Good Vibrations: How Packaging is Your Best Salesperson
December 4th, 2023 | 5 min. read
If you’re a retail buyer, the best products you can stock are those whose packaging is designed to sell itself. If you’re an outdoor power equipment (OPE) parts buyer, that can be tough; OPE parts don’t always come with the most compelling packaging.
Good Vibrations — a line of outdoor power equipment upgrade parts for lawn mowers and trimmers by HY-C — is a different story.
We’ve designed these products to have persuasive packaging that customers can interact with to see how they work. When customers take the products off the shelves and test them for themselves, they’re more inclined to understand how they work and envision a use for them, leading to a sale.
In this guide, we’re going to take you through the packaging of each Good Vibrations product. We’ll show you how customers can interact with (or at the very least, see) key features of each piece of equipment and how those interactions can help to increase the likelihood of a sale.
Easy Rider Tight-Turn Steering Knob
The Easy Rider is a robust, one-size-fits-all steering wheel knob. It’s designed to help you steer your tractor (or boat or UTV) with one hand simply by grabbing the knob and spinning the wheel.
The Easy Rider’s packaging lets customers actually turn the knob and test the product out for themselves. They can feel the smooth, easy tolerance of the knob and the rubber grip that ensures their hand won’t slip while they use it.
Grass Hawk Dual-Bladed Mower Scraper
Cleaning the deck of a lawn mower (whether it’s a simple push mower or a zero turn mower) is tough work, especially with the wrong tools. The Grass Hawk is a specialized tool designed to make the job of scraping off grass much simpler.
It features both a flat and a curved scraper head for extra versatility. You can swap between each blade by rotating the head and locking it into place with the notch on the front of the tool. The packaging allows customers to test out this rotating motion for themselves to discover just how easy it is to switch blades.
Rough Rider Off-Road Drinking Mug
The Rough Rider is a rugged, 24 oz. drinking mug with a locking lid that only opens when you push down on its button. It also features a rubber base that contours to most cup holders.
In its packaging, the Rough Rider allows customers to feel the spring-loaded opening mechanism and to see just how tightly it seals in drinks. They can also test out the rubber base to feel how grippy and pliable it is.
The Kingpin Quick-Connect Hitch Pin
The Kingpin comes with a butterfly-style locking mechanism at its tip that opens and closes when squeezing a trigger embedded in the handle. This allows you to attach and detach to a hitch simply, using just one hand.
Not only can customers test the spring-loaded, butterfly-style locking mechanism, but the packaging itself features a hitch graphic. It’s designed to show what the Kingpin looks like in action, painting an easy visual that consumers can understand.
Auto-Lock Magnetic Hitch Pin
Auto-Lock Magnetic Hitch Pin Product Page
The Auto-Lock Magnetic Hitch Pin is the second hitch pin in the Good Vibrations lineup. It locks into place with magnetic force, doing away with the butterfly-style connection of the Kingpin.
If a customer happens to have something metal (like a keychain) on them, they can touch it to the neodymium magnet to feel its 25 pounds of locking force at work. The most compelling part of the packaging, though, is the ability to feel the ergonomic grip of the hitch pin by simply grabbing and holding the handle.
Wheelies Tractor Wheel Covers
Our Wheelies Tractor Wheel Covers are designed to snap into place over existing tractor rims. They help prevent rust and discoloration while also adding some customizability to a tractor’s wheels.
They’re available in black and chrome, and they come in five different accent colors: orange, burnt orange, yellow, red, and black. The packaging exposes the wheel covers, allowing customers to see the vivid colors for themselves instead of just displaying the colors on a box graphic.
Start Me Up Full Grip Starter Handle
The Start Me Up handle is an upgrade part meant to replace the T-style handle that comes on most lawn mowers, chainsaws, snow blowers, and other pull cord-powered motors.
The packaging lets customers feel the handle for themselves; it features a curved, rubber grip for maximum comfort and ease of use. As the box graphics show, it also comes with a replacement rope. Customers who hold the Start Me Up for themselves will understand immediately that it’s a substantial upgrade from their stock starter handle.
Get-A-Grip Full Grip Deluxe Handle and Rope
The Get-A-Grip starter handle doesn’t necessarily allow shoppers to touch and feel it in its packaging, but it’s still clear from its transparent plastic what the upgrade part has to offer.
Instead of using two fingers to grip an awkward T-handle while starting their mower, customers will be drawn to the full-grip handle that the Get-A-Grip offers. It also comes with a replacement rope which is clearly visible in the packaging.
Zero Gravity Trimmer Shoulder Strap
The Zero Gravity Trimmer Shoulder Strap is a universal strap that attaches to trimmers, leaf blowers, and other outdoor power tools. It’s designed to alleviate the back pain that comes with weed eating and leaf blowing.
In this case, the graphics and the words on the box sell the product. With eye-catching font colors used for “WEIGHT ABSORBING”, and with “Trimmers Feels 75% Lighter!” highlighted in yellow, customers will get the gist of this product right away.
Hitchin’ Post+ 3-Way Hitch Plate
The Hitchin’ Post+ is a three-way hitch plate for tractors and ATVs. It allows users to tow using three different methods: a tow ball, a hitch pin, or chains.
What’s not apparent in the picture is the weight of the product. In a customer’s hands, it feels substantial and well-made. It’s also apparent from the packaging that the Hitchin’ Post+ comes with a ball — a much-needed towing component that doesn’t need to be bought separately.
Z-Hitch Zero-Turn 3-Way Hitch Plate
Some zero turn lawn mowers come with a hitch plate attached, but many don’t. The Z Hitch attaches to any hitchless zero turn mower with ease, allowing users to tow whatever they need.
Like the Hitchin’ Post+, the Z Hitch feels substantial in a customer’s hands. It’s heavy-duty, capable of towing tough loads without missing a beat. There’s also a graphic on the front which shows the hitch in action, painting a comprehensible picture in a customer’s mind.
Seat Magic Tractor Seat Repair
Tractor owners know that tractor seats wear out over time. It’s just inevitable. These seats develop rips and holes regularly, and replacing the entire seat is expensive.
Seat Magic offers a much cheaper alternative. It’s a sealant that you apply to a rip or hole in a tractor seat. When it dries, the seat is as good as new. The before-and-after picture on the packaging is simple but effective, demonstrating how the product works and how easy it is to use.
Should You Stock Good Vibrations in Your Store?
Good Vibration’s packaging is no accident. Everything about it — from the colors and materials to the words and the graphics — is designed to tell a story about how each product can make an aspect of lawn care easier, safer, or more efficient for a customer.
Put simply, Good Vibrations product packaging is like having an extra salesperson out on your floor. The interactivity, the imagery, the pithiness — it’s all designed to tap into a customer’s needs and make them realize they need a solution they may not have even been looking for.
So, should you stock Good Vibrations in your retail store?
Well, if your store has an outdoor power equipment parts section and you want to drive truly incremental sales, we believe Good Vibrations is an excellent opportunity.
We’ve seen it work in big box retail stores who sell hundreds of units per month. Just let the packaging tell the story for you. Let it sell itself — that’s how it’s designed to work.
If you’re interested in giving it a try, get in touch with our sales team. They’ll be more than happy to work with you to get Good Vibrations on your store’s shelves.
Louis earned a bachelor's degree in English with a focus in rhetoric and composition from St. Louis University in 2017. He has worked in marketing as a content writer for over 5 years. Currently, he oversees the HY-C Learning Center, helping HY-C subject matter experts to share their decades of home solution products experience with homeowners and sales partners across the country.
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