Custom Product Display Boxes
Custom product display boxes for the counter and the shelf — open-front trays, stepped displays, header cards — sized to your product and count, from 100. Dieline and price the same working day.
A display box is a shelf that comes with the product
- Board
- E flute white-lined; B flute for heavy displays
- Builds
- Open-front tray, stepped, header, dump bin, slotted
- Sizing
- 12–36 units on a counter; shelf depth 300–400 mm
Get a price for Product Display Boxes
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
Display formats
| Open-front tray | A shallow box with the front cut low; product stands in rows; the counter standard |
|---|---|
| Stepped display | Two or three tiers so the back rows are seen; for small items |
| Header display | A tray with a tall printed back panel; the brand above the product |
| Dump bin | A deep box the product is heaped in; impulse lines at the till |
| Slotted display | Die-cut slots hold each unit upright — cards, sachets, lip balms |
Sizing to the count and the counter
A counter display holds 12 to 36 units and takes up about a third of a square foot; a shelf display is sized to the shelf depth, usually 300–400 mm. The layout is drawn from the product: rows facing forward, a slot or a divider per unit where they would otherwise lean, and a lip at the front that stops the first row sliding out. Our display mailers that ship and then display put the same unit inside a shipper.
Board and the weight of a full display
- E flute with a white liner for most counter units — prints well, stands square.
- B flute for a display holding jars, bottles or anything over about 3 kg total.
- A crash-lock base so the tray holds its shape with the product in it.
- Reinforced corners on a header panel, so it stands straight for the life of the display.
Print, price points and the header
The header does the branding; the front lip does the price. Full color, matte laminated so it stays clean on a counter, with the product name and one line about it. A display lives for weeks or months, so the print is a longer-lived piece than the product packs inside it.
Leave a space for the retailer's own price sticker. Every shop uses one, and a display with nowhere for it gets one stuck over the artwork.
Shipping displays flat
Displays ship flat and fold at the retailer or at your packing bench. A pre-filled display — folded, loaded and shipped in an outer — is a display mailer, and we quote it that way when the retailer should not have to assemble anything.
Product Display Boxes — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Board
- E flute white-lined; B flute for heavy displays
- Builds
- Open-front tray, stepped, header, dump bin, slotted
- Sizing
- 12–36 units on a counter; shelf depth 300–400 mm
- Full color, matte laminate; header and front lip
- Structure
- Crash-lock base; reinforced header; front lip
- Supply
- Flat; folds at the retailer or the bench
- Minimum
- 100 displays
On every job
- Print process
- Flexo in one to four colors straight onto the liner; litho-lamination where the box needs full color or a photograph.
- Color
- Flat colors on kraft. Full color needs a white top liner or a laminated sheet, because brown shifts every color warm.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1.5 mm. The flute compresses, so corrugated runs wider than folding board.
- Tooling
- No die on a regular slotted box, which is cut on a slotter. Die-cut mailers and trays need one, made once and kept.
- Food contact
- Food-grade liners and a vented build where the box carries hot food.
- Sustainability
- High recycled content through liners and flute as standard, and the box recycles whole if it is sealed with paper tape.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build product display boxes on
Corrugated is a fluted sheet glued between two liners, and the flute decides nearly everything: how it prints, how it dents, how high it stacks. These are the grades we run.
E flute
About 1.5 mm. Prints well and folds crisply; dents under a stack. Retail boxes, mailers and light shippers.
1.5 mm, single wallB flute
About 3 mm. The working default for parcels — takes print reasonably and stacks reasonably. Most shipping boxes are B.
3 mm, single wallC flute
About 4 mm. More cushioning than B, slightly less stacking strength per weight. Common on grocery and produce cases.
4 mm, single wallBC double wall
B and C glued together, about 7 mm. Heavy or fragile goods, pallet stacking, anything over roughly 15 kg.
7 mm, double wallKraft liner
Brown, strong, absorbent. One or two flat colors flexo print well on it; photographs drink into the brown and go muddy.
Outer and inner linerWhite top liner
A bleached outer liner for full-color print on corrugated. Costs more and marks more easily than kraft.
Outer liner onlyRecycled-content corrugated
High post-consumer fiber through liners and flute. The default for shippers; a slightly greyer brown and no loss of strength at grade.
All flutesCoated and water-resistant
A coating or a wax-free barrier liner for damp stores and cold chains. Check the recycling stream before printing a claim on it.
B and C fluteNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Corrugated takes fewer finishes than folding board, and the ones it takes it takes well.
Flexo on kraft
One or two flat colors straight onto brown. Cheap, fast, honest.
Litho-lamination
An offset sheet glued to the flute: full color and photographs on a shipper.
Aqueous varnish
Scuff resistance with no film, so the box still recycles whole.
White top print
Full color flexo on a bleached liner; brighter, and it marks more easily.
Inside print
A second pass on the inner liner — the panel a customer sees first.
Printed tape seal
The brand applied at the last moment, on paper tape that recycles with the box.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing a corrugated box against the carrier, not the catalog: product display boxes
Corrugated is cut to your internal size, so the box goes round the product rather than the product going into a stock size. That is where the money is: a box 20 mm smaller each way is often a whole postage band cheaper.
- Internal dimensions
- Length, width and depth of the space you need. Board thickness is added outside that, and the flute is thicker than people expect.
- Clearance and void fill
- 5–10 mm a side for a rigid product. Size it properly and you need no void fill at all, which is cheaper and better received.
- Stacking
- Tell us how high the boxes stack on a pallet or a shelf. Edge crush grade is specified from that, not guessed.
- Weight
- The contents weight sets the flute and the liner grade. Over about 15 kg we move to double wall.
- Score allowance
- Corrugated needs more room at the folds than boxboard. The dieline accounts for it; a box drawn from flat dimensions comes out tight.
- Cutting tolerance
- Plus or minus 1.5 mm on corrugated, wider than folding board because the flute compresses.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Product Display Boxes in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about product display boxes? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
What is the most common display format?
An open-front tray on a counter holding 12 to 36 units in rows, with a printed header behind them.
How do you stop the product falling out?
A lip at the front holds the first row; slots or dividers hold each unit upright where they would lean.
Can the display be stepped?
Yes, two or three tiers so the back rows are visible. It suits small items.
What board do you use?
E flute with a white liner for most; B flute for displays holding jars or bottles.
Does it ship flat?
Yes, and folds at the retailer or your bench. A pre-filled version is a display mailer.
What is the minimum order?
100 displays.
Can it stand on a shelf as well as a counter?
Yes, sized to the shelf depth, usually 300–400 mm.
Where does the price go?
On the front lip, with a space left for the retailer's own sticker.
How long does a display last?
Weeks or months on a counter. A matte laminate keeps it clean for that time.
Can I have a dump bin?
Yes, a deep box for impulse lines heaped rather than rowed.
Do you keep the die?
Yes, so reorders and new print on the same display skip the tooling.
Do you ship outside the US?
Yes, to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, quoted in the delivery currency.
Same range
