Welcome to Episode 75

https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep75

It’s becoming increasingly vital to PROVE your sustainability claims.  

Yes, part of that is to do with increasing levels of regulation around what you can and can’t say.  But when it comes to growing your brand, the part that often gets overlooked is providing proof, in trustworthy, credible and consistent ways, to your potential consumers.

We’ve had a couple of technology based solutions on the show in the past, including Austin Simms from Dayrize back in episode 11, and Akhil Sivanandan from Greenstory in episode 27. Both are great solutions, but to date mostly focused on supporting the fashion and textiles supply chain due to the huge life cycle data sets available.

But I recently came across another incredible platform that I wanted to share with you on today’s show. Instead of generating transparency for fashion brands, this one is focused on supporting the credibility of thousands of brands in the personal care, cosmetics and home cleaning spaces.

So my guest today is Jessi Baker, MBE, founder of Provenance, a UK-based technology platform bringing blockchain level transparency to sustainability marketing.

For so many reasons I think this might be one of the most important episodes we’ve ever done on this show. My gut feel is that 2023 marks an epoch change in sustainability marketing, from the wild west where you can say anything you want, to a more professional era underpinned by regulation and much more enlightened, cynical and educated consumerism.  

Proving what you’re doing with certifications is just one thing.  You need to be able to surface that up in a consistent, compliant, recognisable and trustworthy way across all your channels and all your geographies. That becomes an ever more daunting prospect as you grow, and one where tools like Provenance offer the next generation in marketing support.

Welcome to Episode 74

https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep74

If you’ve been listening to the show for a while, you’ll likely have picked up that as a keen diver, the ocean plastics problem was one of my key motivators in setting up Sustainable Ecommerce.  

So, there’s a special place in my heart for entrepreneurs working to solve that problem by using or averting ocean plastics. 

When my friend Peter Donnelly from the Sustainability Champions podcast let me know about today’s guest, I knew immediately he was someone I wanted to chat to.  

Ben Ridding is the founder of Cornish brand ULU Ocean Explorer.  The brand helps people connect with and explore the ocean with their range of dry bags, but it’s their journey to using  ocean-bound plastic to make their products that really piqued my interest.  As we dive into the conversation, it becomes clear just how powerful and congruent their brand story is, and as more and more brands talk about using recycled plastic, how important it is to weave in an authentic story of impact to really resonate with consumers.

Welcome to Episode 73

https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep73

Back in the first show of the year, I proposed the brand collaborations were going to be one of the most important marketing strategies for 2023, so I though it was well and truly time we explored what that actually means, and how to do it effectively.

Over the years I’ve had many conversations with brand owners about doing brand collaborations. Some, like Maxim Gellman we heard from in last week’s show, viewed them as pivotal to their success, but most have expressed at best a mediocre result, often describing them as a complete waste of time. 

So to explore this topic and give you the critical understanding and insights you need to turn your collaborations from Meh to Marvellous, I asked the wonderful Jess Rhufus, founder of Collabosaurus to join us today.  If you’re not familiar with it already, Collabosaurus is one of the world’s leading collaborations platforms, kind of like match-making for brands.  

With experience from seeing just about every type of collaboration across the 10,000+ brands on her platform, as well as seeing how the strategy has evolved over the past decade, Jess brings some refreshing clarity to this topic.

Get ready to take notes as you listen to today’s show, because the actionable tips come thick and fast!

Welcome to Episode 72!

https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep72

As we know, authorities around the world are hard at work stamping out single use plastics, especially within the food service and hospitality space.  Reusable alternatives to things like coffee cups have exploded in usage, and are a genuine alternative for the majority of times when you’re grabbing some caffeine. 

But what happens for spontaneous purchases? 

News in NSW recently was that the much vaunted compostable cups were going to get banned because they were starting to contaminate waste streams, and causing just as many problems as they solve.  Carrying re-usable everything, while likely the most sustainable option, frankly just isn’t that convenient.

So if plastic is on way out, coated paper isn’t all that crash hot – what other alternatives could there be? 

Enter the concept of edible tableware. We’re just starting to see the idea of this creep into Australia with a few brands doing edible cups, but my guest today, Maxim Gelmann is someone who’s been pioneering this concept since 2015. His brand Stroodles started with pasta-based straws, but now covers everything from plates to ice cream spoons.   

Whether or not the items used actually get eaten is almost beside the point – what I loved most about Maxim and Stroodles is how he sees the brand’s role in making sustainability more accessible to mainstream consumers.

Welcome to Episode 71!

https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep71

On last weeks show we opened a doorway into sustainable logistics with Sendle. James last week just touched on Collection Points, or PUDO points as one facet of their drive towards Net Zero logistics.

In today’s show, I wanted to dive a little deeper, and help you understand just how important they can be in delivering a better customer experience, how they can help you offer more sustainable delivery options to your customers, and how they may be able to help facilitate a more cost-effective approach to circularity.

So, my guest today is David McLean, founder and CEO of Hubbed, Australia’s leading Collection Point network.   

As you’ll disover, not only are Hubbed the provider handling the collection point platform for Amazon and eBay with nearly 3000 locations around Australia, they can also help any brand offer the surging demand for Click & Collect services normally only accessible to hybrid or bricks & mortar brands.

With last mile delivery estimated to contribute 50% or more of the carbon emissions for order fulfilment, I do think Collection Points are a critical puzzle piece that all brands should be evaluating.

