Green E-commerce. Is it a trend or a need?
By: Daria Maksimenko
Tags: Sustainability, Ecommerce, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Business, Eco Friendly

Green consumerism is rising rapidly and if you don’t notice that…

HOW DARE YOU?!

If you’re too lazy, take a quick look at this presentation :)

The trend for an eco-friendly way of life is not just a short-term trend. Ecological issues worry not only the young generation. And consumer shopping behavior has also fundamentally changed for the last few years.

Nearly 6 in 10 consumers (57%) are willing to change their purchasing habits to help reduce the negative impact on the environment, and among those who say sustainability is important for them, this jumps to 77 percent.

If you want to be on the same wavelength as those who support the sustainable world, you should think of some steps to reduce the impact your business has on the environment.

Major e-commerce brands have already started planning to implement more sustainable practices in their business. For example, Amazon pledged to bring its carbon emissions to zero by 2040.

Real-life cases from small business

For big brands that’s an easy challenge to run a few environmental programs, but what if your brand isn’t so big? We asked a few e-commerce entrepreneurs on Reddit to share their opinion and experience of practicing eco-friendly initiatives. Let’s see the answers below.

Owner of a web store from Canada:

Food products seller from the US:

E-commerce entrepreneur from the UK:

Some brands still support the idea that price reasons are dominant for customers, and environmental issues are overhyped.

A seller of foodservice disposables:

E-commerce entrepreneur from Germany:

Steps to make e-commerce business greener

So, if you’re ready to join the community of eco-friendly brands, here are some steps to lower the digital carbon footprint of your online business:

🏡 Green Hosting

Your data center must run on renewable energy. Yes, now even that is possible. Read more on this.

💻 Efficient UX

Sounds strange until you realize that the less time a user spends during the process of purchasing, the less energy is wasted, and everyone wins. Design user journeys that bring your customers swiftly and safely. Compress images and avoid large video files.

🎁 Less packaging

Many businesses are finding ways to be more eco-friendly by going paperless when possible, using biodegradable packaging, and using recyclable supplies. Remember, less is more.

That’s not eco-friendly, guys…

…that is.

🌳 Go paperless

Digital retail is cleaner than offline in this aspect. But it can be even more. For instance, you can send receipts only in emails instead of paper slips.

🚴‍♀️Green delivery and remote work

Delivery is the most significant point in terms of the carbon footprint. Use bicycle or electric cars to deliver your products and work more with local product suppliers.

Additionally, if your organization allows employees to work from home or outsource some operations, it can decrease the footprint even further.

✊ Real care

Show your customers how you care about the environment (if you really do) to win their hearts. You can donate some of the funds to an environmental charity, show your eco results from time to time, plant trees.

Or follow Greta Thunberg on Instagram after all 🙃

We only get one planet, so green consumerism is a necessity rather than a trend. And to answer the question in the title — yes, e-commerce can be green. We can make it so.