Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22. Created to honor the environmental movement and raise public awareness about the importance of protecting the planet, this event furnishes companies like yours with the perfect opportunity to explore how to make your business more sustainable, and to communicate what you are doing in this regard to your customers.
Since environmental awareness is top of mind for many consumers, particularly members of Gen Z, making this a priority will lead to a host of advantages for your store.
What does sustainability mean for your business?
By definition, sustainability is a term referring to the practice of running your business and operations with an eye toward protecting the planet. The challenge is to do so while still maintaining profits and growing as an organization.
Companies live out their pledge of being sustainable in a variety of ways: by reducing waste, conserving resources, manufacturing and shipping products using more eco-friendly materials and demonstrating fair labor practices that take diversity, equity and inclusion into consideration.
Sustainability’s importance in a changing world
Now more than ever, people are concerned about the tangible effects of climate change, plastic pollution and social inequity. As well as wanting to learn about the issues, many have made a commitment to spend their dollars with the environment in mind.
In other words, a growing number of shoppers will go out of their way to buy from stores that walk their sustainability talk.
On the surface, this can mean working to reduce a store’s carbon footprint by changing how goods are made and shipped. However, it also involves scrutinizing internal operations, processes and resource management.
When all of these are optimized with the Earth as a top priority, your back office can become more streamlined and cost-effective, bolstering your budget and simultaneously impressing and pleasing your customers.
Concentrating on sustainability can spark unexpected innovation. A company working to improve its energy consumption, waste management and environmental impact may find that they arrive at new, more effective strategies that might just change their entire industry or, at the very least, provide them with a competitive edge.
Communicating your sustainability priorities
Making better environmental choices is important in and of itself, but you will not realize the full benefits of a burnished brand reputation and increased consumer spending unless you figure out how to toot your own horn.
Start by crafting messaging that is directed toward your target audience’s environmental convictions and hits on at least one of their most pressing concerns. Review it carefully to ensure that your words are easy to understand, credible and accurate.
You then must convey your carefully curated message to the people who need to hear it. Vital communication channels include your own web page, social media forums, emails, signage at the point of sale and product packaging.
Keep in mind that while some consumers will be happy with a simple logo or sustainability badge, others will want to have access to specific details that showcase your efforts.
Never underestimate the role your employees can play in getting the word out about your sustainability strategies. For example, cashiers can inform customers about what you are doing for the environment when they are taking a customer’s mobile payments or virtual payments. They can also accept donations toward an environmentally-oriented cause with which your company is aligned.
In addition to those who work for you, customers can also be vital change-makers in your journey toward sustainability. Listen to how your clients want to contribute by enlisting their feedback via surveys, social media posts and questionnaires on your website.
Employees who interact with your patrons every day can also be excellent sources of information about how customers want to be part of the sustainability solution you are creating by virtue of their direct contact.
Finally, create messaging that personalizes your sustainability efforts through real-life examples that everyone can relate to and support. Instead of merely spouting boring statistics and data outcomes, communicate in the form of narratives that bring your hard work to life. Ultimately, it is most effective to provide a direct call to action that gives stakeholders concrete ways to be a part of your initiatives.
Earth Day only comes once a year. However, you can set up your business to be an ambassador of its message and the actions it promotes throughout the year. When you do, your socially aware, conscientious customers will thank you with their ongoing business.
North is a leading financial technology company that builds innovative, frictionless end-to-end payment solutions designed to simplify and grow businesses of all sizes. From the front door, to the back office, the developer world, and partnerships that expand the payments landscape, North offers proactive, comprehensive merchant services, in-house processing, and more.
