5 May 2020
Green is the new black
Today, consumers are more environmentally conscious than ever before. They want to shop as sustainably as possible and they would like you e-commerce companies to lead the way and make it easy for them to make the eco-friendly choices – before, during and after the purchase. But how do you create the sustainable shopping experience, which the consumers are look for, and position yourselves ahead of the competitors as the eco-friendly choice on the market?
Hey you - why so green?
Sustainability, accountability and transparency – these were three of the very big buzzwords during the 2020 version of the world’s largest retail conference ‘NRF Retail’s BIG Show’ in New York and the conclusion was apparent. If you wish to meet the consumers' expectations and create customer experiences, which in today's green world make them want to come back, sustainability is a trend which you will benefit from keeping an extra sharp eye on. And it is not just the consumers in New York who huger for a more sustainable commerce.
FDIH's ’E-handelsanalyse 2019’ shows that sustainability is important for as many as 80% of the Danish consumers when they shop online. This means that there is much value for e-commerce companies to be gained by considering sustainability as a strategic part of your business and not least by making your green initiatives visible and easily available for the consumers. According to the ’Nordic analysis of e-commerce and sustainability 2019', which our e-commerce platform Bizzkit is responsible for, 42% of the Nordic consumers find it difficult or very difficult to find the information about sustainability they are looking for.
Born to be sustainable
New York oozes of inspiring examples of the various ways in which e-commerce companies can make it as easy as possible for your customers to shop sustainably. One example is the clothing brand Reformation, that has certainly adopted the trend and has included sustainability in every single step of its business – online as well as in-store.
When Reformation’s customers browse through the virtual clothes racks in the webshop, each product page contains information about how much water, waste and CO2 is saved from the environment if they buy a certain Reformation style compared to the fashion items which are typically bought in the US. By integrating sustainability as a standard product information, Reformation is able to position itself as the eco-friendly choice and make it easy for the customers to obtain the information about sustainability which they are looking for.
”This way we all get to see the total cost of fashion so you can make empowered choices, and we can keep creating better solutions when it comes to making clothes.”
- Reformation
Omnichannel sustainability
In the webshop, the customers also find information about everything from Reformation’s sustainable practices to environmentally friendly washing instructions and how to recycle their old clothes. Reformation has even developed five standards for the type of fibres which they use in the production of its clothes and these help the customers to choose the absolute most sustainable Reformation styles. Also in-store the information about Reformation’s green actions has been made easily available where signs all around the shop inform the customers about how Reformation uses energy from wind turbines, LED light bulbs and reusable bags and that the hangers are made from FSC certified wood.
In this way, Reformation increases the transparency in its processes and also helps its customers to make the most sustainable choices before, during and after the purchase. As a result, Reformation is setting the standard for the consumers’ expectations of how easily and sustainably e-commerce looks and is thus raising the bar for sustainability in the industry.
”Buy Less. Wear more”
- Rent the Runway
Access over ownership
You cannot say sustainability without also saying re-commerce which is about the feel-good consumption through recycling, upcycling and sharing economy. A brand which has successfully been able to tap directly into the consumers’ need of sustainability via re-commerce is the digital closet Rent the Runway.
Based on a ‘why own when you can rent’ philosophy, Rent the Runway gives its customers access to its 'closet in the cloud' which is packed with high-end fashion from +650 brands for the customers to borrow either on a subscription basis or as 'single-use rentals'. When the customers do not need the clothes anymore, they return it for the benefit of other customers. In this way, Rent the Runway prolongs the service life of each individual piece of clothing in order to decrease production volumes and the amount of waste, and at the same time giving the customers the unique and sustainable shopping experience they demand.
It is in particular the seasonal styles and items, which are typically only used a few times before they end up at the back of the closet such as ski clothing, swimwear and party clothes, which are in high demand from the Rent the Runway customers.
Therefore, Rent the Runway has recently entered a partnership with W Hotels taking re-commerce to completely new heights and making it even easier for its customers to shop sustainably for special occasions such as holidays. The hotel guests at selected W Hotels locations will now have the opportunity to buy four items for the holiday which will be waiting in the closet in their hotel room upon arrival.
As a result, Rent the Runway increases the knowledge of its brand and also positions the brand one step ahead of its competitors by setting the standard for the consumers' expectations of what trouble-free re-commerce actually is.
Are you interested in hearing more about how you can create sustainable shopping experiences which make customers want to come back, and which position you as the eco-friendly choice in the lead of the market?
Please call our Business Development Manager, Ditte Tvede Arentoft, at:
+45 20 47 24 44 or write to diar@hesehus.dk
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