Sustainability Initiatives Aren’t Just a Nice-to-Have in 2024 — They’re Essential

Climate change was presented as “an inconvenient truth” less than 20 years ago. For many in 2024, it’s no longer a fringe issue but a cornerstone concern. As younger generations have matured into the modern-day consumer class, the role environmental realities play in purchasing decisions has never been more pronounced.

For brands, this focus on sustainability is no longer a nice to have or something aspirational to be addressed in the next five years or 10 years. It’s a problem that customers believe should be treated with urgency.

Many corporations are taking this urgency to heart. According to a Deloitte report, 61 percent of business leaders surveyed said climate change will have a high or very high impact on their organization’s strategy and operations in the next three years.

Brands have a lot to gain by taking sustainability challenges head-on. With 64 percent of global consumers now saying they worry about climate change, a brand’s sustainability practices can be a motivating factor in a purchasing decision as well as a factor in long-term brand loyalty.

Addressing sustainability through product, packaging, and supply chain decisions can be a major step in winning over consumers concerned with green initiatives. By embracing transparency and a circular economy, brands can win both immediate sales and build a foundation for lifelong loyal customers.

Ways Brands Can Incorporate Sustainability Into Current Business Models

Sustainability can take many forms for a brand, and taking on these initiatives doesn’t need to be all or nothing. A company can integrate ESG (environmental, social, and governance) programs into disparate aspects of the business.

For example, a brand should start by taking a broad look at its business and identifying aspects that may be candidates for sustainable improvements and prioritize them by the easiest win and greatest impact.

One popular area for consideration in this sustainability audit is partnerships, including creating new partnerships with companies that prioritize sustainability. A similar consideration is operational inefficiencies; there can be countless opportunities for energy-saving measures and waste reduction within the manufacturing process.

Other sustainability measures include looking at products themselves, offering refurbished products, or creating secondhand marketplaces for your customers to resell previously purchased products. These steps reduce the need for new production and result in lower energy consumption, fewer raw materials used, and decreased greenhouse emissions.

Similarly, packaging can be reduced or replaced with recyclable materials, and product information can be digitized rather than printed to reduce paper waste. Even the smallest action can have a profound effect when prioritizing sustainability as a business.

The Role Transparent Product Information Plays in Sustainability

One of the first, easiest, and most crucial ways a company can promote sustainability is by analyzing and overhauling its approach to product information. Creating a complete and unified product information system across all channels has a number of green benefits.

First, taking a detailed approach to product pages and ensuring that each page is complete and accurate reduces the risk of returns. By setting customer expectations on a product and its use at the point of purchase, the consumer is far less likely to send the item back. It goes without saying that the current era of online shopping and returning has dramatic environmental implications — estimates say returns can add 24 million metric tons of CO2 emissions — so any reduction in that arena is a big help.

Creating a unified product record also covers products sold on third-party and social sites. As the number of channels has increased, it’s become increasingly hard for brands to control product information. Having a unified product information system across channels can help reduce returns no matter where a product is sold.

Product pages are also a perfect forum to inform customers about the sustainability initiatives that go into a product. Offering a transparent look at how products are made, packaged and shipped can do a lot to build customer trust in a brand’s handling of such a crucial issue.

How Brands Can Embrace a Circular Economy Model

When discussing sustainability, many conversations lead back to the idea of a circular economy. Essentially, this means that a brand focuses its efforts on maximizing the lifespan of its products and raw materials and minimizing product waste by providing a system to customers for purchasing and selling secondhand products.

For retailers, supporting a circular economy means producing durable products that are built to last and ensuring that those products can be easily disposed of or resold at the end of their life. Disposal is key and may mean either producing products that can be recycled or offering some sort of collection system where customers can easily send back products for disposal. By repurposing products that could potentially end up in a landfill, brands can maximize the life of a product while also focusing on sustainability.

What Brands Stand to Gain From Sustainability Initiatives

When executed properly, sustainability initiatives are across-the-board wins. There’s the obvious — and not to be understated — benefit of helping the planet. But there’s much more to it.

Closing operational inefficiencies can lead to major savings in fuel, energy and man-hours, not to mention extending the lifespan of costly machinery and equipment.

On the product side, creating better, more sustainable products leads to a better brand reputation, builds trust in products, and helps a company’s values align with its customers. By taking these initiatives seriously, brands are able to forge connections with customers on a key issue that can lead to a lifetime of sales and positive word-of-mouth.

Kristin Naragon is the chief strategy and marketing officer at Akeneo, the product experience company.