There is a distinctive shift happening in consumer trends; consumers are willing to pay extra for environmentally-friendly products and support brands that have green ecommerce shipping initiatives. This shift means that if you want to be part of what’s trending, your brand needs eco-focused solutions.
If you’re ready to start reducing your carbon footprint and become an environmentally-friendly ecommerce brand, try one or all of these seven ideas:
1) Implement Carbon-Friendly Shipping Solutions
For parcel shippers, an easy way to ‘go green’ is to partner with a carrier that ships parcels directly. Shipping carriers that need multiple connecting flights in order to route packages aren’t eco-friendly. Sure, you could purchase carbon offsets to help reduce carbon emissions but what you really need is a sustainable long-term strategy.
2) Make Use of a Point-to-Point Shipping Model
A point-to-point logistics model is the way to go if you want to make shipping more sustainable. Most national shipping carriers use the same distribution centers they’ve used for decades.
These centers sort and reroute parcels in between the first and second flights. This may have made sense in the past but more efficient (and sustainable) methods of shipping are becoming more mainstream..
3) Incorporate Sustainable Packaging Practices
Manyretailers use standard box sizes to ship all types of items. This practice can be incredibly wasteful as the extra space is then filled with packing material. Consider making use of different-sized boxes to avoid unnecessary packaging material. Not only will this save on volume space when shipping, but your customers will notice the effort to make your packaging more environmentally-friendly.
You can also try using poly mailers. They’re lightweight yet durable and are designed to ship all sorts of products safely. They don’t add much extra weight to parcels and some even have bubble wrap interiors for extra protection so no packing materials are needed.
4) Minimize Customer Returns
Returns cost ecommerce retailers billions of dollars each year and also place a heavy burden on the planet. Returns result in approximately
Many consumers order more items than they need knowing they can return what they don’t want. This practice can be prevented by not offering free returns. To give customers even greater visibility into what they’re potentially buying, you can write more detailed product descriptions and add multiple high-quality images or videos to set realistic expectations of their purchase.
5) Offer or Purchase Carbon Offsets for Shipping
No matter what ecommerce brands do to be sustainable, it’s unlikely any retailer can eliminate their carbon footprint completely. But you can take measures to compensate by financially supporting high-impact climate projects that work to reduce carbon emissions all around the world.
Some examples include non-profits that are protecting the rainforest or companies on a mission to scale renewable energy worldwide. If you decide to make carbon offsets part of your strategy to reduce your carbon footprint, make sure that you only support reputable projects that are certified.
6) Eliminate Single-Use Plastics
Ecommerce brands can also be more environmentally-friendly by eliminating single-use plastics and any non-disposable materials. You can also use recycled paper and packaging material for shipping.
7) Reduce Energy Waste
Shipping and packaging are not the only aspects you can focus on.Examine the operations of your business such as electricity usage in offices and warehouses to find more sustainable solutions. You can try switching to a renewable energy provider, using low-energy light bulbs, reducing the temperature in offices, and switching off electronics when not in use. These small changes can make a big impact on your carbon emissions.
Go Green with Maergo
The interest in eco-friendly shipping by consumers is only going to continue to grow. Maergo is at the forefront of green logistics, providing a platform that uniquely integrates spare capacity of in-motion carriers. Visit www.maergo.com to learn about what we do and how we do it.
