Smart Packaging, Labels & Tags Markets & Technologies: Opportunities & Trends Across Food, Drinks, Personal Care, Healthcare, and Automotive Verticals with Forecasts to 2030 & 2035

Smart Packaging Enters a High-Growth Phase as AI, Digital Twins, and IoP Ecosystems Transform Consumer Engagement, Authentication, and Supply Chain Visibility Across Key Verticals

The aim of the report is to provide stakeholders & solution providers with an up-to-date road map that can support moving forward with the development of optimal strategies & actionable plans in relation to smart packaging.

The report aims to bring clarification to the ramifications, benefits, requirements & opportunities for smart packaging, and to provide a guide for:

• Smart packaging solution providers to develop fit-for-purpose technologies & collaborations
• Packaging & label converters to tailor their offerings to meet the needs of different vertical markets, product categories & customers
• Brand owners to deploy appropriate smart packaging technologies for optimal results & ROI

Highlighting:

• Actual & potential areas of applications & functionalities that have been identified
• An in-depth analysis of a number of relevant technologies & concepts that are driving rapid market evolution & development
• Important recent developments highlighted & incorporated into the report. For example, the rapidly emerging field of artificial intelligence (AI) empowered image processing technology - Both online eCommerce & offline traditional channels bricks & mortar channels
• Major potential benefits for stakeholders (e.g.: brand owners, retailers & other interested parties)
• Business & market opportunities for solution providers, brand owners, retailers, packaging/label converters as well as consumers
• How the World has changed post COVID-19
• To identify opportunities & threats arising from the fast-changing scene in smart packaging and to provide ‘quantitative’ estimates of such opportunities

The report contains quantitative analysis & market sizing estimates for Smart Packaging in 2025 with forecasts to 2030 & longer terms predictions to 2035 in a global context - All market figures have been fully updated.

Selected Vertical Markets

The report examines five high-potential verticals - Healthcare/Pharma, Drinks, Beauty & Personal Care, Automotive (aftermarket), and Food - each containing multiple product categories with significant opportunities for smart packaging. Implementations already span from niche premium goods to mass-market commodities.

Evolution Toward Smart Packaging

• Step 1 - Codified Packaging: Traditional barcodes enabling only SKU/batch-level identification.
• Step 2 - Connected Packaging: Unique item-level codes enabling consumer engagement and traceability via smartphones.
• Step 3 - Intelligent Packaging: Packs that communicate data, creating interactive, service-driven systems for all stakeholders.
• Step 4 - AI-Enabled Packaging: Integration of AI (e.g., image recognition) to expand automation, analytics, and product intelligence.

Smartphones as Enablers

Smartphones replace costly dedicated readers for consumer applications and provide continuously improving connectivity and user interfaces.

Unique IDs and Digital Twins

Smart packaging uses unique serialized IDs (optical or electronic) to connect physical products to digital platforms, enabling:

• Internet access via each pack
• Event/condition sensing (tampering, temperature, etc.)
• Centralized product data management

Each UID creates a digital twin, providing real-time product visibility, rule-based automation, and full lifecycle monitoring. Major applications include retail inventory accuracy, omnichannel availability, and supply chain transparency.

Internet of Packaging (IoP)

Packaging becomes part of a connected ecosystem where millions of packs carry unique digital identifiers. IoP data supports:

• Smart decision-making
• Automated processes
• Efficiency and cost savings

Functional Benefits & ROI

A single smart identifier can support multiple applications:

• Consumer engagement and marketing
• Track & trace, serialization, inventory management
• Authentication, anti-counterfeit, diversion control
• Product recall, tamper evidence, theft prevention
• Sustainability and circular economy programs
• Clinical trial accuracy and home-care medicine management (healthcare)

This multifunctionality improves ROI and allows stakeholders to design solutions optimized for cost and impact.

Smart Packaging & Sustainability

Smart packaging enables:

• End-to-end transparency
• Deposit return schemes
• Recycling and waste-sorting innovations
• Digital watermarking for automated sorting

These systems reduce waste and support circular economy goals.

Omnichannel Retail & eCommerce

The rise of eCommerce and mobile commerce requires new packaging formats and data systems. Retailers need real-time visibility across online and offline channels to prevent lost sales and optimize inventory. Bricks-and-mortar stores remain important for service, brand experience, and product authenticity.

Smart packaging helps bridge online/offline retail by enabling authentication, condition monitoring, and consumer engagement.

Digital Platforms

Brand owners and retailers increasingly use cloud-based platforms for:

• Transactions (ordering, payment)
• Product data integration
• Consumer interaction

Smart packaging links physical products to these platforms, strengthening engagement and enabling new services.

Challenges in eCommerce

Growth in third-party marketplaces increases risks around:

• Counterfeiting
• Product provenance
• Shelf-life issues
• Environmental concerns

Packaging must support secure authentication and reliable product representation.

AI-Powered Image Recognition

AI delivers rapid advances in:

• Counterfeit detection
• Real-time product verification
• Pattern recognition and anomaly detection

Models continuously improve through machine learning and can integrate with smart packaging systems for powerful combined solutions.

Smart Packaging Technologies

Wireless:

• RAIN UHF (long-range)
• NFC (consumer engagement)
• Dual NFC/UHF (combined benefits)
• BLE and others

Optical:

• QR, 2D, Datamatrix codes
• Digital watermarks

Miniaturization expands applicability across product categories.

Cost Considerations

• Specialty products: favor RFID/NFC due to higher functionality and acceptable cost.
• Commodity products: favor optical codes for near-zero incremental cost.
• Falling device costs and printed electronics will open new markets and drive broader adoption.

Printed Electronics

Printed electronics offer ultra-low-cost, flexible, thin, sustainable devices compatible with roll-to-roll production. Key benefits include:

• Lower carbon footprint
• Rapid design-to-production cycles
• Potential for NFC, sensing, and supply chain applications
• Suitability for high-volume FMCG products

Challenges remain around durability and performance, but adoption is accelerating across sectors.

Areas of Opportunity

Smart packaging is entering a strong growth phase, with opportunities across:

• Wireless and optical technologies
• Consumer engagement
• Authentication
• Track & trace
• Sustainability and circularity
• eCommerce and omnichannel integration

Partnerships and ecosystem collaboration will be central to success.