Brand Mix

Are the days finally numbered for plastic clamshell packaging? Packaging that, according to a The New York Times article, results in about 6,000 Americans having to go to emergency rooms each year with lacerations and stab wounds after desperate attempts to cut open their purchases.

Consumer frustration with this type of packaging is so well known that the industry even has a name for it: "Wrap rage" yet, for years, we the vast majority of upstanding citizens who don't go to consumer electronic stores with criminal intent have been made to suffer for the very few who do.

Amazon is taking a leading role with its frustration-free packaging initiative targeted at reducing both frustration and waste. This is a really smart move from Amazon because it's in a far better position to do this than its bricks and mortar competitors like Best Buy or Toys R Us. Unlike them, Amazon does not have to worry about shoplifting or what the products look like on the shelf.

But, even in the offline world, consumer friendly packaging is starting to appear like snowdrops in spring. Microsoft's new Explorer mouse has a plastic zipper on the side for easier opening and Sony has launched a project called: "Death to the Clamshell" with some prototypes in development. And now brick and mortar retailers who've ignored consumers for way too long on this issue are going to have to do something if they don't want to give Amazon an important competitive advantage.