It’s not exactly a secret that the retail industry provides a lot of waste each year. Packaging, dead stock, trash– it all adds up.

You know what I’m talking about: you order something online, wait for it to arrive, and when it finally does you have to fill your trash can halfway with packing peanuts and carboard. All for those new AirPods you need.

Did you know that according to Packaging Europe, online shopping can generate up to 4.8 times more packaging than brick and mortar businesses? Now consider how many sales you make a year; how much wastage do you think you directly or indirectly cause?

In our article, we explore the impact of sustainability on your eCommerce business, why it’s as important as ever to manage your wastage, and what you can do to mitigate any unnecessary trash.

How Sustainability is Impacting Your Business.

If the Great Pacific Garbage Patch wasn’t enough, there are more than a few compelling reasons for going green. The thing is, we need to temporarily forget the umbrella effects of sustainability on the world around us and focus on just one aspect: your business.

Nowadays, with consumers being hot on the heels of every social and community issue, it’s become harder to hide bad practices. That’s a good thing, remember.

With that in mind, companies which market themselves as following sustainable practices can be caught out with relative ease and pace. If your sustainability principles are seen to be exaggerated, you’ll be exposed as greenwashing (pretending you’re more social conscious than you actually are).

Say you’re targeting a key demographic who are predominantly vegan, socially conscious, and active on social media, sending them their product wrapped in 100 layers of unrecyclable plastic probably isn’t the right way to go.

If this were to happen, chances are that your brand would be damaged overnight. People can cut through the fuss quicker than a hot knife through dairy-free sandwich spread.

So, what do you do if you want to make meaningful change without pandering?

Lean, Green eCommerce Machine

Now we know the challenge: meaningful sustainability, it’s time to think on how you can make those changes. These things take time. Just remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Evaluate Your Environmental Impact

The first step towards any sort of evolution is analysis. How can you know where to improve if you don’t know your current metrics?

You can do a deep dive into your impact on your own or perhaps even investigate Government-backed ways to assess your footprint. Either way, once you have those details, you can pinpoint where your focus should be on reducing waste.

Check Your Chain

Your evaluation will need a wide scope as you won’t just be assessing your sustainability, but that of your supply chain.

From packaging to shipping means, every link in the chain adds up to the overall environmental impact. If there is any leeway to switch from petrol-based delivery systems to electric vehicles, why not switch things up? You may find the use of electric vehicles tax-friendly as well as planet-friendly.

Shout About It

If you want to really lean into being sustainable it can start in your framework. Get your employees involved, they may have some great suggestions you may not have thought about.

Communicate your sustainability practices with your community. If your packaging is recyclable, explain it clearly. Take to social media and share how to recycle everything. Not only will this ensure your customers are in the know, it’s also a great way of interacting with them via social media or other marketing platforms.

Make sure you ARE following these practices, remember greenwashing!

A Greener Future for All

Sustainability in retail is essential, whether it’s brick and mortar or eCommerce. Your consumer base may be incredibly socially conscious, even if they aren’t, there are millions of potential customers who are.

While you shouldn’t adopt sustainable practices just for the good of your brand image, it can be highly effective in marketing your organization, as well as a good way of helping the planet.