Consumers care more than ever about their ecommerce carbon footprint. Here are four strategies to help reduce delivery emissions.
“Earth Day” (22nd April) claims to be the “largest civic event” on the planet. It serves as an opportunity for people to demonstrate their support for environmental protection. It illustrates just how seriously consumers take issues of sustainability.
Today’s shoppers aren’t the only ones who want to see businesses become more sustainable. Regulators are also keeping close tabs on carbon emissions across the retail industry. So there are ethical, commercial and compliance factors that make reducing delivery emissions crucial.
Here are four ways that retailers and warehouses can form a more sustainable shipping strategy.
1. Measure current delivery emissions
Any attempts to lower carbon emissions in the supply chain must be informed by real data. Before deciding how to become more sustainable, retailers and warehouses must have a clear handle on the status quo. This means tracking carbon emissions across the business.
2. Create strategies to reduce the online shopping carbon footprint
Once they are aware of their current level of emissions, retailers can set a clear reduction target. Ideas to meet that target could include offering a more sustainable range of delivery options, including zero-emissions carriers and PUDO (pick up, drop off lockers) at checkout.
3. Review progress in reducing last-mile emissions
It’s crucial to check that emissions reduction strategies are delivering. Tracking carbon emissions provides evidence that plans are working and delivering last-mile sustainability. Where they are not, retailers can take stock of what is going wrong and evolve their strategies.
4. Share the success of your strategies
As the strategies begin to bear fruit, retailers can share the good news with their customers, who overwhelmingly want to shop sustainably. The latest technologies for tracking emissions and real emissions reduction data can help retailers easily compile corporate sustainability reports and also share their progress with customers.
Try your hand at capturing CO2 molecules with our new World Earth Day inspired game.
nShift Emissions Tracker helps ecommerce companies and warehouses calculate, record, and analyze delivery emissions. It enables companies to comply with environmental reporting requirements and helps them pinpoint opportunities for emissions reduction.
nShift enables multi-carrier delivery & experience management from checkout through to returns. By creating access to the world’s largest carrier library, it makes it easier for retailers to offer more sustainable delivery options. nShift Checkout enables retailers to seamlessly display these options on the site.
Download the nShift guide "Building a delivery-management foundation fit for the future" here.