eCommerce logistics provider Shippit has announced the introduction of carbon-neutral delivery as standard for their merchants. Every delivery sent using Shippit’s discounted shipping services, will offset 100% of the carbon emissions at no extra cost.
With increasing numbers of consumers shopping online, Shippit has announced their commitment to try and help reduce the impact of eCommerce on the environment through carbon offsetting. Partnering with the https://carbonneutral.com.au/, Shippit carbon neutral delivery option helps retailers to start their sustainability journey with close to zero effort.
We caught up with Rob Hango-Zada, Co-Founder & Joint CEO at Shippit, to discuss the new 100% carbon neutral delivery option, and also get his thoughts on the future of “sustainable” logistics.
Can you explain the drivers behind launching Shippit Carbon Neutral Delivery?
Carbon emissions are the largest contributor to man-made climate change. With 8 out of 10 consumers shopping online, the environmental impact of eCommerce delivery is adding up, we all have a role to play in reducing our impact on the environment. We believe in a future where retail is sustainable. We believe in a future where you shouldn’t have to trade off business growth and the wellbeing of our planet— after all, ‘free’ delivery shouldn’t cost the earth.
The time has come to ensure our business practices align with our beliefs, that’s why we decided to launch 100% Carbon Neutral Delivery through offsetting the carbon emitted by any delivery sent on Shippit’s discounted rates with partner carriers.
Some people question the effectiveness of Carbon Offsetting- why does Shippit feel this Carbon Neutral Delivery is important?
As eCommerce sales surge with the COVID-19 pandemic, online retail penetration has experienced 4-5 years of growth in just 5 weeks. With delivery playing an essential part in connecting sellers to customers, Shippit is committed to a future of retail that is sustainable. That’s why we are empowering retailers of all shapes and sizes to take action on climate change when it comes to delivery.
With a myriad of carbon offset providers in commercial carbon trade, it can be tricky judging the quality of offset providers. In isolation, carbon offsetting doesn’t provide a direct answer to global warming but it has a critical role in the greater solution to tackle climate change. Offsetting the carbon emitted from any delivery sent through Shippit, goes hand in hand with our internal reduction strategy to limit carbon emissions from our business and to drive awareness and change on decreasing Greenhouse gas emissions across our community and industry.
Shippit has partnered with Australian Carbon Solutions Provider, Carbon Neutral to purchase offsets to directly support the Chakala Wind-Based Power Generation Project in India that is verified by Verra, the most widely used verified carbon standard world-wide.
Have you experienced a market demand for a Carbon Neutral service? Would you say this has been mostly retailers or consumers?
Absolutely. Retailers have been the main driver behind the demand for a Carbon Neutral service. Shippit interfaces with both retailers and their customers, through communication of tracking and notifications. We’re in a unique position to generate awareness amongst consumers globally, with every delivery on our Carbon Neutral delivery service and how we can tackle climate change, together.
We live in a current eCommerce industry where both the speed, and cost, of delivery have become critical for eCommerce conversions. Both of these demands make sustainable logistics challenging. How do you feel this can be addressed?
The logistics industry is fragmented with each provider operating as a closed infrastructure network, so it’s definitely challenging to address the issue of sustainability by investing in infrastructure.
Shippit believes consumers have the right to more choice when it comes to delivery options, and because we have access to such a diverse range of courier services, we’re best placed as a software provider to drive positive change through our partnerships with couriers.
To reduce the carbon footprint of deliveries booked on our platform, we have begun work on consolidating shipments across carriers with a common location. Currently being tested, this is just the first step in how Shippit can offer retailers a more flexible, sustainable logistics network. Once this has been finessed, this has the potential to be rolled out on a global scale.
How do you see global eCommerce evolving?
The COVID online shopping boom has seen Australia’s weekly online sales volumes have surpassed the highest levels last year by 33%. We’ve essentially leapfrogged three to five years of online penetration in the space of four weeks. Whilst global eCommerce has slowed with border restrictions and reductions in international flights, what we’ve seen locally could be said for other markets worldwide.
What we are seeing now is fundamentally changing the way we shop, habits which will be reinforced with each additional week we spend in isolation. Traditional norms are being broken across the industry by the pandemic and new developments in contactless deliveries are sure to become more prominent in the net few months
How do you feel the logistics industry will evolve to become more sustainable?
A more sustainable logistics industry will require dramatic infrastructure changes and innovation. To become more sustainable, we may see widespread use of electric vehicles and further last mile innovations such as autonomous vehicles become common-place, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. Combining intelligence on consumer buying habits and inventory network optimisation will go hand in hand to minimise transit distances and carbon emissions. Moving to electrical vehicles seems like an easy, yet capital intensive win.
We may also see developments in the shared delivery economy change the way consumers receive their deliveries. Imagine if we can pool together deliveries for the same area by one Uber driver on his way to pick up a passenger too? The options are virtually limitless, we just need to start being creative in the way we think about the delivery economy.
Fast forward 10 years, how do you picture the logistics industry? Do you see a complete change in the way we move product
Definitely. Online penetration has been rapidly increasing and historically logistics has been slow to catch-up. Whilst eCommerce demand is elastic, logistics isn’t. The industry was never built for the demands of eCommerce. With networks being owner-operated and closed, logistics capacity is not connected. Connectivity between some networks occurs today but this is very manual and static. With logistics infrastructure being everywhere, it’s our mission to make it accessible, scalable and cost-effective for anyone to use. By doing this we will create delivery experiences that are transparent, reliable & delightful, greatly reducing delivery failures & waste.
Thanks to Rob and the Shippit team for their thoughts. More information on the Shippit Carbon Neutral Delivery scheme can be found at https://www.shippit.com/carbon-neutral/
Further Reading: Electric Vehicles: Is Electric Last-Mile Delivery the Key to Sustainable eCommerce? Read More