Sustainability in ecommerce: balancing impact and income
Ever clicked "order" with glee, only to be greeted by a mountain of cardboard or plastic bubble wrap a few days later?
Yes, unfortunately, the undeniable convenience of online shopping comes with a hidden cost: mountains of ecommerce packaging waste. In fact, online shopping generates 4.8 times more packaging waste than offline shopping (source).
And packaging is just one piece of the sustainable ecommerce puzzle. Let’s zoom out and take a look at the bigger picture.
What is sustainability in ecommerce?
When talking about sustainability, people tend to focus heavily on the impact on nature and its resources. In our playbook, the sustainability of a business – ecommerce or otherwise – needs to cover three big overarching areas: planet, people, and animals.
So, a sustainable e-commerce business needs to recognise its impact on people, planet, and animals within its supply chain and aim for truly sustainable practices—meaning they can be repeated over and over again.
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of things ecommerce businesses can consider in each respective area in their pursuit of sustainability:
Planet: your environmental policies, resource use and waste management, types of materials used and their sources, the sustainability of the business model, product durability, commitment to circularity, waste practices; policies to address energy use and carbon emissions, impacts on water, biodiversity, microfibre pollution, deforestation, chemical use and disposal.
People: considering workers across the supply chain. Policies and practices on child labour, forced labour, worker safety, gender equality, diversity, and payment of a living wage.
Animals: animal welfare policies; if animal products are used, how are they traced? For example, there is no transparent supply chain for waste wool in Europe. So we at Woola went and set up our own, along with a Know Your Wool (KYW) due diligence process.
If you need some inspiration, here are a few of our favourite ecommerce brands that have put sustainability at the heart of what they do. Check out their sustainability communications and see what best practices you can adopt as your own:
The rise of sustainable ecommerce
The demand for sustainable ecommerce practices is no longer a niche concern; it's a full-blown wave. Here’s why:
The toll ecommerce takes on the environment: The rapid growth of ecommerce has led to increased carbon emissions, packaging waste, and unsustainable sourcing practices. The link between human activity and climate change is clear and ecommerce has a decent-sized role to play in it. Or you can just consider that the Ellen MacArthur Foundation warns that plastic packaging waste could outweigh all the world's fish by 2050. Enough said.
Increased awareness around socially unsound practices: Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about an ecommerce giant or two that have been caught red-handed with their exploitative labour practices. The social consequences of such unsustainable business practices in ecommerce are increasingly scrutinised.
Consumer demand: Consumer preferences are a powerful driver of change as they ultimately ‘vote’ with their purchases. A 2023 Nielsen survey revealed that 73% of global consumers are willing to change their purchasing habits to reduce environmental impact, rewarding businesses that prioritise sustainability.
Policy changes: While policymakers still have a lot of catching up to do, some new legislations are making it unlawful or at least increasingly difficult and costly to continue with unsustainable ecommerce practices. EU’s latest packaging laws are one positive example here.
The key steps of an ecommerce business’ sustainability journey
When you’re just starting out with sustainability efforts at your ecommerce business, you might be a bit overwhelmed with all the different aspects and areas that need consideration.
We recommend you start by evaluating your impact across all stages and mapping out where you have the most room for improvement:
Sourcing with scrutiny: Assess supplier sustainability and consider factors such as ethical labour practices, environmental certifications, and transportation emissions in your supply chain.
Production efficiency: Have you streamlined processes to minimize waste and energy consumption? Explore innovative technologies or partner with manufacturers committed to sustainability.
Optimise packaging: Analyse the waste you create to identify areas for improvement. Can you implement packaging that’s circular, easily recyclable or at the very least, not dependent on fossil fuels? Choose sustainable packaging materials, use right-sized packages and encourage reuse and recycling among your customers.
Streamline shipping: Reduce carbon emissions through optimised logistics, consolidated shipments and assess our shipping partners in light of their impact.
Return responsibility: Offer a clear returns policy that encourages responsible behaviour. Consider offering repair or refurbishment options to minimise product returns and advise customers to donate or recycle unwanted items rather than disposing them.
Making sustainability a reality: focus on high-impact wins
While the road to sustainability is a marathon, focusing on high-impact wins can help you make meaningful progress and have a great head-start at the same time.
So, once you’ve mapped your main areas of improvement, you can move on to setting goals with the biggest impact.
As it always goes with goals, it’s best to frame them in a way that’s straighforward and measurable.
For example, instead of "use more sustainable packaging,” aim to "reduce plastic packaging by 50% within the next year.”
Below, you’ll see a simple to-do list for improving your packaging impact. Steal it if packaging is one of your key areas of improvement or adapt it to your needs in other contexts.
How to transition to sustainable packaging
Conduct a waste audit: Identify areas for improvement by evaluating your current business practices and ecommerce packaging. Understand how much, what types of packaging you're using, and what are the points of improvement.
Partner with like-minded suppliers: Choose suppliers who prioritise sustainable materials and manufacturing processes.
Right-size packaging: Eliminate excess space and materials by choosing packaging that fits products snugly, reducing the need for filler material and minimising waste
Encourage customer collaboration: Provide clear instructions for reusing and recycling your packaging, or explore take-back programs for circular packaging options.
Transparency is key
We recommend making your sustainability goals super transparent and easy to track as a favor to the consumers and the entire industry.
Use clear, fact-based claims to communicate your sustainability initiatives, obtain third-party certifications to validate your efforts, and consistently report on your progress.
Creating a dedicated sustainability page for your business can help communicate your commitment to sustainability and provide a platform for sharing updates and achievements with your customers.
Our sustainability page includes a link to a public Notion board that gives full transparency into our journey.
The future of ecommerce must be sustainable
As consumers and policymakers alike increasingly demand sustainable practices, ecommerce businesses face a straightforward decision: make sustainability a priority or be left behind.
Start with a quick evaluation of your current practices, focus on high-impact wins first and continuously strive for improvement. Sustainability is a never-ending journey, not a destination.
P.S. If you’re a business ready to start using sustainable packaging, you can request free Woola packaging samples here.
