Is your new year’s resolution to increase Shopify sales? Or maybe it’s to attract sustainable shoppers? Smart move — you’re clever to invest in yourself and your ecommerce business. At EcoCart, we want to help! As experts of the eco-conscious consumer, we have some tips on how to improve your Shopify store and get consistent sales on Shopify.
Truth time — If you’re competing in the online retail market, there’s a segment of potential customers you cannot afford to ignore, sustainable shoppers.
Eco-conscious consumers are a loyal (and growing) population. A recent IRi study with the Center for Sustainable Business found sustainable purchasing habits were maintained or increased among 93% of consumers, and sustainable product sales are growing 2.7 times faster than others.
Not only that, the Shelton Group found that among Millennial consumers, 90% prefer to shop with a brand whose environmental and social business practices they found trustworthy, and 95% would recommend that brand to a friend.
To recap, that’s faster growth, more sales, and greater organic reach through word-of-mouth recommendations… Sounds pretty good, right?
If you’re wondering how to increase Shopify sales, you need to get more customers of the eco-conscious demographic into your sales funnel — now let’s talk about how! No matter your product line, you can use these ideas to increase Shopify sales.
Why Sustainability Matters for Your Business
So much of the way we do business has been disrupted by technology and market forces; just look at these trends:
- the rise of ecommerce and its impact on the shipping industry
- the total restructuring of supply chains during the pandemic
- the threat of climate change and its impact on consumer choices
That’s a lot of change to keep up with! Adapting your business practices to be more sustainable can help attract eco-conscious customers on Shopify. Plus, it will also ensure you have a lasting business model that can withstand changes and market pressure to adopt green practices in the future.
Want to make your Shopify store more eco-friendly? Find out how to easily add a carbon-neutral shipping option with EcoCart. Let our clients, since adding our plugin to their store, Tribe Kelley saw a 19% lift in cart conversions — with 10% of customers using EcoCart to make their orders carbon neutral!
We predict emerging trends will show shoppers not only expect brands to take climate action but be transparent about how they’re offsetting their ecological footprint — and their impact on the planet in the first place. Now is the best time to start, if you haven’t already.
How to Attract Eco-Conscious Customers
We saw how customers, especially younger generations, base much of their purchasing decisions on a retailer’s sustainability initiatives. But, did you know your climate-responsible practices can also increase your customer lifetime value and attract sustainable shoppers? It’s true, our client Simbly discovered six months after implementing EcoCart to offer carbon offset purchases, they had a 38% increase in average order size on their sustainable furniture. Impressive, right?
We love these success stories, and they keep coming! JuneShine was already carbon neutral in their operations, they just needed some help with the last leg of logistics and engaging their clientele in their sustainability mission. That’s why they use EcoCart to offer carbon offset shipping. Now they have a 43% adoption of the climate-positive order option, and their customers have offset more than 2,260,363 pounds of carbon — making them 100% climate positive.
To start marketing your products to sustainable shoppers and increase Shopify sales, share the sustainability facts about your business and products, connect with them on social media, offer eco-friendly options — and watch your Shopify sales grow. We wrote the book on using sustainability to unlock ecommerce, you too can learn to grow big by going green!
Tailor Your Sustainability Message to Your Consumers
Keep your message simple. There’s a lot of jargon in the sustainability industry that only experts genuinely understand. When you talk about your business’s sustainability practices, make sure you’re clear, concise, and jargon-free.
Your customers might not understand the scientific basis behind your efforts to reduce carbon emissions in your product lifecycle, but they will see how you’re making their lives easier with your sustainable cart, allowing them to be carbon-neutral while shopping online. And it’s not only important at checkout! Every interaction with your brand through their customer journey is a chance to showcase your sustainability practices.
Telling your story in real terms resonates with real people — and over time, they’ll become loyal ambassadors for your brand!
Include Your Sustainability Efforts in Your Marketing
The best way to reach those future brand ambassadors is to share your sustainability impact far and wide. Definitely don’t publish your corporate social responsibility statement to your social channels, but you should let your prospective customers in on your plans to reduce your carbon emissions, become carbon neutral or net zero, and set your business up for sustainable ecommerce.
You can even include post-purchase storytelling with EcoCart’s Sustainability Insights Dashboard to show the world your customers’ environmental impact.
This approach to intentional storytelling works (we should know). Still, if you need more proof, the Harvard Business Review found that shoppers’ sustainable purchases increased by 65% after they learned another shopper had already bought eco-friendly products.
And if that’s not compelling enough, almost two-thirds of shoppers will recommend a product if they think it isn’t bad for the planet. And where do these recommendations happen? On social media, of course!
Use Social Media to Influence and Attract Customers
Partnering with the right influencers on social media to promote your products is one of the most cost-effective ways to expand your reach. It’s true; the ROI for influencer marketing is outpacing traditional marketing! On average, businesses make $6.50 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing, making it a great option for a savvy brand with a smaller marketing budget.
That said, finding the right social media influencer to fit your brand takes time and research. Partnerships with influencers with fewer but highly engaged followers might be a better investment for your brand than large but less value-aligned accounts. The key is trust — people are far more likely to purchase if they trust the source of the product recommendation.
And on the topic of trust, Forbes found 92% of shoppers were likely to trust companies that have ethical and sustainable business practices. As you know, transparency is an essential factor in trust. Next, we have tips on how to increase transparency in your operations.
Highlight Eco-Friendly Details in Your Product Descriptions
Today’s shoppers are on the lookout for “greenwashing” and other inauthentic attempts to appear eco-friendly. When more than a quarter of shoppers seek out sustainable products, it’s a great chance to give them what they’re looking for! You can help them make informed purchasing decisions by including the details about what makes your products sustainable. Think about having the following:
- standards for how your raw materials are grown/created
- working condition information for your manufacturers
- percentages of ethical or eco-conscious materials in each product
- third-party sustainability certifications you and your suppliers maintain
Include a Section About Sustainability on Your Site
Now that you have your sustainability information included with each product, it’s time to layer in an overall commitment to eco-friendly products and practices — with a concrete action plan.
In your sustainability section, you can show off your sustainability milestones, describe your carbon emissions reduction tactics, any carbon reduction projects you support, annual reports, and more. Use fun elements like graphics and progress counters to show your progress toward your sustainability targets. And, just like on your marketing channels, be clear and transparent about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and what impact you hope to have. Get creative, have fun, and most importantly, be sincere.
Offer Carbon-Neutral Shipping Options
Shopify surveyed thousands of shoppers and found that 47% wanted to buy from brands with eco-friendly practices, like carbon-neutral shipping and low-waste operations. And, in Privy’s State of Shopify report, younger shoppers’ purchasing decisions were driven by discovering and shopping via social media, preferring to buy sustainable products, and shopping to have an impact.
This is the easy part — EcoCart has you covered with our Shopify shipping solution. We’ve made it simple for you to enable Shopify carbon-neutral shipping supported by our carbon offset services. With our plugin, your customers are one click away from offsetting the emissions from their purchase. We saved the best tip to increase your Shopify sales for last — our clients see up to a 22% increase in cart conversion after enabling EcoCart. It’s a win for you, too!
