Can E-Commerce be sustainable?
The importance of sustainability is growing. More social responsibility is also expected in the e-commerce scene.
More and more people want to shop in a sustainable way and ask the question: Where and how was was production carried out? Do products and services come from responsible production companies? In a Yougov survey 66% of Germans state that they value sustainability when shopping online.
Depending on the industry, it’s about much more than just climate neutrality. The company and the product range are viewed particularly critically by young consumers. If a company does not take the climate crisis seriously or tries to engage in greenwashing, this is not well received and can have serious have a serious impact on sales. It is therefore important for companies to know how large the proportion of environmentally conscious customers is and how strongly this is growing. Accordingly, a restructuring of processes and the product range should take place.
The fast-fashion brand Forever21 missed such a reorganization and had to declare for insolvency. According to the Handelsblatt, the cause is a lack of sustainability, because environmentally friendly and fairly produced clothing is more and more in demand. Other companies in the fast fashion industry are aware of the situation: H&M, for example, is responding with the H&MConscious Foundation and a clothing recycling campaign in which worn clothing is worn clothing can be exchanged for 15% vouchers.
How online retailers can become more sustainable
Determine the status quo
The first thing to do is to determine the current baseline situation and record and calculate the greenhouse emissions caused. To calculate the carbon emissions in the company, the so-called Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG) is often used. is often used. In addition to GHG, there are also ISO standards.
How to reduce carbon emissions
Heating, electricity, energy
- Reduce consumption
- Produce own renewable energy
- Purchase green electricity
Vehicle fleet and travel
- Limit air travel
- Make vehicle fleet sustainable
- Alternative mobility options for employees
Logistics and shipping are the biggest challenges. Many innovations are currently developing there, as sustainable logistics and shipping are considered to be a profitable unique selling proposition. Such are for example:
- Climate-friendly shipping
- Minimizing shipping material and making it sustainable
- Making e-commerce more sustainable through innovative technologies (e.g. shipping by drone)
- Optimizing the logistics process
- Making optimal use of local resources
- Choose suppliers and partners wisely
- Optimize digital processes that drive sustainable transformation
Consumers, but also policy makers are challenged. All the emissions savings will have no effect if consumers e.g. continue to return so much of the goods they order. Factory-new goods is destroyed by the ton, because it is the cheapest alternative. is. Innovative technologies such as augmented reality should improve this problem in the future. Despite this, everyone is called upon to make online retailing more sustainable in the long term: Store operators, consumers and also politicians **who could make a difference, for example, by banning free returns or similar measures.
Compensation: What cannot be reduced should be compensated. However, it is important that Compensation is only an interim solution. To achieve sustainable success, there is no way around reducing one’s own footprint. of one’s own footprint. This is also crucial in order to not to be accused of greenwashing. Those who only compensate and not reducing is not credible.
Economy and sustainability – contradiction or synergy?
Sustainability in e-commerce is playing an increasingly important role. share. Generation Z in particular will standardize topics such as eco-friendly and ethics in e-commerce become standard. The future pays attention to value-added processes, reducing greenhouse gases and waste, and more efficient use of our resources. To integrate this into e-commerce, companies need to put a lot of time, money, and energy into strategies. However, this has a strong positive effect on the image, which in turn has a positive effect on sales. Everyone benefits: companies, the environment, and consumers.