Sustainability: Online Sales Under the ‘Green’ Eye of Consumers

In recent years, ESG has become unavoidable, incorporated into the operations of almost every company, and investors and consumers alike show significant interest in companies that prioritize sustainability and ethical business practices. This trend has a significant impact on the e-commerce segment, prompting retailers to pay attention to everything: from the use of sustainable packaging materials to promoting ethical and environmentally friendly products.

While we often focus on the ‘E’ in ESG, which refers to the environmental aspect, we should not overlook the other two letters of this acronym, as the governance segment in terms of e-commerce also comes to the fore, encompassing issues such as data privacy, cybersecurity, and corporate governance, making ‘G’ quite important in attracting new customers and business partners. The social segment also requires attention due to working conditions in warehouses and vehicles, leading to increasing demands for transparency from e-commerce businesses. In other words, e-commerce must prioritize employee welfare to retain customers and avoid stories like those surrounding Chinese giants Shein and Temu.

Some New Trends

However, let us return to the star of the well-known acronym, namely the environmental segment. Among consumers, awareness of the impact of e-commerce on the environment has been steadily increasing for years, and with the growing prevalence of online shopping, the carbon footprint is also rising, primarily due to delivery, which leads to a shift towards more sustainable delivery methods such as electric vehicles and bicycles, as well as a greater focus on reducing packaging waste. Therefore, companies that prioritize sustainability will quickly find themselves in a good position to attract new consumers and establish new business partnerships. It is also worth mentioning that banks offer more favorable loans to companies adhering to ESG principles.

When we talk about e-commerce and sustainability, dm certainly comes to mind. According to Ivan Horvat, the marketing and OCR manager of dm for the Adriatic region, the company is in constant pursuit of services and solutions that will contribute to customer satisfaction, which involves monitoring trends, adapting to new habits, and anticipating future needs.

– With the launch of the dm online shop in October 2020, we stepped into a new era of business, as the first and only drugstore in Croatia offering the possibility of online shopping. We achieved our long-term goal and made products and services available to residents across Croatia. We deliver within two to three working days, and we are particularly pleased with the large number of orders from places like Vis, Korčula, and Pelješac, where dm does not yet have stores – says Horvat, adding that e-commerce has allowed them to offer customers products they were previously unable to provide, such as a monthly supply of Pampers diapers and large packages of household products, which also reduces the number of deliveries.

In the past business year, dm achieved a turnover of 9.56 million euros, representing an annual growth of over 73 percent. According to Horvat, this shows that they have once again successfully responded to customer needs, which is also confirmed by the smartphone application Moj dm, through which over 40 percent of all online purchases were made last year, and it is now installed on more than 800 thousand smartphones.

Click on ‘More Sustainable Choice’

However, if we move away from the numbers and return to sustainability, the most well-known drugstore in Croatia can certainly boast sustainable products that do not contain plastic. Additionally, it has enabled customers to make more informed purchasing decisions by introducing green labels that mark all products in stores that have at least one of 16 recognized certifications. The equivalent of green labels in the dm online shop is the ‘more sustainable choice’ filter, allowing customers to find more sustainable alternatives for the products they need, covering everything from facial and hair care to household care.

– The service of express pickup of online orders at selected dm stores certainly contributes to more sustainable purchasing, with nearly a third of all online customers using it last year. We pack products ordered through this service in reusable bags, which customers can use for future purchases – says Horvat, noting that the products they deliver are packed in cardboard packaging made from processed used packaging and cardboard, and the plastic materials used to protect products from damage contain 70 percent recyclate and can be recycled again.

– Of course, we are always looking for new ways to further improve our business and strengthen our positive impact on the community, both in terms of environmental preservation and in the areas of social responsibility and corporate governance – concludes Horvat.

Cardboard Tubes

Although dm is a leader in sustainability, other e-retailers are also directing their attention towards ‘green’. For instance, Polleo Sport, a well-known store for sports equipment and fitness products, ensures that the packaging of new products developed under its own brand, such as the Zoe Nutrition product line, is sustainable, having developed cardboard tubes instead of plastic, and the bags in which the proteins come are fully recyclable.

– Our overall goal is to reduce the amount of plastic in packaging, and the cardboard boxes in which we send orders are also easily recyclable – Polleo informed us, adding that the bags they use for sending orders via e-commerce are also partially recyclable, and for returns from customers, they do not insist on printing labels but fill out an online form in the application. Additionally, the central warehouse of this retailer is covered with solar panels, thereby reducing energy costs and positively impacting the environment.

Furthermore, Polleo has a clothing brand, Zoe, aimed at women, made from ‘high-quality French and Italian materials in Croatian sewing shops’. As the company stated, all materials have the OEKO TEX certification, and they are working to obtain as many sustainability-related certifications as possible.

Preference for Natural

In line with this, orders from Polleo can now be picked up at parcel machines, which reduces CO₂ emissions. The parcel machines are solar-powered, paperless, and deliver with 85 percent lower CO₂ emissions compared to home delivery.

– At the company level, we systematically work on reducing paper usage and promoting digital invoices and documents to decrease resource consumption and waste. Therefore, we strive to implement as many sustainable practices in our business as possible. Of course, this brings us new challenges and potential costs, but we are aware that the betterment of the world we live in is in our hands. Thus, we aim for a system where customers at Polleo Sport can refill their protein containers at a lower price (rather than buying new ones), where there will be minimal plastic packaging, where the system will be fully digitized, and where we will organize the purchase of whey from Croatian dairies. Additionally, using whey to produce protein is a form of sustainability in itself, as whey is the waste that remains after milk coagulation. By using it for the production of whey protein, waste is reduced – conclude Polleo Sport.