A Journey From Shameless Consumer to Conscious Consumer … and Maybe Even Eco-Warrior

Whether we all realize it or not, there has been a shift in the force. We're changing our stripes as a consumer-based society. Where once choice was primarily driven only by factors like quality, price, brand affinity, and even endorsement, now other, larger existential factors are impacting how we make purchase decisions — namely, how our choices of what we buy have an impact on the world we live in.

Or at least that's what I believe as I looked at the changes in how I personally research, choose and purchase, and the changes that have occurred slowly and steadily until my own version of “conscious consumerism” has become second nature. Where it was the exception for me to consider the sustainable nature of things I bought, it now has become the norm. Certainly an interesting shift given that I've spent the better part of the last 25 years in retail, laser-focused on convincing people to convert their wants and desires into undeniable needs.

So what has changed? What has caused this shift in someone who lived and died by the “hedonistic calculus” inherent in the retail process? Is it simply age? Generational guilt? Some newfound enlightenment? Or is it something else?

As I searched for answers, I chose to test a hypothesis — primarily that I wasn’t leading the change, but instead riding a philosophical shift in consumers’ DNA in how they now more consistently consider sustainability when buying something. How many more ‘“like me’” are out there? My next step: I went looking for independent research and was surprised at how prevalent and pervasive it is.

Here are a few statistics I found and some thoughts around each:

1. Sustainable products have an overall 17 percent market share, 32 percent share of growth, and products marketed as sustainable grew 2.7x faster than those that were not.

This clearly speaks to my internal retailer and taps into the “hedonistic calculus” I referred to above. If a company can offer a product (or service) clearly supporting sustainability efforts, then there's money to be made — doing the right thing AND building and growing a profitable business don't have to be mutually exclusive.

2. Eighty-four percent of consumers say that poor environmental practices will alienate them from a brand or company.

The push for authenticity, measurability and accountability is elevated, front and center, and becoming intrinsic to a brand’s premise and promise. As a society we're moving past “greenwashing” and swiftly moving to hard, measurable and impactful metrics and facts. Previously only pushed by regulatory agencies and large investment firms, these are clearly non-negotiables in the mind of the consumer. More and more, the consumer is swiftly becoming the ultimate judge. Do good — you win. Do bad — good chance you'll lose.

3. Seventy-five percent of sustainable goods sell better online than in-store.

The online channel has always been a more democratic way of supporting consumer choice. The ability to discover, research, validate and compare products has never been greater — and is directly supportive of the trend outlined in the statistic. Retailers are continually taking advantage of this in their marketing and educational efforts and — whether we like it or not — that will only increase. Demanding authenticity and transparency are the consumer’s rights and responsibility.

4. Fifty-five percent of consumers are willing to pay more for eco-friendly brands.

Price for value will always be at the forefront of a consumer’s decision. Value creation through offering more sustainable products needs to be clearly stated, understandable, and supportable if consumers are going to pay more. The trend is positive in this direction but seemingly lagging. This represents a place for retailers to explore and focus energy.

5. Seventy-two percent of those who received five or more packages/month consider eco-friendly practices important/very important and 82 percent are willing to wait longer for eco-friendly shipping.

As retailers continue to focus on how to develop and market their sustainable products, there's an “undiscovered country” in how they sustainably deliver those products.

This is where I've grown into an eco-warrior.

Amazon.com currently conditions its customers (of which most of us are) to take advantage of having orders “delivered together.” A simple choice allowing better network and delivery fleet management. When done at scale, this allows for a more efficient usage of its assets, allowing Amazon to do important eco-friendly things like putting fewer trucks on the road every day. And that all starts by minimizing the number of times a delivery truck has to make a stop for a delivery and accounting for approximately 800 grams of C02 that never gets created. Over the billions of packages delivered annually, it's easy to see how this can add up quickly and how a simple change can create an outsized impact.

The rest of the retail industry must recognize its customers care about this part of the relationship, especially as the online channel continues to grow and be primary. The opportunity for impact is currently massive and only grows with each additional e-commerce purchase and subsequent delivery.

I started this article with the “shift-in-the-force” comment, and that shift has even moved beyond how I buy into where I spend my time professionally. What's described above is what we power at The Eighth Notch, a sustainable fulfillment company that that I helped found and build out, and is 100 percent focused on minimizing the number of times a delivery truck stops at your house and maximizing the number of packages delivered — each and every time.

A few retailers — and that number grows daily — are listening to the signals and clues coming from their customers regarding eco-friendly business practices, competitive pressures from their No. 1 competitor Amazon, and are searching for unique and novel ways to complete the e-commerce fulfillment process in more responsible and sustainable ways.

The opportunity to ride this consumer shift and access a better-for-all version of e-commerce delivery experience exists today.

Mike Robinson, founding team member, The Eighth Notch, a first-of-its-kind technology platform enabling shippers and carriers to eliminate unnecessary delivery truck stops by sharing data further upstream, better coordinating and ultimately synchronizing deliveries.