New national survey from Cloverly sheds light on consumer preferences amid historic online holiday shopping season, highlights the need for ecommerce retailers to provide sustainable shopping options.
"Cloverly’s new survey shows just how far consumers, younger Americans and parents, in particular, will go to support sustainable brands this holiday season," said Anthony Oni, CEO of Cloverly.
As this year’s busy online holiday shopping season kicks into full gear, 45% of Americans say they would be likely to add $1 to their online holiday purchases to neutralize the carbon emissions of their deliveries, according to a new national survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults conducted online by The Harris Poll for Cloverly, a tech company that helps businesses offset their carbon emissions.
Notably, 61% of parents with children under 18 say they would be likely to add $1 to their online purchases to neutralize the carbon emissions of their deliveries this holiday season – with a majority (61%) saying they would be somewhat likely (34%) or very likely (27%) to do so, compared to 37% of those who are not parents of children under 18. Additionally, 63% of parents say they would be likely to seek out eco-conscious online retailers when making online purchases this holiday season.
“Consumers – and parents especially – understand online shopping is not without negative environmental impact, and they’re ready to do something about it,” said Anthony Oni, CEO at Cloverly. “Unfortunately, the vast majority of online retailers today do not yet offer consumers the option to offset the carbon impact of their purchases. Imagine the lasting impact we could leave if more consumers had the ability to support sustainable shipping this holiday season.”
But it’s not just parents that would be more likely than their counterparts to spend more to neutralize the carbon emissions of their deliveries. Support also tends to be higher among younger Americans – including Millennial and Generation Z generations. In fact, more than half of those aged 18-44 (56%) would be likely to add $1 to their online purchases to neutralize the carbon emissions of their deliveries this holiday season, compared to less than one-third of adults ages 55+ (30%).
Amid Historic Holiday Shopping Season, 95% Of Holiday Shoppers Will Go Online For Purchases
The 2020 holiday shopping season is expected to shatter online sales records and strain carrier shipping capacity in an event some have dubbed “Shipageddon” – with a potential shortfall of as many as 7 million packages a day. Additionally, shoppers are anticipated to spend between $182 billion and $196 billion on ecommerce sales from November to January, amounting to an increase of 25% to 35% compared to 2019.
Cloverly’s own survey found that 95% of holiday shoppers plan to do some portion of their gift-buying online this year – averaging 62% of overall holiday shopping.
“While shopping from the couch is convenient and seemingly safer amid a global pandemic, it's not so convenient for our planet. That’s why shoppers are looking beyond traditional brands in search of retailers that support sustainability,” Oni said. “Cloverly’s new survey shows just how far consumers, younger Americans and parents, in particular, will go to support sustainable brands this holiday season.”
Majority of Younger Americans Are Likely to Seek Out Apparel and Electronics Online Retailers That Offer Sustainable Shipping This Holiday Season
Younger Americans are particularly interested in sustainable shipping from online clothing and electronic retailers, with roughly three-quarters of Americans under 45 saying they would be likely to choose an online retailer that offers sustainable shipping over one that does not when making clothing/apparel (75%) or electronic (72%) purchases online this holiday season.
Cloverly’s lightweight platform helps retailers meet these preferences by calculating the carbon emissions of everyday purchases – using specific data inputs like package weight and transportation destinations – so at checkout, consumers can buy the amount of carbon offsets needed to neutralize their environmental impact.
Cloverly’s API integrates with many of the most common ecommerce platforms, such as BigCommerce and Shopify, among others. Since launching in 2019, Cloverly has helped its customers offset more than 30 million pounds of carbon.
To learn more about Cloverly and its mission to help the world go carbon neutral, visit https://cloverly.com.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Cloverly from October 7-9, 2020, among 2,022 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, among whom 1,520 will be doing any holiday shopping this year. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact chris@arpr.com.
About Cloverly:
Cloverly is helping the world go carbon neutral. Its Sustainability-as-a-Service API platform helps businesses and organizations go green by connecting them to the carbon market infrastructure. The Cloverly API calculates the carbon footprint of a business or organization on a per transaction basis and matches the impact with the equivalent carbon offsets. The Cloverly API can be used to neutralize everyday activities like ecommerce deliveries, ridesharing, supply chain, flights, and more.
