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In 2020, the global retail market reached a value of approximately $20,331 billion. That’s an increase at a CAGR of 2.4% since 2015. Today, the retail industry is one of the biggest markets in the world.
In today’s retail industry, it’s important to focus on sustainability and environmental friendliness. Fortunately, there are several steps that you can take to ensure a more responsible supply chain.
1. Improve Sustainability Through Logistics
Supply chain management software can help you to ensure a greener and more sustainable supply chain in your retail business. These systems allow you to monitor the movement of goods from suppliers, warehouses, distribution centers, and stores.
Some supply chain management software programs are designed to be green or sustainable by design. For example, they may use less energy than other technologies and/or have a smaller carbon footprint during manufacturing processes, such as producing servers or PCs for use with the software program on your computer.
Such products can help you reduce waste generated by manufacturing operations as well as improve air quality through better recycling practices during transportation between facilities within your organization.
Worldwide supply chain management market value will reach $42.46 billion by 2027. However, market disruptions might affect this growth. Thus, it’s best to keep track of your supply chain using proper technology. Otherwise, your business will fail to contribute to the growth of this market.
2. Develop a Strategy for Your Entire Store Supply Chain
To ensure that your business is doing everything it can to reduce its environmental impact, you’ll need to develop a strategy for your entire store supply chain.
There are many different parts of the supply chain, and each has its own challenges and opportunities. Identifying the most important areas of your supply chain is the first step in creating an effective strategy for reducing your carbon footprint. Focusing on these areas will help ensure that you meet your sustainability goals.
Prioritizing them will make sure nothing falls through the cracks during implementation, which could be critical if one or two small changes make all the difference between success and failure.
3. Use Professional ESG Software
ESG software platforms monitor and evaluate your progress on specific environmental and social issues. They also optimize your performance against these metrics. With the right platform, you will be able to reduce waste in your supply chain by helping you make smarter decisions about how products are produced and shipped to retail locations.
Additionally, this type of ESG software can help you reduce energy use within your operations by pointing out trends that may result in wasted resources due to inefficient processes or products. Click here to learn more about ESG software and how it can impact your retail business.
4. Put Your Plan into Action
Your plan is a great start, but now you need to put it into action. You’ll want to monitor the progress of your efforts and make adjustments as necessary.
You can start by ensuring that products in your supply chain can be recycled or reused. For example, if you sell clothing at your retail store, make sure that any materials from this apparel are being collected for recycling instead of ending up in landfills or incinerators.
Another way to reduce waste is by having a plan for how much energy goes into each product before it’s sold at one of your stores. This way, there’s no excess energy used during production, transportation, and storage before reaching consumers.
5. Monitor and Optimize Your Progress
Having a clear idea of the environmental impacts throughout your supply chain can help you make sure that you’re making the right environmental choices. Use data to measure improvement over time or benchmark against other businesses in your industry or sector.
You can also use this information to evaluate new suppliers, products, and services for potential improvements in terms of their environmental impact. This will ensure that you are not only moving in the right direction but also maintaining an ongoing focus on improving environmental performance at all levels of your supply chain.
6. Ensure That Products Can be Recycled in Your Supply Chain
While you’re ensuring that your products are recyclable, it’s also important to check that all the materials in your supply chain are being recycled. This includes checking that your suppliers have good recycling processes and making sure they’re recycling everything they can.
If you provide packaging for the products you sell, ensure that this is recyclable, for example, by using biodegradable plastics or paperboard instead of plastic-coated paper. If you sell food products, make sure these can be composted or recycled instead of ending up in a landfill or an incinerator as waste after use.
7. Reduce Waste in Your Supply Chain
When it comes to reducing waste, you can begin by reducing the amount of packaging you use. This will help your business save money and reduce its carbon footprint. Recycling materials is another way you can cut down on waste in your supply chain process. The best way to do this is by using reusable materials or recyclable materials such as cardboard or plastic when sourcing new products and packaging. Once these items are used up, they can be recycled or reused until they have no more value.
When it comes time to dispose of any unused or unwanted materials that cannot be recycled, encourage employees to find ways other than throwing them away. If there are still items left over after recycling efforts have been made, consider donating them so they can be used again instead of simply throwing them out into a landfill.
8. Transition to Shorter Delivery Times and Fewer Warehouses
If you’re looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint, one of the simplest and most effective things you can do is change your delivery times. The longer it takes for a product to get where it needs to go, the more fuel is used in transportation. Therefore, making sure products are delivered as quickly as possible will help reduce emissions.
Another benefit of this approach is that shorter delivery times also reduce storage costs for retailers. This means consumers will pay less money on each purchase at your business because there’s no need for additional warehouses or storage space. Thus, fewer materials are needed in construction.
Between 2020 and 2025, the retail market is set to reach a value of almost $30,000 billion. By 2030, the value will reach almost $40,000 billion. Thus, it’s evident that the market will continue to bring in profits, and you can benefit from this as long as you cater to your customers.
As a retailer, there is no doubt that you want to provide the best experience for your customers. At present, this experience also involves ensuring environment-friendly standards. Following these tips will help you realize and work on this.
