JEM Fulfilment and Marketing Services Ltd. Blog: Reduce Fulfilment Costs, Go Green

Save The Earth and Save £££

By using green practices you can save on your fulfilment costs

GREEN Fact: Recycling one ton of paper saves:

20 trees
7,000 gallons of water
3 cubic yards of landfill space
60 pounds of air pollutants
Saves enough energy to power the average home for six months

-10 Green Facts That Will Make Your Head Spin, Marc Swanson

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Question...

How do you feel about your impact on the environment?
Do you feel that using 'Green' practices is expensive and unnecessary?
Or is that your busy, that you don't have time to think about 'Green' practices?

Relax, Your not the Only one with these thoughts
Time is precious. Sometimes, we entrepreneurs, mothers, fathers, students, and professionals are so busy, we do not always have time to think about how are efforts impact our Earth. The need to be 'Green' has never been more important than it is today. Whether it is the rising cost of electricity, oil, or new energy efficient technology, as a society our attitudes and mindsets have adopted how going 'Green' is essential for both businesses and our personal lives.

Now take off your business hat, and get into the mindset as a consumer
- When you buy a product via a Catalogue, Amazon, Ebay or through any other means where it is sent via post, how do you go about opening it?

- Do you get excited, and just automatically look for your new found treasures and toss away any other materials that come with it?

- If your package comes with reading materials, what do you do with them?
Common Reading Materials Found in Packages:

Notes to remind you to give 5 star feed back to the Amazon or eBay Seller
Coupons
Flyers, on new merchandise
Pre-generated Thank You notes
Mini Catalogues

Now with these questions in mind, in the previous section did you agree with the statement 'Sometimes, we entrepreneurs, mothers, fathers, students, and professionals are so busy, we do not always have time to think about how are efforts impact our Earth..?'

Do you want to be that business that wastes money on printing and using unnecessary material?

Lets Move to the 'Green' Fulfilment Practices

Listed below you will see a list of common fulfilment services that are not entirely 'Green' friendly and that could save your business money and effort.

Print & Packing Invoices
Print & Packing Notes
Print & Packing Non-Essential Leaflets / Inserts
Incorrect Sized Packaging
Excessive Packing Filler

NOTE: It is advised to include a returns slip and any information leaflet / insert that instructs the consumer on how to properly use your product.

But...

- What if you made it possible for your consumers to download, save and or print their own invoices

- What if you made it possible for your consumers to obtain any special notes via email, sms or through your website (example: Thank You Note, Feedback notes, Coupons, etc...)

Think about waste...

- When products are packaged in incorrectly sized boxes, bags and or envelopes this not only costs you financially but also can tarnish your brands image. Don't be that business that cuts corners.

- If products are packed in properly sized packaging it reduces the need to use packing filler.

The Take Away

If your simply selling products that require no product info, such as mobile phone accessories, board games, car parts, clothing, etc... It would be best to just pack it simply in the correct sized packing and take advantage of technology to engage with your consumers instead of relying on printed material.