In the USA Cyber Monday is the day with the highest level of spending in the year — in 2019 consumers spent 9.4 bn through online retail. Shopify merchants gained over $2.9 billion in worldwide BFCM sales in 2019 which is up from over $1.8 billion in 2018. With COVID-19 deterring many people from brick and mortar stores, it may be set to be even bigger this year.
BFCM sales are a microcosm of consumerism. If the popularity of BFCM continues to grow, its negative impact on the environment will increase. The mad rush of the BFCM sale can multiply the chances of items being returned or thrown away. When you take into account packaging and fast shipping, the impact of the product itself and the web, there are a host of negative environmental impacts that can be amplified by BCFM.
The Shopify platform is a springboard for merchants who want to be part of the world of sustainable business. Shopify is carbon neutral and champions the world of sustainable marketing in ecommerce. As part of their commitment to being a driving force of positive change, Shopify's Sustainability Fund invests $5 million every year in industries, emerging technologies and pilot projects that work to reverse climate change. Shopify merchants and apps can be an extension of this in their own practices. Sustainable marketing will help to lessen any negative effects that products and practices have on the environment during BFCM and onward.
Four Ways BFCM Negatively Impacts the Planet
The Mad Rush
As customers rush online to buy products and services in the BFCM sales they might be left with items that aren’t right for them. Even outside of BFCM there’s a high return rate of fashion items in B2C e-commerce globally.
If a customer doesn’t like an item there are high chances that it will be returned or thrown away, increasing the carbon footprint and contributing to our damaging throwaway culture.
Packaging and Fast Shipping
The damage packaging and shipping does is maximised during BFCM, when:
- Customers have to pick up packages or return items, adding to transport or combustion emissions
- Products are packaged in plastics that end up in landfill or in our oceans
- The faster shipping option is selected. This creates a much bigger carbon footprint due to suppliers sending out transport to travel further with fewer orders on board.
The Product
Adobe’s 2019 study of consumer spending shows that Cyber Monday’s top five selling products were (in order), L.O.L Surprise Dolls, Frozen 2 Toys, Nintendo Switch, VR Devices and Samsung TVs.
Electronics are top sellers in Cyber Monday Sales and e-waste is a growing issue, with just 20% being recycled each year. The rest is dumped, leaking hazardous lead and mercury into our environment. Worldwide e-waste has grown by 9.2 Mt since 2014, and is estimated to increase to 74.7 Mt by 2030 – almost doubling in 16 years. The waste issue is increased further when sales products are a cheap and quick replacement for serviceable goods. Why would a consumer fix an item when they can throw it out and buy a new one in a BFCM sale?
Merchants can no longer ignore the issues of e-waste, plastic and fast fashion if we want to halt the climate crisis. Even if merchants’ products or services don’t fit within this scope, products will often have a huge international carbon footprint through their production, packaging and shipping journey.
The Web
In general, products or packaging often take the spotlight when it comes to the negative impacts on our environment and the web is left in the wings. However, the internet worldwide — including data centres, telecoms networks and end user devices — uses roughly the same amount of electricity as the UK, one of the world’s largest economies. When Cyber Monday arrives, more people will be logging on to shop, using more energy and creating a bigger digital environmental footprint.
Factors such as poor content design can keep people logged on longer than needed. If more merchants streamlined their online presence and switched to green energy hosting and servers, they could create an experience which is smoother and better for the customer, their business and the environment.
How to reduce your carbon footprint for BFCM
Take Part in Green Friday
Merchants have a responsibility to make the environmental impact of e-commerce visible to the consumer and empower them to make a difference through their shopping choices. Many businesses actively boycott BFCM, using it as a chance to declare their commitment to sustainable practices or encourage consumers to be part of this global movement.
Many companies are embracing the term Green Friday instead of Black Friday (which for many feels tainted and outdated). Green Friday is a beacon of hope, a symbol of change, a day where merchants are invited to use whatever power they have to make a positive impact for the environment. Make a fresh start with Green Friday and attract the attention of future loyal conscious consumers.
Ideas for Green Friday
- Educate your customers on the negative effects of BFCM, and share your Green Friday plans.
- Guide customers to a more relaxed, sustainable shopping experience where you can help them make positive purchasing decisions they will be proud of.
- Ask customers if they really need to buy this product at the checkout.
- Take advantage of the spike in visitors to ask people to donate to a cause, environmental or otherwise.
Offset Carbon
If it feels too late for you to opt out of BFCM this year, you could still make other changes, like offsetting your carbon pollution:
- Support projects that fund or promote sustainable forestry or renewable energy.
- Change the power provider of your business and your website to one that produces renewable energy.
- Use an app such as Shop App, Offset App, EcoCart
To give you an idea of how an app could help you offset, take CarbonClick. This New Zealand-based company empowers people with the tools and education to take Climate Action. CarbonClick designed a Climate Friendly Cart app for e-commerce stores. It's integrated into the site so the customer can have the option to offset their purchase by clicking a green button at checkout.
We talked to Jan Czaplicki, CPO & Co-Founder of Carbon Click:
For merchants, make sustainability a big thing, make a statement, attract those people that care about sustainability.
Jan highlights that merchants should make offsetting a part of their toolkit to become truly carbon neutral or carbon positive.
(Find and listen to the full interview in our MindfulCommerce Community)
Product and Packaging: Of course, taking on new sustainable options for products and packaging is essential. The international carbon footprint for products is huge. From manufacturing to packaging and shipping, it all adds up.
Sourcing products locally minimises this issue while often also offering better quality products, more control, and supporting the local economy. Making changes to products and packaging is visible to the consumer, enabling them to see and feel part of the worldwide climate movement.
Your website: The carbon impact of the web mainly comes from electricity, so if your website is hard to use then it will also be wasting a lot of valuable energy. Efficient and smooth website design and content can help increase the site's productivity while minimising its carbon footprint. Simple marketing tips and tools such as SEO, UX and clear fonts can enable this. And sites such as Website Carbon and Digital Beacon can help you to keep track of your website's carbon footprint.
Environmental issues in ecommerce are exacerbated by BFCM, but Shopify merchants can take action and attract attention from potential loyal customers with these simple sustainable marketing tips:
- Turn Black Friday into Green Friday
- Educate the consumer about the best sustainable purchasing and shipping options
- Switch to renewable energy power providers
- Offset carbon using apps (don't rely on this)
- Use locally sourced sustainable products and packaging
- Streamline websites to reduce their carbon footprint
Green Friday is a great time for merchants to refresh their brand – creating opportunities for building brand loyalty, retention and AOV. There’s never been a more crucial time to grow a sustainable business and with BFCM on the horizon, we have the opportunity to make a change and watch good things grow. What are your plans for Green Friday?
We are excited to invite you to join our MindfulCommerce Community. Our community unites sustainable brands with like-minded experts. Together we can make a difference. Click here to find out more and join us!