Custom kraft product boxes for retail
Retail is an unforgiving surface. Your box is nine inches from three competitors, lit from above, and gets about two seconds. Everything about a product box spec follows from that.
- Indicative price
- $0.60/unit
- Construction
- Paperboard or E-flute, shelf-ready
- Minimum order
- 50 units
Indicative only. Final price depends on dieline, board grade, print count and volume. See volume tiers
A kraft product box is the retail-facing primary pack: the box a customer picks up off a shelf. It is specified around shelf presence, barcode placement and regulatory panel space rather than around shipping protection.
Panel planning before artwork
Every retail box has to carry a barcode, a country of origin, contents and usually a regulatory panel. Designers routinely lay out the front panel first and then discover the back cannot hold the required copy at a legible size.
We map panel areas against your required copy at the dieline stage, before design starts. It takes an hour and it prevents the single most common cause of a reprint.
Kraft on a retail shelf
Natural kraft stands out in categories dominated by white and gloss, which is most of them. It reads as considered rather than loud. The trade-off is that kraft absorbs light, so a box that looked right on screen can read dark under retail lighting.
We recommend a printed sample for any product going to physical retail. Twenty-five dollars against the cost of a rejected run is not a real decision.
Specification
What we can build, and the numbers you will be asked for by anyone comparing quotes.
- Construction
- Tuck-end paperboard, or E-flute for heavier goods
- Board
- 18pt to 24pt kraft paperboard, or 1.6mm E-flute
- Shelf-ready
- Perforated display tray and shelf-ready outer available
- Size range
- 2" x 2" x 1" up to 16" x 12" x 8"
- Minimum order
- 50 units
- Barcode
- UPC and EAN placement checked against scan tolerance
- Production
- 14 business days after artwork approval
- Sample
- Printed pre-production sample recommended for retail
What brands use these for
Grocery and specialty retail
Shelf-ready cartons with a perforated display tray so a case opens into a facing.
Electronics and accessories
E-flute product boxes with a moulded pulp or corrugated insert holding the item and cable.
Home and candle retail
Window boxes and sleeves that show a finished product while keeping panels for brand copy.
Multipacks
Cartons holding a fixed count of retail units, printed as a single sellable unit.
Print and finishing
Available on this format. Each addition changes unit price, and we quote them line by line rather than as a bundle.
- Offset print up to 6 colours
- Spot UV and soft-touch lamination
- Foil stamping and emboss
- Die-cut windows
- Perforated shelf-ready tray
- Hang tab and euro slot
- Tamper-evident seal
Category-specific guidance
Product boxes questions
What is the difference between a product box and a folding carton?
A folding carton is a construction type. A product box is a job: the retail-facing primary pack. Most product boxes are folding cartons, but a heavier product may need an E-flute box instead, and a premium one may need a rigid box.
Will my barcode scan on kraft?
Yes, if it is placed on a light enough panel with adequate quiet zone. Low contrast between a dark bar and a brown substrate is the usual failure. We print barcodes on a white knockout panel by default unless you ask otherwise.
Do I need a pre-production sample?
For anything going to physical retail, yes. Kraft under retail lighting reads darker than it does on a screen, and a printed sample is 25 dollars against a full run.
Get pricing on product boxes
Send your dimensions and volume. Pricing and a free structural dieline back within one business day.