How to build an eco-friendly online store

Let’s now dive straight in on how to build an eco-friendly online store.

Prioritize the use of sustainable materials in production

Your online store is certainly more eco-friendly when you have eco-friendly products. You can make efforts to ensure that your products are sourced from sustainable materials by prioritizing items that are made from organic, recycled, or biodegradable materials. Likewise, you can look out for and make use of suppliers that follow fair trade practices and maintain ethical standards. In the same vein, you can do your best to source products locally and thereby reduce carbon emissions that are related to transportation.

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Make your packaging more sustainable

• Your online store can become more sustainable and eco-friendly if you use recyclable or biodegradable materials in your product packaging. For example, you will be minimizing environmental impact if you use paper or cardboard instead of plastic for packaging.
• Find ways to minimize packaging and reduce waste by reducing the size and amount of packaging where possible.
• You can implement reusable packaging where possible.
• You can sensitize your customers and even reward those who return or reuse packaging materials.

Use eco-friendly shipping practices

• The shipping of e-commerce products can cause quite a significant amount of carbon emissions. It can therefore be of tremendous impact if you implement and sustain eco-friendly shipping practices.
• For a start, you can partner with green shipping companies that prioritize using delivery options that use low-emission or are carbon neutral.
• You can combine multiple orders, when possible, to help reduce the number of shipping runs.
• Make it a point to offer eco-friendly shipping options to your customers.

Lower energy consumption

Unlike what you may think, online stores do contribute to overall energy consumption globally. Hardware may need lots of air-con since they get hot. Take the following steps to your energy consumption.

• Green web hosting: go with hosting providers who use renewable energy. For instance, you may consider green web hosts such as GoDaddy and HostGator.
• Website optimization: reduce the energy needed to load pages by optimizing the efficiency and loading speed of your website.

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• Practice energy-saving measures in your workplace. This includes the use of energy-efficient lighting and appliances, and prioritization of remote work where possible.
• Promote a recycling culture and circular economy
• Use the following to make your e-commerce store more sustainable:
• Use a product take-back program to encourage customers to return used products. Such products can be recycled or refurbished.
• Create room for the sale of second-hand or refurbished products so that such items can get a second life. You would also be reducing waste.
• Educate your customers and employees to recycle, reuse, reduce waste, and properly dispose of products.

Make sustainability practices a part of the Standard Operating Procedure

• Create and implement sustainable business practices as an essential part of the operations of your online store.
• You can set clear and measurable goals to reduce environmental impact in every department.
• Periodically run audits to identify weak areas that need improvement.
• You can synergize with suppliers and partners who actively prioritize sustainability.
• Participate actively in environmental initiatives

Some ways that you can actively support sustainability initiatives include the following:

• Donate to environmental causes as a part of your store’s community social responsibility obligations.
• A first step may be to use an online calculator to calculate the carbon footprint of your online store. Some good calculator options include the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator by the EPA.
• You may then need to check out what certified carbon offset program suits the core values of your online store. Examples include TerraPass and Climate Action Reserve.
• Some programs specifically support renewable energy projects such as solar programs and wind farms.
• You can also participate in tree-planting initiatives to offset your carbon footprint.

Use technology to support sustainability efforts

Here are some ways to use technology as a powerful tool for sustainability in your online store:

• Data analytics can help in tracking environmental impact and identifying areas for improvement.
• Digital invoicing can help reduce the use of paper and improve paperless approaches.
• The use of AI and automation can help improve inventory management, streamline operations, increase energy efficiency, and reduce waste.
• You can apply machine learning to boost the efficiency of delivery routes.
• In line with reducing energy consumption, you can run energy audits, identify areas that need upgrades Implement energy-efficient practices and technologies
• Use the Internet of Things to better manage energy.

Optimize supply chains

Beyond merely making shipping routes greener, you can make your online store more eco-friendly by regularly auditing every aspect of your supply chain. This can include every aspect of the product’s lifecycle such as sourcing of raw material, production or manufacturing, and product distribution. Important steps can be taken to identify areas with high carbon emissions, for example, and implement improvement.

Again, you can leverage the power of technology to improve your supply chain. This includes using logistics AI to optimize your online store’s supply chain and make it more sustainable.

Set up a sustainable return policy

A National Retail Federation report specifies that as many as one in five eCommerce products that are bought get returned. This has an impact on the environment as the products need to make another trip to your distribution centre or store. It is therefore important to implement ways to reduce the environmental footprint of returns. Here are some suggestions on how to do that:

• Help shoppers to choose well by making your product details comprehensive.
• You may even use AR or 3D images to provide better views of products.
• You may include size recommenders to help shoppers choose the right apparel.
• Providing live chat or style consultations can be useful in proactively resolving product questions.
• Be sure to use good how-to videos, technical specs, and setup manuals to educate your shoppers.

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It’s not too late to make your online store more eco-friendly

It’s not an impossible task to meet customer expectations regarding the sustainability of your E-commerce store. You simply have to plan thoughtfully and implement the tips presented in this guide on sustainable E-commerce; How to build an eco-friendly online store. You’ll ultimately find that you’ll not only be doing your bit to create a more sustainable future, but you’ll also be improving your bottom line.

You can gain more insights on best practices for online stores. Visit Exclusive Blueprint, a digital marketing blog powered by Buzztide Technologies. Our blog provides valuable tips, trends, and tools that can help you stay ahead in the competitive landscape of digital marketing.

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