Welcome to Episode 70!

https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep70

I thought I’d start with something a little different today, so here’s a little riddle: 

What am I?  I am used by every single physical product brand in every vertical.  I am essential to your business model.  I am essential to your customer experience yet I am almost completely out of your control. I am one of the largest part of your cost base and one of the largest parts of your carbon footprint.

Did you figure it out?

Of course, I’m talking about logistics, specifically order delivery. Its something that most brands take for granted, and like I alluded to, simply go with the easiest or cheapest option.

Of course these days, Australia Post has made giant strides to reduce their carbon footprint, but the provider that challenged them to do that and to this day is still leading the way in terms of sustainability innovation with their drive towards Zero emissions and support for circularity is of course Sendle. 

Today I’m chatting with James Chin Moody, the founder and CEO at Sendle, about their journey from humble gifting company to global logistics provider.

We chat about the complexities of Net Zero logistics, about challenging state-run monopolies, and about how Sendle’s operational DNA is quite different to other logistics providers, putting them in the driver’s seat to empower the circular economy.

Welcome to Episode 69!

https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep69

There is no doubt that we are now entering the age of increased scrutiny.  Scrutiny from regulators who are increasingly cracking down on false claims, but also scrutiny from potential customers and consumers who are looking to for ways to validate their choices and feel confident that brands they buy from are doing the right things.

That usually means 3rd party certification, and by far the fastest growing certification brand in terms of both consumer awareness and brand adoption is B Corp.  

You’ve almost certainly already heard of B Corp Certification, but if you haven’t, it’s a business level certification that examines the conduct and impact of your business across 5 key areas – including workers, customers, environment, community and governance.  

If you’re a sustainable, purpose driven brand, its quickly becoming a very important part of your proof landscape, but the benefits of going through the process by no means stop at getting a nice badge to add to your website.

To explore B Corp in more detail and help give you a deeper understanding of what’s involved, my guest today is Tim Jones, founder of Grow Good. 

Tim in fact was the first qualified B Corp Consultant in NZ and is better known as That B Corp Bloke, and since 2014 has helped hundreds of brands of all sizes successfully navigate what is a complicated and often daunting process.

Welcome to Episode 68!

https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep68

On today’s show we take a look at a brand that’s turning the sales of sustainably-made bedding basics into social good.  Laura McConnell Conti is the co-founder of GoKindly, a social enterprise that donates 50% of profits to women and non-binary people experiencing housing stress through charities like Juno and Women’s Housing. 

In our chat Laura shares her personal journey towards starting a business-for-good, and the journey the brand continues to be on in evaluating the most sustainable way to make bedding basics like quilts and pillows, including taking responsibility for end of life.

We also explore Laura’s commitment to what she calls the Kindness Circle, how that requires conscious decision making at all touchpoints with the brand, and how they’ve distilled all the incredible things they do down to a simple message that both customers, employees and other stakeholders can understand and get on board with instantly.

That my friends, is the very essence of sustainability marketing!

Welcome to Episode 67!

https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep67

Last week we heard the first part of our conversation with Lucy Jeffrey from Bare Kind, and we explored how she communicates impact, which included some really important lessons for all impact-entrepreneurs. 

If you haven’t already listened, I recommend you backtrack and listen to that episode first, because it sets us up for today’s show. 

But the reason I asked Lucy to join me was that in just 12-18 months, she has been phenomenally successful in driving growth through wholesale channels, bringing on over 700 stores. 

With profitable growth being trickier than ever for eCommerce brands this year, especially sustainable brands with an inherently higher Cost of Goods, I wanted pick Lucy’s brains and give you access to some of the key insights she’s picked up on how to make that work.

To quickly summarise where we got to in the last episode, Lucy’s brand has been growing very well, with 10X growth in 2021 and then doubling into 2022, but largely due to the increasing cost of acquisition together with increases in retail shipping costs, their growth in 2022 came without increased profit. Bare Kind have a largely giftable product set that is heavily seasonal, 60% of their revenue is tied to Christmas sales, so to smooth that out as well as find a more profitable growth strategy, she’s turned to wholesale, specifically through wholesale marketplaces like Faire. 

In this episode we dive into more details about Lucy’s strategy so that you can replicate her success.

We learn about how to get the most from wholesale platforms, how to price products for success, and much much more.

Welcome to Episode 66!

https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep66

Today we’re chatting with a founder who’s every breath is focused on driving profit to enable her brand’s purpose.  Lucy Jeffrey is the inspirational young founder of Barekind, a brand that makes a range of animal themed bamboo socks. With every sale, 10% of profits from go directly to supporting conservation projects protecting the featured animal.

Now, I asked Lucy to join me on the show, not just because she’s growing a really awesome sustainable brand, but because I became aware of the phenomenal success they’ve been having with wholesale, and I wanted to pick her brains about that for strategies you could use in your brands too.  However, I was so fascinated by our discussion that we accidentally carried on for over an hour, so to make the content a little more manageable and fit in your day, I’ve decided to split the recording over 2 episodes.

Today’s episode then focuses on Profit and Impact. There are some really interesting lessons I want to share with you about how Barekind communicate their impact, which are immensely important to understand if your brand is strongly purpose-driven. Towards the end, we touch on how important wholesale has been to building a bigger profit base for the brand, which of course enables more impact. 

Then, in next week’s show, we’ll come back to the second half of our interview where we’ll explore the exact strategies Barekind are using to get into over 700 retail stores. I’ll be ruthlessly quizzing Lucy for tips and tricks for success in wholesaling, and we’ll learn how you can get your hands on even more insights to take your wholesale strategy to the next level.