People & Planet friendly Shopify Apps
Sustainable E-commerce - delving into the world of Shopify apps
Sustainability is a common part of our everyday lives but trying to unravel the number of choices that we need to make on a daily basis can be pretty daunting. Consumers across the spectrum are being educated and educating themselves on how to navigate the challenges associated with sustainability from climate change to living incomes to workers rights.
There is plenty of evidence out there to show that consumers are acting on this information. For example:
According to Nielsen, 73% of consumers would alter their consumption habits to reduce environmental impact.
In research by Deloitte, they found 39% of consumers choose brands who have environmentally sustainable practices/ values
In a survey by Accenture, 72% of respondents said they’re currently buying more environmentally friendly products than they were five years ago.
So if you want your brand to resonate with these values and purpose based customers you need to show how your brand aligns and fits into their lifestyle and eco-system. Some of this weight will be carried by your brand architecture but as an ecom brand you mustn’t forget that your website is where the purchasing actually takes place.
If you are already on Shopify this is a big tick. Shopify are leading the way in the online fight against climate change - that’s a meaty topic for another day.
Next, the market for 3rd party Shopify apps is booming and it's no surprise that many of them are focusing on attracting, converting and retaining values based customers. As a brand this is great news, as you can choose tech partners that bolster your own purpose.
A quick search for “sustainability” on the Shopify app stores brings up 83 results but there are even more than this if you delve further. So do your research, have a look into the many options that are available, and see what might work best for your business. And if you want some help you sift through the pack, here are our top picks.
Circular Economy
If you have an apparel brand but are daunted with how to initiate a resale programme on your own site, Recurate is here to help. Rather than your customers leaving your site to find your products on resale platforms such as eBay or Vinted, Recurate allows resale directly through your website.
Environmentally conscious
https://www.getgreenspark.com/business-overview
This app allows your brand to plant trees, offset carbon and remove plastic based on orders, subscribers and reviews. Their main purpose is to do good for the planet and have the added benefit of increasing performance metrics across sales, email subscribers and reviews. They use three providers; Eden Reforestation Projects, Global Climate Action, Plastic Bank. Each project is certified by leading standards such as the Verified Carbon Standard and the United Nations. The dashboard provides a variety of communication tools and as well offering the customer their own impact dashboard.
They integrate with over 20 other platforms including Yopto and reviews.io and Klaviyo.
Allows customers to make the choice of having a carbon neutral order at the checkout by supporting renewable energy, forestry, or clean water projects to offset the purchase. They also offer storytelling features for brands to use on their site to show the overall impact that consumers are having by shopping with them.
They claim +10% AOV, +15% repeat purchase rate and +14% cart conversion.
Integrates with Yopto, Recharge and Ohi.
They offer customers the ability to reduce the carbon footprint of their order at the checkout. Once fees are deducted 50% of the contribution will be allocated to local flagship forest regeneration or conservation projects, and 50% will go to high-impact international clean energy projects (partners include Gold Standard, Verified Carbon Standard, American Carbon Registry). Receipts of the contributions are transparently available for customers to see.
They are B-corp certified.
https://onetreeplanted.org/pages/shopify-app
A company who offers services beyond a Shopify App they are becoming a well known conservation service provider. As the name suggests they plant one tree for every $1 donated - this can either be by the customer directly or paid for on their behalf by the company. They also offer employee engagement programmes.
They are a 1% for the Planet member.
https://ecologi.com/business/overview
Ecoogi offer carbon assessment services for companies and alongside this they have a Shopify app which allows tree planting post purchase. They allow you to set the parameters on how the tree planting is calculated - each sale, every order, or for a set dollar amount – and even set caps on how many trees you buy. Each tree is priced at $0.33 and billed to the business via your monthly Shopify invoice.
They are B-corp certified.
Charitable donations
Offer multiple ways for you and your customer to donate to charity. These can be displayed on the product page, cart or checkout. You can select up to 20 charities, although that’s probably not advisable as you would be diluting your brand purpose and the impact of the donations. You can have the option for the customer to select one of your charities from a drop down or for certain products to be aligned to certain charities.
Company; % of profits, customer donation matching
Customer; round-up at checkout, donation tiers, set amount at checkout
Together; gift with donation, donate for discount, you spend, we give
They claim an average of 33% of customers engage in the donation action, 15.7% increase in conversion and 14.4% increase in engagement.
Logistics
Last mile delivery service which only uses e-cargo bikes. Their vision is to transform urban delivery and sustainability is very much at the core of their brand purpose. They also have a focus on providing their couriers a positive workplace experience with fair wages, contracted hours and access to other benefits. Currently only available in certain European cities but is expanding rapidly.
They are B-Corp certified.
https://www.greenfulfilment.co.uk/shopify-integration/
Committed to eco-friendly fulfilment, they strive to be “your green partner in growth”. Many fulfilment providers are upping the ante when it comes to their sustainability credentials but these guys have it built into their purpose. They are seeking to go paperless and reducing all single use plastic. Their website also uses carbon neutral hosting.
I hope that these give you some food for thought about how to power up your sales with purpose and tap into growing demand for sustainably conscious e-commerce - this isn’t a fad, it's a growing movement that is here to stay and crucial for a business to survive and resonate with customers. As Shopify partners we can help you on this journey using our experience and expertise.
If you're searching to make a sale with purpose, get in touch.
