Going green is the new normal, and eCommerce businesses are constantly looking for sustainability initiatives that can achieve the environmental changes and bring in extra values to the business. According to the 2022 research by Deloitte,( Deloitte 2022 CxO Sustainability Report), 97% of the respondents indicated that they have seen negative impacts cost by climate change, yet leaders still struggle to translate the cost and investment of climate inaction. Among the industry verticals, global logistics and fulfillment are uniquely positioned to meet this challenge, yet strategy and actions are needed to be implemented in a cohesive fashion, taking into account the specific capabilities of the various parts of the Supply Chain ecosystem. Certain methods and ways such as adopting sustainable packaging material, reduce unnecessary packaging, might be a quick win for the time being, but eCommerce businesses are required to come up with a more comprehensive solution coupled with other Supply Chain components to unlock holistic benefits in a long run.
5 Key Supply Chain Solutions that Impact Sustainability:
1. Reduce carbon emissions
- How: By better shipment planning. Using Consolidation for optimized use of containers
2. Minimize the usage of finite resources
- How: By use of various EDI services and paperless trades
3. Limit fossil fuel usage
- How: By better route planning
4. Decrease environmental waste
- How: By using sustainable packaging
5. Better product planning
- How: By relook into the existing product development roadmap
Implementing all these changes to achieve associated environmental benefits can be an expensive, long-term project, and more importantly, it requires a well-developed, comprehensive game plan that all major stakeholders agree to adopt. Whilst the change might be beneficial to the environment, it can also bring negative impacts operationally and financially. In a nutshell, this is a challenge that cannot be left to a single department, but rather must become a key driver throughout the eCommerce business
Start at the top and work your way down
When looking to make your eCommerce business more sustainable, start at the top and work your way down. Look for immediate actions that don’t require major efforts, time, and heavy investment and still make progress to increase sustainability. Here is the list of low-hanging fruits eCommerce businesses can implement without hesitation.
3 immediate actions eCommerce can take within logistics operations:
- Create end-to-end visibility by harnessing all available data
Consolidating your data into one place will help eCommerce businesses to identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement in a timely manner. With the full visibility of the entire supply chain operation, all in one screen, eCommerce business owners can start making more precise business decisions in a shorter timeframe, cut down unnecessary resources; focus on the key areas to optimize the ROI.
- “Closer from the manufacturer, closer to the customers” Warehousing method
By reducing the distance of the first mile (from the manufacturer location) to the last-mile distance (front door of the product consumer), eCommerce businesses can keep the delivery cost low while improving the delivery time, limiting the potential of delay AND reducing carbon footprint.
How? One easy way to do this is by partnering with a 3PL that allows you to access their wide range of global warehouse locations and International carrier networks, so that you can store your inventory closer to the target market, and start delivering beyond the customers’ expectations, at a lower cost.
- Utilize sustainable packaging materials
Everyone knows that Sustainable packaging materials that are recyclable or biodegradable can play a significant role in reducing environmental waste, but what they might not know is that by choosing the right materials, eCommerce businesses can also reduce their shipping cost.
How? Parter up with a 3PL that offers services pick and pack customization, large selections of packaging materials. Why? With the light-weighted packaging and minimized unnecessary packaging, products can be shipped with a much lower shipping rate with significantly reduced product weight and size.
At Floship, we care about your eCommerce business and the globe.
These immediate actions can help Commerce businesses to buy time and make progress without spending major efforts while business owners dive into sustainable business plans that would have positive impacts on climate changes.
At Floship, we understand how important it is to embedding sustainability into business strategies and operations. With the right management tools and resources, going green can be beneficial to the environment as well as the business growth. Learn more about how Floship can help you and your business achieve short- and long-term goals with eco-friendly fulfillment and logistics solutions today.
Ready To Upgrade Your Logistic Solution?
Speak to Floship ecommerce logistic consultant about improving your global support chain today
