It’s not often that consumers are willing to pay more for the same service. But that’s exactly what we’re seeing when it comes to shipping — more than half of 500 survey respondents say that they would pay 10% more for packaging and shipping practices that are more eco-friendly. Even amid pandemic-induced capacity constraints and increased demand, supply chain professionals are not shying away from sustainability in logistics.
Supply chain platform Verte wants to help with those efforts. The cloud-based e-commerce service on Tuesday announced a partnership with Manifest Commerce, a sustainable fulfillment business, to offer an eco-friendly 3PL solution. The agreement will harness the integrative power of Verte’s proprietary technology with Manifest’s sustainable fulfillment practices.
Verte’s services connect marketplaces, platforms and 3PLs to provide real-time e-commerce and supply chain visibility. Its AI platform allows retailers to manage inventory by measuring the probabilities of need, demand and consumption, and that data helps them reduce excess stock and lower the number of trips when moving goods.
“We invested in solutions and AI technology that keep the customer journey as the sole focus; omnichannel brands can avoid overproduction and dead inventory and can ensure that the products are closer to the customer by localizing pickup and delivery. This decreases the carbon footprint, and our partnership with Manifest embodies this goal and redefines the future of fulfillment,” said Bob Klunk, COO at Project Verte.
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Paired with Manifest’s services, Verte’s offering can provide those same services but with a greener outlook. Manifest promises omnichannel retailers carbon-neutral fulfillment, zero plastics, recyclable packing materials and green warehousing, and it brings over 750,000 square feet of warehousing space, packed with the latest in fulfillment and automation technology, to follow through on that mission.
“E-commerce is a massive contributor to climate change. Our goal is to create operational efficiencies for retailers with minimal impact on the environment. This partnership with Verte will enhance our sustainable model for omnichannel brands,” said George Wojciechowski, CEO of Manifest.
According to Verte’s press release, total e-commerce packaging waste reached 295 million tons in 2020. For the statisticians in the room, that equals the weight of over 1 1/2 million fully grown blue whales. In other words, it’s a lot of trash, and the vast majority of it is ending up in landfills and waterways.
Not only is that costly for the environment — it’s just straight-up costly. The Carbon Disclosure Project, a nonprofit global environmental disclosure platform, discovered through its research that companies are looking at costs of up to $120 billion by 2026 stemming solely from environmental risks in their supply chains. Sustainability isn’t just good for the environment — it’s good business, and Verte and Manifest recognize it.
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