Shopify has announced the release of the Shop app, including a built-in Shopify carbon offsetting tool for automatically offsetting the carbon from online orders.
Designed to consolidate all Shopify eCommerce sites into a single platform, Shop looks to provide consumers with a single, seamless shopping experience.
Clearly, Shopify feels the environmental footprint of online orders will soon become essential criteria in consumer decision making.
Shopify vs Amazon
Think of the Shop App as Shopify’s answer to Amazon. Customers can shop all Shopify stores from within a single app, creating what is effectively a centralised marketplace of Shopify merchants.
Using a single ‘Shop Pay’ checkout, customers save their payment and shipping information in a single secure location. The encrypted data is therefore available instantly at checkout without the need to fill out any of your details.
Shop then consolidates all orders placed on any Shopify eCommerce site. Creating what is effectively a master account area, customers can track all orders and shipping information in a centralised location.
By centralising all your online shopping into a single place, Shopify then aims to provide you with a more personalised shopping experience. By utilising the knowledge of ALL your online purchases, the aim will be to personalise future eCommerce journeys with both product and online experiences tailored to your tastes.
Carbon Offsetting All Online Orders
By using Shop Pay as a single eCommerce checkout, Shop is also looking to offer its customers with the potential to offset all their online purchases.
Using a central payment and shipping network, the Shop App can track and calculate the total carbon footprint of your online shopping with Shopify merchants. This carbon footprint is then offset through the planting and protection of trees.
Partnering with Pachama, the offsets purchased by Shopify invest in projects that are certified to comply with best-in-class protocols and standards. Shop’s current carbon offset project protects trees in the Peruvian rainforest, one of the largest and most biodiverse rainforests in the world.
Sustainability as a selling point
Clearly, Shopify has commercial reasons for this move. For them, there is a substantial financial upside in encouraging online consumers to use Shop as their preferred location when shopping online.
This is precisely the Amazon model. By creating a consistent shopping experience, with competitive pricing, and a seamless checkout and delivery process, Amazon can win market share by developing a routine with consumers.
Shopify, and the Shop App, are a long way from being anywhere comparable to Amazon, however its an interesting move to use carbon offsetting as a key feature.
It demonstrates the growing demands with consumers for sustainability to be a key consideration when purchasing. While cost, convenience, and ease of purchase will likely still dominate, the fact that carbon offsetting is sitting alongside these factors as a selling point is a strong sign in the changes with consumer demands.
Check out full details on Shopify Shop at https://shop.app/
Further Reading: Shopify Sustainability: Fund Carbon Sequestration. Read More