I will let you in on something a little embarrassing. When I know a Mecca order is on its way, I catch myself staring out the window for the delivery driver to arrive with my package.
I know what I bought, so it’s not that they are a surprise, but opening that box makes me feel like I’m six years old on Christmas morning. That feeling is no accident, and it is a big part of why I keep coming back.
I am lucky enough to see the other side of the coin, too. I work at Boxes To Go, and Mecca's online orders arrive in a box we make, so I get to be both the slightly obsessed customer and the person who thinks about the packaging.
This is a look at how the experience around a product turns a purchase into a habit, told from both of those angles: the sample packs, the box itself and the quiet sense of being looked after every time a parcel arrives.
The box is the first thing, and the last thing
For most online brands, packaging is the first physical thing a customer touches. Before they have even used or seen the product, and before they know if it works, they have held the box. That first impression is doing a lot of quiet work.
It cuts both ways. If you have invested in a product and it turns up in packaging that feels lacklustre, some of the shine comes off before you have even opened it. If it turns up and the packaging itself feels considered and exciting, the anticipation builds, and that anticipation attaches itself to the brand.
That is the feeling you are chasing: you want the person receiving your parcel to feel a little thrill of excitement the moment they see it on their doorstep.
And remember, a well-made box gets kept. It becomes storage, gets reused or simply sits on a shelf for a while. Every day it survives is another day the brand is present in someone's home.
The sampling effect
Then there are sample packs. A lot of Mecca's loyalty is built on the small ritual of giving something extra. Their rewards programme, Beauty Loop, sends members a box of samples of popular products a few times a year tucked in with their order. My friend Nicole is a Beauty Loop member, and I asked her why she keeps going back. It all comes from that ritual.
"Every Beauty Loop box that turns up feels like a little treat someone picked out just for me. That is what keeps me loyal."
– Nicole, Mecca Beauty Loop member
The psychology behind this is simple and powerful. A small, unexpected gift creates a sense of reciprocity; a quiet feeling of having been given something rather than just sold to. It also gives customers a chance to try something new, which is how they discover the next product they end up loving.
Look, the sample is not really about the sample, it is about how the brand makes you feel: looked after, a bit spoiled and worth the extra effort.
You do not need to have the same budget as Mecca to benefit from this idea. Whether it’s a handwritten note, a small sample or a considered unboxing layout, these additional touches will create the same sense of care.
The mechanism is emotional, not expensive.
The maker's view: what a brand like this asks for
Seeing it from the packaging side gives me a different view of the same story. What a brand at that level cares about is instructive.
Two things stand out. The first is sustainability, which is a genuine focus for Mecca rather than a slogan or empty promise. They work to minimise packaging material, and their online checkout lets a customer choose reduced packaging instead of the full gift treatment. The box must deliver the experience without unnecessary excess.
The second is the balance between experience and efficiency. A short time ago we worked with Mecca to change their online-order carton from a standard box to a crash lock bottom design. A crash lock bottom is a base that folds and locks into shape on its own, so the box is self-erecting. That small structural change does a surprising amount of work:
- It supports automation, because a self-erecting box only needs taping on the top rather than two sides, so it can run through a carton erector at speed.
- That saves labour and increases how many parcels can be sent out in a day, which is extremely important for fast-growing brands shipping at volume.
- It uses less tape and requires less handling, helping reach the minimal-packaging goal.
And there is the part the customer actually sees. The crash lock bottom is printed on the inside and left plain brown on the outside. It looks unremarkable until it’s opened, which is deliberate. Once you open the package and see the interior colour and design, the unboxing lands that much better.
Mecca often runs a special interior design for Christmas, so the box itself becomes seasonal, too, which has limitless possibilities. That is the trick of good packaging at this level: it is quietly working hard on cost and efficiency, while the customer only ever experiences delight and surprise.
Not every brand needs the same box
Now, none of this means that every business needs to provide a premium unboxing moment. The right packaging depends entirely on what the brand is and who it serves.
A tradesperson ordering plumbing supplies doesn’t care about the packaging they receive. Their only concern is that the contents arrive intact and on time, and packaging that over-invests in presentation is spending in the wrong place.
For a beauty or retail brand, especially a newer one, the opposite is true. Packaging is a core part of how the brand is perceived because, for a first-time customer, the box is the brand until the product proves itself.
The lesson is not "make every box a Mecca box." It is to be honest with yourself about the kind of brand you are. Spending on packaging where it actually shapes how customers feel is key.
What smaller brands can take from this
You do not need a beauty giant's resources to build loyalty through packaging. A few principles carry down to any size:
- Treat the box as the first impression, because it is. It is the customer's first physical contact with your brand. Design it to set the tone you want.
- Build in one moment of care. A sample, a note or considered box layout are the kind of small gestures that create the reciprocity that keeps people coming back.
- Match the packaging to the brand. Considered presentation for brands where it matters, robust and honest protection for those where it doesn’t. Both are the right answer for the right customer.
- Remember that retention is where the value compounds. Winning a customer is hard and expensive. A box that makes someone feel looked after does a lot of that work for very little, and it does it every time a parcel arrives.
Loyalty gets built in small, repeatable moments, and the arrival of a parcel is one of the most reliable a brand has. Mecca has understood that for a long time. The encouraging part is that the principle behind making the customer feel cared for at the moment the box arrives is available to any brand willing to think a little harder about what turns up on their doorstep.
Want your customers to feel that little thrill when your box arrives?
That is our favourite kind of brief. Whether you are chasing a first-touch moment that builds loyalty or just want your unboxing to feel considered and special, we’ll help you design packaging that does the job.
For custom, short run or full production made right here in Melbourne, use Boxes To Go.