4 Ways to Make your Last-Mile Deliveries More Eco-Friendly

Technology is now an essential part of business operations because customers are impatient and want their orders as soon as possible. The growing concern that consumers have about global warming, however, is justified. An EIA study found that 74% of all US GHG emissions in 2019 came from fuel emissions.

Because they are aware that packaging and shipping can have a negative impact on the environment, people are concerned about the environment, and McKinsey & Co. discovered that 66 percent of survey respondents think about sustainability before making a purchase. They therefore anticipate companies to make long-term commitments to environmental protection.

We’ll discuss a few options for companies that want to offer eco-friendly deliveries in this post. Let’s first discuss why it’s essential for your business to adopt greener practices.
Why do companies want to ship orders in a more environmentally friendly manner?

Before buying a company’s goods, customers frequently think about the impact those products will have on the environment. In fact, because they believe brands are also responsible for improving the environment, customers frequently view eco-friendly businesses as superior to those that are not.

A growing number of companies are attempting to lower their carbon footprint, despite the difficulties involved in switching to more environmentally friendly products and practices. Here are some suggestions for improving your deliveries’ sustainability.

Table of Contents

• Drive electric cars
• Use all the space your delivery vehicles have
• Make use of durable, eco-friendly packaging
• Use delivery software to optimize your delivery routes

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Drive electric cars

More companies are switching to electric vehicles in order to cut down on fuel emissions. Sales of EVs hit a record high in 2020, and this trend is likely to persist as people’s concerns about climate change increase.

This is the reason organizations like Amazon have started to think about using electric cars to cut down on fuel emissions. On delivery routes, the company has already begun testing 100,000 electric vehicles.

The transition to electric vehicles has been made by other businesses besides Amazon. Similar to how Uber, Walmart, Unilever, Google, FedEx, and other businesses have tested electric vehicles for deliveries, many other businesses have done the same. Most of them have made the commitment to make their fleet entirely electric by the 2030s and to achieve net-zero emissions by the 2040s.

Due to their frequent short trips, delivery vans can operate with smaller battery packs, which helps to keep costs down. As a result, it offers the chance to save money in addition to protecting the environment.

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Use all the space your delivery vehicles have

When packing orders, pick packaging that fits your products well to avoid wasting too much room. When they could have been packed in smaller ones, many orders are delivered in large boxes. By reducing box size, waste can be avoided and money can be saved.

To maximize capacity and enable your drivers to deliver more orders in a single trip, fully load your trucks.

Because your customers will receive their goods more quickly and for less money, you will not only lessen your carbon footprint but also increase their satisfaction.

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Make use of durable, eco-friendly packaging

If you want your business to be more environmentally friendly, you should look into it further given that packaging is typically made of materials like plastic. The production of 14.5 million tons of plastic in 2018 is evidence that plastic is a significant environmental problem. People are ordering goods online much more frequently as a result of COVID-19 and lockdowns, especially food, which frequently comes in plastic boxes, which significantly increases plastic consumption.

A FreightWaves survey found that “74 percent of customers believe packaging materials have a moderate to high impact on sustainability” and that “81 percent of customers believe companies use excessive packaging when shipping products.”

As a result, you need to start considering more eco-friendly packaging for your products. You could, for instance, use boxes made of renewable materials to lower carbon emissions. Because it naturally breaks down, bamboo is frequently used as a biodegradable material.

Some businesses are now replacing plastic bubble-wrap packaging with 100% recycled corrugated cardboard. It is completely made of recyclable materials and offers protection similar to bubble wrap.

Despite being made of plastic, air pillows can be a useful tool for protecting deliveries because their main fill is air, which uses less plastic than other types of pillows.

There are also organic packaging materials made of cornstarch, seaweed, or mushrooms. Both the amount of agricultural waste and the amount of plastic used for delivery will decrease as a result.

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Use delivery software to optimize your delivery routes

Optimizing the amount of time your drivers spend on the road by ensuring they always take the shortest route is another way to lessen your company’s carbon footprint. You will be able to quickly create real-time delivery routes using an intelligent route builder.

Due to the ability of your drivers to effectively plan stops and steer clear of traffic, there is no downtime in between deliveries. In addition to reducing fuel emissions, shorter trips will delight customers by delivering their orders more quickly. Your drivers will be able to maximize profits while lowering your carbon footprint by delivering more orders and covering fewer miles.

The best delivery software must be used if you want to effectively optimize your routes. No matter how many deliveries are anticipated, the model you choose must have a potent route builder that can quickly construct complicated routes.

Introducing the EasyRoutes local delivery route planner for Shopify

EasyRoutes is a local delivery manager and route planner for Shopify that includes all the tools you need to deliver your own orders. Local delivery routes can be planned, drivers can be managed and assigned, and customers can be updated via tracking pages, delivery notifications, and proof of delivery.

EasyRoutes integrates with Shopify and your orders without any issues. In other words, the moment you open our app, your orders will be prepared to be added to local delivery routes. It is no longer necessary to export and import spreadsheets.

Consolidate your delivery procedures and let your clients know when their orders will arrive. Contrary to Circuit, Routific, and other route planners, EasyRoutes is the only all-in-one route planning and local delivery management app that is fully integrated with Shopify. With your new local delivery superpowers, you can save time and delight your customers.

Following your selection of the orders that must be delivered, EasyRoutes will guide you through the remaining procedures. Using itemized inventories, you can quickly create optimized local delivery routes. Route planning has never been so quick and easy.

After reviewing your local delivery routes, send them to your drivers so they can use our iOS and Android driver app to locate stops, attach proof of delivery, and mark orders as delivered—all of which are synced to your Shopify Orders.