Tips for a sustainable E-commerce website.

Sustainable E-commerce website

How do you make one sustainable E-commerce website? More and more customers are worried about our planet and buy environmentally conscious. Bet on one sustainable webshop is therefore reliable investment for the futuret and also ensures more sales. 

The real value of a sustainable E-commerce website.

In today's world, sustainability has become an important part of our lives. This means we have more and more in the choices we make think of the impact on our planet and nature. That's why the aspect sustainability also fundamental in online business and the way we do business. 

As an e-commerce site owner, it's not just good for the environment to run your business sustainably. Attention to the environment and also provides one positive image and a sign of socially responsible leadership. That's why your web store also attracts environmentally conscious customers On.

In this blog post I will address essential tips for your make e-commerce website more sustainable. This starts with choosing durable products, An environmentally conscious hosting partner but also, for example, offering environmental compensation for the customer's purchase. 

embrace sustainable products in your webshop range

One of the most simple and efficient ways to create a sustainable e-commerce website is through environmentally friendly products to offer.

This is of course not always obvious. Sometimes there are few ecologically responsible alternatives. This does not prevent us from looking for creative solutions for offering sustainable products.

Sustainable products labels

Reliable sustainability labels.

Sustainable products are products that minimal impact have on it environment and society. This from the moment sustainable products are produced, during their life cycle until their destruction or recycling. 

Consider selling products that

  • are made of recycled materials 
  • organic ingredients contain
  • renewable resources
  • be produced with minimal environmental impact

Durable products are recognizable by it ECOLABEL that they wear. Of these they are Eco label, FSC label and fair trade just a few examples. By using sustainable products promote, you align your brand with the growing demand by consumers Unpleasant environmentally conscious alternatives.

Choose a sustainable hosting partner

aqtnow green hosted

Sustainable E-commerce web shop hosting

When building an e-commerce website, choosing the right hosting partner is crucial. Here, choosing a sustainable hosting partner if Combell An strategically sound choice.

However paramount is speed and performance of your online shop and its hosting. 

READING TIP : Higher page load speed

The choice of a sustainable Online store hosting partner seemed to us, given current global warming, to be a obvious choice. Therefore, we are also "Green Hosted" with Combell's support Web hosting [*]. This is a label awarded by The Green Web Foundation.

Check your hosting provider's site to see if they are committed to sustainability and operate on renewable energy sources. You can check this on The Green Web Foundation website.

Also Web hosting companies are increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability. This is why they are increasingly offering green hosting options. These are hostings where the servers use solar or wind energy. 

Because you choose a sustainable Web hosting reduces ecological footprint associated with your website's energy consumption. As a company, you contribute to the overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions associated with non-sustainably generated energoe. In this way contributes to the sustainable E-commerce website

[*] We maintain a partnership with Combell. As a result, we earn a small amount when you become a customer through us at Combell.

Implement energy efficiency measures:

Energy consumption is a important aspect Of running a e-commerce website, especially via the consumption of the servers where the site is hosted. You can address this as discussed above.

On the E-commerce company's side, you can also take energy-reducing measures. You thereby reduce costs plus environmental impact.

  • optimise the performance of your website
  • reduce the file size of the images
  • compress the code used on the web shop
  • reduce the number of HTTP requests
  • pass cache on the shop pages

You can also apply energy-saving measures when packing, stocking and all other operations in your company. 

We can support in the exact analysis and application of this under the form of Tailor-made web shop advice

Integrate sustainable packaging and shipping into your webshop.

In an E-commerce webshop, 2 parts of the business model are a have quite an impact on the environment. First up are the packaging the second environmentally damaging part of online sales are shipments. 

Rajapack packaging for sustainable E-commerce webshops

Sustainable packaging for webshop shipments

Rajapack formulated 5 basic principles which you can see in the visual opposite.

  1. the reduce packaging  : keep the weight and volume of your package to a minimum
  2. reuse : choose packaging that you can easily use several times
  3. replace : replace packaging with a high environmental impact or non-recyclable packaging with sustainable alternatives
  4. renew : opt for biomass-based packaging
  5. recycle : build on the recycling process and support the circular economy model

A great example of a company that serious efforts delivers to the reducing environmental impact is Rajapack. Known to many online shops as packaging material supplier and accessories for packing orders.

Reduce your shop's waste and footprint by using sustainable packaging materials. These include packaging That biodegradable are or made of recycled materials.

Encourage customers to shop sustainably

Encourage customers to opt for more in 1 order rather than less in several orders. You can do this, for example, with a quantity discount. With this, you make 3 times the profit, namely :

Sustainable E-commerce website
  • It amount per order increases 
  • your kosts fall per order
    • fewer shipments per € turnover = lower labour costs
    • it also means lower costs for shipping itself
    • lower cost of packaging material
  • the environmental impact of your webshop sales sinks
    • less packaging material
    • fewer CO2 emissions due to fewer shipments

Communicate clearly to your customers That you are aware as a company of the environmental impact and that you therefore make efforts to reduce your make webshop more sustainable. This way, you engage customers and create involvement which will strengthen sympathy for your brand.

choose a parcel partner that opts for sustainability

Choose a Parcel partner committed to sustainability. Forerunners in this are DPD and UPS. These 2 parcel services clearly made the choice and worked out a strategic plan for a sustainable service in the future. 

In doing so, the shipping companies are betting on electric vehicles and carbon-neutral operations. They therefore unpack these projects through clear communication, blogs and videos.

Make use of this and add it in the communication to your customers. This reinforces your brand and makes it clear to them that you are resolutely opts for sustainable operations for your e-commerce web shop.

Increase customer awareness:

Sustainable E-commerce website statistics

Sustainable E-commerce customer statistics

Increasing customer awareness of sustainability issues presents a significant opportunity for e-commerce companies. Ask consumers if they are concerned about the environment and they will confirm.

Studies have shown that consumers are increasingly making purchasing decisions based on how committed a company is to sustainability of our planet. 

28% from consumers makes himself the most concerns about climate change, 50% of customers would have a company that is environmentally unfriendly acts boycott. [*]

Tweet this [*] Global Web Index : Connecting the dots - Sustainable prioirities.

Ignoring these customer statistics will earn you a missed opportunity and lost sales. Moreover, not clearly communicating sustainability and the efforts you make as a brand can saddle you with a negative brand image.

Put the sustainability focus of your business and choosing sustainable products and suppliers in the spotlight. This can be done by displaying labels or placing a label in the header or footer of your online shop. In this way retain and attract environmentally conscious customers

in summary, the strategy for a sustainable E-commerce web shop.

The making of a sustainable e-commerce website is not only a responsible choice for sustainable policies, but also a way to stay relevant with your online shop in a rapidly changing online industry.

By means of durable products to offer, a eco-friendly hosting partner choose, energy-saving measures apply, choose sustainable packaging and shipping and the raise customer awareness, align your e-commerce business with the growing demand for environmentally conscious providers.

Additionally, applying a sustainable business philosophy not only good for the planet. This reinforced also your brand and increase your customers' loyalty  in a new era of conscious consumption.

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