Can Black Friday be eco-friendly? COVID-19 pushes e-commerce sales to unprecedented levels

27 Nov 2020 --- The COVID-19 pandemic has surged e-commerce sales to unprecedented levels. The bar is bound to be raised again by this year’s Black Friday sales. 

What was commonly known as a single-day commercial event transitioning the Thanksgiving holiday to the Christmas season has now become “Black Friday week” – incentivizing consumers to purchase more than they might in just 24 hours and maximizing profits from urgency-driven sales.

Products ordered online are bought with long-term use in mind, but their packaging serves a temporary purpose. 

The extraordinary e-commerce evolution begs the question whether online shopping in its current state could ever truly become environmentally-friendly. PackagingInsights looks at waste-reducing initiatives from leading paper-based e-commerce suppliers DS Smith and BillerudKorsnäs. 

Making recycling the easy choice
In July, DS Smith predicted online shopping had reached a point of no return when lockdown restrictions made e-commerce the go-to option.

The company’s research revealed that 64 percent of Europeans shopped online more often during the pandemic. Eighty-nine percent of respondents indicated they would continue to shop online at the same level or even more frequently post-lockdown.DS Smith invented industry-first e-commerce facilities for Drop, Impact, Shock, Crush and Shake testing.

According to another report by DS Smith, 60 percent of e-commerce deliveries contain packaging that is either one-quarter air or uses typically unrecyclable polystyrene and plastic fillers for product protection. 

Void-filled packaging also results in heavier loads. Larger boxes take up more space, which leads to more trips and more delivery vehicles on the road.

Calls for more environmentally friendly packaging materials are no pandemic novelty. DS Smith research highlights that 62 percent of Europeans are willing to pay more for reduced plastic packaging – data gained in November 2019.

Ahead of the purchasing frenzy, DS Smith is advocating for other packaging companies and e-retailers to use easily recyclable packaging materials and avoid polystyrene. 

The company is also emphasizing the benefits of traceable closed-loop models exemplified by Laithwaite Wine to help lower the pressure on waste systems.

Preventing damaged packs
With environmental sustainability at the top of mind, e-commerce packaging still needs to serve its primary purpose: safe delivery of goods. Approximately US$831 million worth of damaged goods were delivered on Black Friday in 2018 due to inadequate packaging, according to DS Smith estimations. 

DS Smith uses DISCS, its dedicated packaging durability testing hub, to reduce the risk of damaged goods at the packaging design stage.

Named after the types of testing (Drop, Impact, Shock, Crush, Shake), the system consists of five pieces of equipment, each replicating a part of the product journey and providing real-world testing for retailers’ packaging.

• Drop: Can your package survive a careless delivery?
• Impact: What if a heavy object hits your package on the conveyor?
• Shake: Is your package optimized for diverse transport methods?
• Crush: Can your package handle the pressure of bad stacking techniques?
• Shock: What if your package is thrown into the back of a van?

More than just broken products are on the line. Shoppers aged 18-24 are the most likely age group to leave a negative review or tell a friend about a damaged product, while 25-34-year olds are more likely to complain on social media – both of which can seriously damage a brand’s reputation.

Surging Black Friday sales gives industry an opportunity to prioritize recyclable packaging, such as X-pression E-com.Xpression E-com packs an e-punch
Adhering to calls for more recyclable yet durable packaging solutions is BillerudKorsnäs’ Xpression E-com. The online retail mailing bags are paper-based and are life cycle assessment-proven to produce less CO2 relative to RE bags and recycled corrugated boxes.

The company recently revealed it is using Black Friday momentum to promote its paper bag line, aiming to continue promoting Xpression E-Comm after the holiday season concludes.

BillerudKorsnäs states it is currently “working with a variety of fashion retailers across the globe.”

Innova Market Insights crowned “Packing an e-Punch” as its third top packaging trend for 2020. 

E-commerce growth is opening up an array of brand enhancement opportunities, particularly through the consumer unboxing experience and so-called “wow factor” effects, stemming from both the packaging itself and its contents. 

By Anni Schleicher