Meet every FBA rule. Box type, labeling, polybags, expiration dates—miss one and your inventory sits.
• Protect against chaos. Units get picked, tossed, scanned, repacked. They need to survive all of it.
• Minimize dimensional fees. Small changes in box size can save thousands per month.
• Speed up ops. Clean barcodes, no surprises—make it easy for the robots and the humans.
• Bundle smartly. If you kit SKUs, it needs to be scannable, shippable, and repeatable at scale.

Think of Amazon packaging as system integration. Your job is to help your product move cleanly through a massive supply chain engine. Flashy doesn’t matter. Friction does.

Read: Amazon FBA vs FBM: Which Fulfillment Option Is Right for You?

Retail & Club Stores: Design for Distance, Durability, and Dollars

Retail packaging, especially for club stores, is a whole different sport. You’re not designing for Instagram. You’re designing to win a shopper’s attention from 12 feet away while surviving a forklift.

At Costco, Sam’s Club, or BJ’s, your packaging is your shelf. There’s no display, no signage, no team resetting things every hour. Your box is your brand presence.

To win here, your packaging has to:

• Pop from across the aisle. Big claims, bold branding, and ultra-clear value props.
  
• Stack and survive. These pallets get moved—often. Your trays and outer cartons need to hold up.
  
• Load efficiently. Pallet dimensions, ECT ratings, and replenishment protocols matter more than design awards.
  
• Be self-service. Floor staff won’t fuss with your box. It needs to open cleanly and reset easily.
  

Retail buyers are ruthless. If your packaging slows down store ops, fails on the floor, or triggers complaints, you’re out. Fast.

Read: How to Optimize Fulfillment Efforts Across Retail and Online

B2B & Wholesale: Think Clean, Strong, and Standardized

Selling to retail chains or foodservice distributors? Packaging here needs to disappear into the system. Quietly, efficiently, and without drama.

B2B partners care about damage rates, clean stacking, easy replenishment, and minimal handling. They’re not buying your brand story—they’re buying simplicity.

That means:

• Pallet stability. No overhang, no weak cartons, no toppling stacks.
  
• Smart labeling. They need to know what’s inside without opening anything.
  
• Standard case counts. Predictable SKUs are easier to reorder.
  
• Barcodes that scan. Re-labeling is a deal-breaker.
  
• Durability. From dock to store, this packaging needs to hold up across environments.
  

If you want reorders, give them one less thing to think about.

Read: Popular Manufacturing Hubs in China

The Common Thread: Packaging is Logistics, Not Just Design

No matter what channel you’re selling through, packaging isn’t a branding exercise. It’s a logistics function.

It affects:

• Your landed cost
• Your shipping speed
• Your retail placement
• Your customer reviews
• Your team’s labor time
• Your ability to scale

The sooner you shift your mindset from “What looks good?” to “What flows cleanly?” the faster everything else starts to work better.

Where MyFBAPrep Comes In

At MyFBAPrep, we’ve helped hundreds of brands engineer packaging that works across channels, not just looks good on a shelf.

We build systems for:

• Amazon FBA compliance (kitting, labeling, carton design)
• DTC and B2B co-packing (gift sets, seasonal bundles, cold chain)
• Retail-ready trays and floor displays
• Freight-optimized pallet builds
• Global coordination across 100+ warehouses

Our job is to help your product move through the world cleanly, efficiently, and profitably, whether shipping solo or riding a pallet into a big-box store.

What’s Next?

If you’re prepping for retail, optimizing Amazon fees, or just want to tighten up your unboxing flow, look at your packaging.

It might be your biggest opportunity to reduce cost, increase sell-through, and unlock the next level of scale.

Let’s make it work harder. We’ll do the heavy lifting and boxing, and you bring the brand and design. Contact MyFBAPrep today to get started.