Are you a webshop owner or ecommerce manager? If so, you'll know there's been a steep rise globally in searches for sustainable products in the past five years. Consumers care about shopping sustainably: they want their products to be eco-friendly and they're challenging online businesses to be more transparent about their supply chain choices. Companies have to prove, not just claim, that they prioritise sustainability. But this challenge is also an opportunity. Thanks to innovations in carbon offset options, climate action and ecommerce are more compatible than ever – and more popular.
Here's how you use these insights to grow your business, improve customer loyalty, and protect the planet.
According to a study by Statista, millennials are the generation most self-conscious about their social impact and their spending. They're not deterred by the higher price of eco-friendly products: while affordability and quality were still the main drivers behind a vast majority of purchases, sustainability has risen up the ranks in their decision-making. According to a survey from McKinsey & Co., 66% of all respondents and 75% of millennial respondents said that they consider their climate impact when making a purchase. This means that more and more people are making a conscious effort to invest in climate mitigation throughout the supply chain of the products they buy.
However, most products that are branded as sustainable still have a residual carbon footprint. This is because some emissions simply cannot (yet) be avoided. The Climate Click service offers consumers the option to offset those emissions: on average, 20% of consumers choose to offset their emissions when they're given the opportunity to do so. Of course, this number varies by store: certain consumer groups (like millenials and Gen Z'ers) are more likely to offset than older generations. Yet extensive A/B testing shows that webshops which have integrated Climate Click into their website have 5%-8% higher conversions, with upward extremes of 19% and 23%. That higher conversion means that consumers are less likely to abandon their shopping and actually complete the purchase – simply because there's the option to offset.
As awareness continues to grow of the environmental impact of our purchases, consumers are attaching increasing importance to sustainable products. They are also becoming more loyal to brands that enable them to make a difference in the fight against climate change.
With the costs of customer acquisition rising significantly, giving customers more sustainable options is therefore a win-win situation. You can retain customers, boost long-term revenue and customer lifetime value, and contribute to saving the planet. Based on our traffic data, we found a 12% increase in customer retention, on average, for the first five months once the option to offset a purchase had been included in the customer journey, compared to the first five weeks after the implementation of the Climate Click. The opportunity for individual sustainability initiatives has proven to be engaging and gives customers an incentive to come back. The fact that customers are more likely to return to your store because of the sustainable shopping experience demonstrates that brand loyalty is increased through the Climate Click service.
By empowering your customers with a sustainable purchase option at checkout, you can improve customer loyalty and increase customer retention. Starting your climate journey does not signify a greater financial burden for your webshop or your consumers. It is now a growth opportunity that sits at the heart of your product development and customer journey.
Make every customer purchase count in your fight against climate change while increasing conversion rates.
Make every customer purchase count in your fight against climate change while increasing conversion rates.
