Owing to an increasing love for online shopping across various industries, independent retailers are gradually becoming significant contributors to the world's carbon footprint. From the extra, individual packaging they add to products to the home delivery services offered, the price for the convenience that customers experience appears to be a more carbon-polluted world.
As a concerned independent retailer, you might be wondering whether there are eco-friendly techniques that can help reduce your carbon footprint while running your business efficiently and easily. The answer is yes! And below are some of them.
Offer customers more sustainable products
Keeping sustainability in mind when choosing the products to offer customers is one effective way retailers can reduce their carbon emissions. Whenever you consider adding a new product to your offerings, survey the available products to choose the most environmentally friendly one.
Also, from time to time, go over existing products and see if there are more eco-friendly alternatives in the market that can replace existing ones. Go for recyclable and reusable products with minimal or zero plastic packaging.
Retailers can also reduce their carbon footprint by forwarding helpful feedback to suppliers on the kind of products they should produce. Doing this will have a more profound impact as there will be more environmentally friendly products in circulation since suppliers will likely not be producing something that doesn't fit their buyers' criteria.
Switch to an eco-friendly delivery system
Product delivery is an important part of retailing. The amount of carbon emission our planet records from retailers delivering products to end users' homes worldwide is alarming. While the concept of home delivery has made life significantly easier and reduced stress for most people, the means through which the delivery is done threatens our environment.
Delivery cars and motorcycles emit carbon dioxide and some carbon monoxide which advance into the atmosphere and pollute our air. Thus, the oxygen we breathe in becomes less pure, and we unknowingly inhale other poisonous gasses as we breathe. The long-term effects of this air pollution include lung cancer, heart disease, and respiratory diseases such as emphysema. Scientists have also highlighted that air pollution can damage people's nerves, brain, kidneys, liver, and other organs in the long run.
Switching to an eco-friendly delivery system such as using e-bikes is an effective way to reduce your carbon footprint as an independent retailer and promote healthy living. Besides cutting carbon emissions, eco-friendly delivery systems like e-bikes tend to deliver goods faster and with more excellent reliability.
E-bikes run on electricity and can work for several hours at top speed, helping you save money on fuel and keeping our environment free from toxic gasses. E-bikes are exceptionally efficient for city deliveries due to the regular traffic challenges that cause goods to be delayed beyond their delivery times. Now you can position your brand as more reliable and efficient since adopting e-bikes can help you navigate high-traffic areas and deliver orders to customers on time.
Remove or improve packaging
Retailers commonly add extra packaging or brand labels on retailed products as a marketing strategy to help attract new customers and display their contact information. Often, these labels or packaging are not made from eco-friendly materials, leading to additional environmental pollution besides the labels and packaging that come from the suppliers.
By reducing the label and packaging or switching to more eco-friendly alternatives, retailers can cut carbon pollution significantly. Plus, retailers who go for sustainable packaging are more likely to record higher patronage than their counterparts. A recent study shows that almost three-quarters of end users are willing to pay more for products in sustainable packaging.
You may ask your suppliers to reduce non-essential packaging on your products and work with them to see what can be reused and returned in their next delivery.
Final thoughts
Retailers and business owners can have access to efficient yet less costly and clean last-mile delivery service that fit their needs like a glove. Products can be delivered to your customers' doorsteps at more affordable rates without creating more carbon footprint and global pollution.
