Small Steps to a Strong Stance

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In our first article, we outlined the four reasons why it’s important to start working on sustainable practices, and to be transparent in your communication and reporting about it. But getting a grip on the environmental impact of your operations may feel like a daunting task. Looking at the topic from a purely business perspective, companies are eager to understand how their actions will affect their bottom line – and how to effectively report their efforts and avoid being labelled a ‘greenwasher’. The answer: start today, start small, and build incrementally towards your goals.

Creating understanding

It’s important to keep in mind that no one is expecting you to be the greenest company in your sector right away. Legislators and consumers alike know that reducing your business’ carbon footprint is going to take time and investment. Really, they’re both simply looking for clarity. Where you are today and where you aim to go in the future. One study indicates that 60% of consumers show a preference for companies that have supply chain transparency – people just want to know where their products are coming from.

Legislators and consumers know that reducing your carbon footprint will take time. They’re just looking for clarity.

Again, we’re not talking about consumers who always make sustainability a priority. When the average consumer buys a t-shirt, a pair of shoes, or a food product, the product’s sustainability label may simply be one of many factors that go into their purchasing decision. But the mere fact that the label exists can give them a more positive feeling about a brand. Our 2024 Future Shopper Report indicates that 62% of consumers are more likely to buy a product that has a sustainability certificate. So, merely indicating your commitment to these efforts can boost your brand’s reputation. Of course, if your score could potentially damage your reputation, you can choose to hold off any marketing about it until your score improves. However, you should get to work on making improvements right away.

62% of consumers are more likely to buy a product with a sustainability certificate.

Walk before you run

It’s important to keep in mind that becoming more sustainable won’t happen overnight – and no one expects you to make radical changes today. In fact, every effective business change begins with a baseline measurement – a clear picture of where you are today. So, the first step in your sustainability efforts takes place with data and systems you already have. With Sustainable ShelfMaster, we offer you a phased approach to making changes with plenty of guidance along the way. We’ll start by connecting your PIM and ERP systems to the VML unification layer. During this Minimum Viable Product (MVP) phase, as few as two data points – product name and product category – can start calculating your current level of sustainability.

Starting with only two data points may seem oversimplified. But the right strategic partners can make the difference. One of VML’s partners in Sustainable ShelfMaster is Vaayu: a carbon- and impact-reduction partner dedicated to the retail sector. Vaayu’s CEO, Namrata Sandhu, explains: ‘Sustainability starts with knowing where you stand,’ she says. ‘No matter the state of a company’s data, there’s always an opportunity to take action. Vaayu and VML meet companies wherever they are in their journey. We arm companies with tools to start reducing emissions no matter the state of their data, and scale their efforts over time to drive real, measurable change across global supply chains.’

Building on the foundation

Of course, the more data you have, the more accurate your score becomes. So, in the Acceleration phase, we’ll add further data from procurement, logistics, and more to give greater confidence to your scores. In the Expansion phase, even more data – including data from external sources – will be added to refine your scores even more. These first three phases can take some time, during which your teams can strategize and prepare for actual changes to your operations that make them more sustainable. Only then can we enter the Optimization phase, in which we can start predicting the changes to your business practices that can have the greatest impact on your scores.

The more data you have, the more accurate your score becomes.

And that’s what’s great about Sustainable ShelfMaster – it enables you to run scenarios and see the impact of a variety of changes before you make them. So, you can be assured that the changes you make will have a direct impact on your carbon scores and, in turn, your eventual sustainability certificates. You’ll also have the data you need to prove that your efforts have indeed made your operations more sustainable.

Making the investment

Of course, making actual changes to your logistics, production, packaging, and other aspects of your business to be more sustainable will require an investment of both your time and money. It certainly won’t happen in an instant, and you’ll need the buy-in of the rest of C-suite to make sustainability a priority. But, as we indicated in the previous article, your investment will likely be repaid handsomely in customer loyalty and increased purchases. And you’ll have the data to prove it, too.

Another important factor is deciding who will actually pay for the sustainability improvements you make. A whopping 67% of consumers believe that your company should absorb the costs of making your products carbon neutral. The number of consumers who believe too much responsibility for sustainability is placed on their shoulders, instead of on business’ shoulders, is growing every year. In 2023, 58% of consumers wanted brands to take more responsibility. In 2024, it was 61%. And that number is likely to grow year after year, as savvy consumers continue to inform themselves about the root causes of climate change and the role of commerce.

But it’s not all bad news. A recent PWC report indicates that consumers are willing to spend an average of 9.7% extra for sustainably produced or sourced goods. And that’s no surprise, since 85% of them say they feel the disruptive effects of climate change in their daily lives. They’re willing to spend a little more if it helps them feel as though they’re contributing to change. The key is to find a balance. Customers are willing to bear a little of the financial responsibility, but they fully expect you to bear some too.

In breve

9.7%:

the extra amount consumers are willing to spend on sustainably produced or sourced goods.

Steps to success

Sustainable ShelfMaster’s stepwise approach doesn’t just make the journey easier to manage. It also enables your company to get started right away, and to walk the most effective path from Day 1. Instead of randomly switching suppliers or distributors on a hunch, data analyses will enable you to predict the impact of any changes you plan to make. This will save you precious time and money and help you make well-informed, data-driven decisions with real impact. In essence, we can help you take away the uncertainty and give you verifiable proof of the right actions to take.

With data analyses from Sustainable ShelfMaster, you can predict the impact of the changes you plan to make.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the idea of reshaping your business to enable more sustainable products and operations. But simply setting yourself up for success can take upwards of 12 months. And that’s more than enough time to explore your options and prepare for the next step, when you actually take targeted actions to reduce your carbon footprint and reap the rewards. And, if you start today, you’ll have the added benefit of being an innovator in your industry – since many of your competitors are as overwhelmed as you are – and haven’t gotten started yet, either.

Join the group think

In one Forrester study, 56% of European adults said that they want to understand more about how their choices impact the environment. By providing them with insight, you can fulfill that need and keep them loyal, especially when you accompany those scores with a clear message about your plans to improve. Your partners and suppliers may be willing to support you as well. In our B2B Future Shopper Report, 69% of B2B buyers said that they are willing to rent out space in their own warehouses to help smaller businesses shorten delivery time and have less of an environmental impact. When companies work together on solutions, we can all move forward together.

What does it take to gather the right data and take effective action? Stay tuned for our next article to find out. We’ll dive into our data-driven and proven approach to collecting and utilizing data to drive your efforts effectively.