Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know
Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.
With an entire business based on delivering products to consumers’ doors, a “sustainable” DTC brand can sound like an oxymoron. Despite an emphasis on upcycled goods and eco-friendly materials, shipping and freight remain among the greatest polluters in the retail industry.
- A 2021 report from Pacific Environment and Stand.earth found that 15 major corporations, including Walmart, Ikea, and Amazon, emit as much pollution via overseas shipping as 1.5 million US homes.
Some companies are making moves to address these emissions. And yesterday, ESW, which offers DTC e-comm tools like customer service and online exchanges, announced it will provide carbon-neutral shipping for its brands.
- The company, fka eShopWorld, partners with the likes of Gucci, Kering, and J. Crew, among others.
How it’s done: ESW said all nodes of the shipping process will be carbon neutral, from transcontinental air freight to first, middle, and last-mile delivery. It will achieve the offsets by funding wind farm projects, and, therefore, boosting renewable energy production.
It joins services like Cloverly, which work with online storefronts to offer carbon-neutral delivery options.
Bonus points: The company’s goal is green and lean operations. According to ESW, it can help merchants and brands enter new worlds (er, global markets) in “as little as six weeks,” which it claims is “up to six times faster than if they attempted to do so on their own.” Plus, brands own the customer data “collected during the shopping process.”—JG