Make your shipping more sustainable

Making your shipping more sustainable is key for both your company and the environment. As a business owner, it is important to get products to your customers. However, the environmental impact of how you choose to ship can be huge.

As this report* suggests, online shopping can be worse for the environment than driving to a physical store. Learning how to reduce your environmental impact through the shipping process is therefore really significant.

If you do not know how, don't worry, we are here to help. We have listed the 4 best ways you can make your shipping more sustainable without costing your eCommerce the earth.

Top 4 ways to make shipping more sustainable

1. Optimize your supply chain

Automating and optimizing your supply chain is one simple way to make your shipping process more sustainable. EasyScan has processing software that can create, print, and scan barcodes for your products. This embeds into Shopify’s inventory and can be used to track stock levels, and manage & fulfill orders. It will make your order fulfillment process and warehouse much more efficient, and bring your costs down.

Considering where your products are manufactured and stocked is also an important part of this. Reducing transport times and distances for supplies and finished products will speed up processes and reduce waste. This contributes to the sustainability of your fulfillment operation and reduces shipping time for the customer. 

Furthermore, this optimization means there is much less room for human error. Errors can be costly and wasteful. Human error is a major cause of food waste in the food supply chain. It accounts for 10.9%*, which is second only to losses due to incorrect products sent to customers.

Whether you supply food, clothes, or any other product, errors cost time, money, packaging, and often the loss of products themselves. Optimizing your supply chain with EasyScan will therefore make your shipping much more environmentally friendly.

2. Use Sustainable Packaging

Sustainable packaging also makes for a more environmentally friendly shipping process. Using recycled and recyclable materials to package your products reduces packaging waste that often ends up in landfills.

For example, you could use recycled boxes for your parcels. Inside the boxes, you could replace packing noodles or bubble wrap by shredded paper filler. Also, you could use paper packing tape which is a great alternative to plastic. All those are eco friendly packaging alternatives to consider for your eCommerce shipping.

It is possible that you still require some type of plastic for your product packaging. In that case, be aware that it is now possible to buy biodegradable packing noodles and plastic.

All those steps reduce your environmental impact. Adding recyclable and sustainable elements to your supply chain, means your business is operating a shipping service that is more sustainable and better for the planet.

3. Sustainable Shipping Carriers

Optimizing your order process with EasyScan and switching to more sustainable packaging is paramount. Also, it is important to take into consideration the shipping carriers you use.

Some mainstream carriers offer sustainable delivery solutions to reduce your environmental impact and carbon footprint when sending your goods to customers. FedEx has committed to sustainability, whilst UPS runs an Eco Responsible Packaging Programme*.

There are also some alternative shipping solutions emerging that are focused on sustainability. For example, Sendle* claims to be a carbon-neutral small shipping business operating from Australia and worldwide.

Adding to this, many businesses are thinking about how they can be carbon neutral or carbon negative to make their shipping processes more sustainable. Choosing an eco-friendly shipping carrier can make a big difference.

4. Click-And-Collect

Finally, the last part of the shipping process is often the most environmentally impactful. This is something you need to think about in terms of how to make your shipping more sustainable. Average commute times for shipping are expected to increase substantively by 2030*, harming the environment in the process.

Shortening the supply chain can reduce costs and increase sustainability. Using EasyScan to manage inventory and fulfill orders and then passing shipping off to a sustainable carrier optimizes the first parts of the process.

Online shopping can be made more efficient with click-and-collect solutions. This reduces transport costs in the last part of the shipping process. And it can be a convenient solution for people who can't be at home on the day of receiving the order!

Note: If you are not using EasyScan yet, know that we offer your business a free trial, what are you waiting for?

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Sources

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/26/tech/greenhouse-gas-emissions-retail/index.html

https://phys.org/news/2019-01-human-error-major-driver-food.html

https://www.ups.com/gb/en/help-center/sri/eco-responsible-program.page

https://www.sendle.com/

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/3/5/21155020/companies-carbon-neutral-climate-positive

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1248537/e-commerce-environmental-impact-worldwide/

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