Is DTC retail delivering on sustainability promises?
Many DTC brands pride themselves on their sustainability efforts. But are they delivering when it comes to the small changes that make a big difference? Our latest research finds at DTC brands must invest in their sustainability efforts during delivery and returns or risk ‘greenwashing’ their customers.

What you’ll learn:
- Whether DTC retailers are delivering on sustainability promises
- What the findings mean for this sector
- Innovative solutions to environmental delivery issues
- Tips for becoming more sustainable during delivery
Key findings
The second in a five-part series, this report analyses how sustainable the UK’s top 50 DTC retailers are and reveals some shocking insights that brands can learn from:

Reduced packaging options are rare
Just 6% of the DTC brands offer the customer the option of less packaging at checkout. Packaging remains of the biggest environmental painpoints so retailers must invest in reducing this.

Cardboard packaging is most popular
82% of the DTC retailers use cardboard packaging. Seen as more environmentally friendly and easier to recycle, this is not surprising.

Branded inserts are still popular
52% of the retailers included a branded insert in the parcel. If these retailers took control of their post-purchase comms, this information could be emailed to the customer rather than being included in the package.

Sustainability messaging is non-existent
None of the retailers included any sustainability messaging in their delivery communications. This is a huge missed opportunity where retailers could include content such as infographics on how to recycle packaging.

“Any retailer, in any market, wants to make sure that the post-sales experience is as great as it can be. So any improvement will increase the percentage of returning customers. When there are specialists like parcelLab in the market that can solve that problem using minimal resources, it makes sense to partner externally on this and offer customers an immediate benefit.”
Why parcelLab?
Our platform is the central data hub for brands to build and manage all branded customer communication. Our technology enables brands to take their approach to the next level by orchestrating all post-sales processes and data sources in one hyper personalized, seamless, end-to-end experience. The fully customizable platform adapts to your brand’s needs and allows for true differentiation with customer-centricity at the heart of it.
For brands, that means more chances to create relationships that last. And for the people that buy from you, it means turning mundane operational moments into moments of joy.
Be different & define your own outstanding customer experience.