Your shopping bag says more about your company than you realize. It can be a huge missed opportunity if no one has taken the time to create a bag that aligns with your company’s strategic goals.

Here’s some mistakes you can make, and why they’re important:

1. Minimizing The Importance of Your Bag

This is the biggest mistake because if you never find your bag important, it remains a problem forever.

Durable bags can be an opportunity to get your customers to reuse the bags for gifts so they or others remember your company name.

You could also put a logo on that indicates the value of your company, and then put your URL on too, which can drive more sales.

These aren’t dramatic changes. They may not double your sales volume, but they are still a missed opportunity.

2. No Recyclable or Reusable Option

Yes. Stores still do it. They don’t have recyclable or reusable bags at least as an option.

This may not be an absolute deal-breaker for your customers.

But it hurts.

3. No Strategy Behind Your Bag’s Design

Getting a design that looks “good” is a start. Maybe that’s all the time you have in the early days of your business if you’re a startup.

However, if your business has any level of maturity, you need to have a strategy behind your bag.

Who do you want to attract?

How can you create a bag that wins their attention?

4. Wasted Material

This one drives up your costs. And it hurts you doubly if your market values recycling and sustainability.

How can you create a bag that minimizes the material necessary while still making a powerful impression on your customers?

5. Making Mistakes with Materials

Did you know it takes around 7,100 reuses of cotton bags before they make up for a single plastic bag you use and throw away?

With organic cotton, this number explodes to around 21,000!

Wow!

More realistically, non-woven polypropelene, a common alternative to plastic bags, must be reused 52 times to make up for a single plastic bag.

Recycled plastic, on the other hand, requires just 2 uses.

You can learn all about it from this study done in Denmark.

Shopping bag mistakes happen. They hurt your company. They reduce your sales.

It’s certainly worth your time to optimize your shopping bags to increase your sales. And now you know why.