Sustainability is good eCommerce business

The days when companies paid lip-service to sustainability are long gone. It is a must in today’s business environment and has plenty of eCommerce benefits as well.

Focusing on sustainability builds brand value, meets consumer demands, attracts talent and creates new opportunities, but only if you communicate your efforts credibly, and avoid being perceived as greenwashing.

In a recent survey of 6,000 consumers in North America, Europe, and Asia; 80% of participants felt it was “important or extremely important” for companies to design environmentally conscious products, while 72% said they buy more environmentally friendly products.

Packaging and last-mile delivery are primary sources of eCommerce emissions with 53% of US and UK consumers wanting online brands to produce less packaging and an average of 25% willing to pay a surcharge for eco-friendly delivery.

Many eCommerce companies are already rethinking their practices, to find sustainable solutions, most frequently by adopting eco-friendly packaging.

Giving products an ecological makeover may be possible, for example with furniture and home accessories made of wooden pallets, paper, cardboard, or cork.

Besides using sustainable and recyclable materials for the packaging and opting for more climate-friendly shipping options, eCommerce businesses can also optimise their waste management, by completely eliminating packaging waste.

Even though it is important to offer express delivery for some product categories, it is rarely ecological and offering more sustainable solutions shows your customers that you are paying attention to this issue and will ultimately strengthen your brand.

Avoiding repeated delivery attempts is better for the environment and simply best practice; which is why safe place and nominated neighbour choices are made available.

Simple returns actions, like encouraging customers to bundle returned orders provide efficiencies, but avoiding them altogether, with the most descriptive product and sizing information is better. And using descriptive and understandable terminology also has useful side-effects on your SEO, because the Google’s algorithms have more information to work with, meaning that the results lists of users’ queries become more varied and feature your products highly.

Noatum eSolutions help retailers switch to sustainable packaging for their products, by sourcing sustainable and ecological packaging materials, while our eFulfillment centres use renewable materials, which reduce packaging waste to a minimum.

Through our N-CAP initiative, Noatum eSolutions is reducing, measuring and offsetting eCommerce emissions.

CO2 emissions caused by transport are calculated according to ISO14067 and the Carbon Footprint Standard. The N-CAP modelling tools calculate the carbon footprint to and from any global point, by any mode, or modes, of transport, for any product, with options to reduce costs and carbon emissions, including modal shifts, reducing distances and better utilisation of transport transportation assets.

We offer our clients a range of carbon offsetting projects, to combat global climate change and help them work towards carbon neutrality in their global supply chain.