10 Ways To Center Social Impact Throughout The Ecommerce Customer Journey

In a world where packaging makes up 28% of municipal waste and 11.3 million tons of textile waste go to domestic landfills each year, can ecommerce be an avenue for change?

For McKenna Warren, Community Engagement Manager at GLDN, the answer is an emphatic “yes.”

GLDN, a jewelry company that views its products as a vehicle for social good, measures success in positive impact.

“I have studied the potential for the system of capitalism to be turned on its head and used for good,” says Warren. “The model of having a triple bottom line, people, planet, and profit, is the most effective system we have for social change at scale.”

The team at GLDN isn’t alone in their thinking. A growing group of businesses rigorously measure their social and environmental impact to the standard of B Corp certification (we at The Good are proud to be one of them!). What could once have been called a trend has transformed into a movement of professionals and customers alike who value the potential of making business a force for good.

Consumer Expectations are Shifting

The shift in focus to social and environmental good is paying off not just in karmic kudos but in measurable business outcomes. eCommerce brands with a social mission have experienced a disproportionate rate of growth compared to their neutral counterparts.

This is partially due to the shift in consumer expectations. One study estimates that 70% of consumers are concerned with how the brands they support address social and environmental issues.

GLDN’s own research agrees. Internal surveys show that their customers specifically appreciate GLDN’s intention with regard to environmental and social impact. “It continually rises to the surface that it is so important to customers. It’s the reason that a lot of people shop with GLDN over other brands,” says Warren.

For brands that do take an environmental or social approach, the key to connecting their mission to customer experience is in the end-to-end execution. “It’s one thing for a brand to sort of tack it on at the end and it’s another for it to be integrated from the beginning,” says Warren.

Whether it’s uncharacteristically using plastic wrap in your fulfillment process or using a tone-deaf campaign delivery, presenting your initiative and then violating your customers’ expectations in their shopping journey is a surefire way to break trust. It’s a pitfall that CEO and Founder of Monday Creative, Amanda Lee Smith, says can be avoided if brands 1) define their purpose and 2) make decisions based on it.

“I don’t think any brand should start talking to consumers until they know what their purpose and their pillars are,” says Smith.

For Smith, crafting a meaningful brand experience is about mapping every decision back to your values. Whether it’s content, an influencer relationship, or the box you deliver your goods in, defining how those decisions uphold your brand values is crucial. Moving forward without that clarity of vision, Smith says, is “a waste of money and energy.”

10 Ways to Embed your Mission Throughout your Brand Experience

For mission-driven brands, the key to earning and keeping trust is embedding brand values throughout the end-to-end customer experience. But how do top brands actually pull it off?

We interviewed practitioners at the epicenter of mission-driven ecommerce to learn how they embed brand values throughout the brand experience. Here are their 10 tips that help them stick the landing.

1. Participate in give-back programs

If you’re looking for a way to have a direct, measurable impact on causes you’re aligned with, consider standing up a Give Back program: directly committing a set percentage of annual profits to organizations that closely align with your values.

National certification programs offer a compelling level of transparency to give-back initiatives. Organizations like 1% for the Planet independently verify that participating companies give 1% of profits annually to environmental partner organizations.

However, you don’t have to be part of a certification program to participate in similar giving initiatives.

GLDN contributes a whopping 10% of profits annually to causes supporting liberation, education, and community building. “Partnering with nonprofits is proven to be one of the most effective ways to make change,” says Warren.

2. Be specific about your impact

Whether you’re investing in thoughtful manufacturing processes, circular production methods, or your employees’ quality of life, consumers appreciate specificity when it comes to sharing your impact. Take it from Maggie, Digital Strategist at The Good, who says “When talking about your impact, a little specificity goes a long way.”

In Maggie’s experience, it’s not enough to share the headline details, which usually don’t perform well in testing.

“When we’ve A/B tested phrases like ‘Ethical Production,’ we’ve noticed that they generally don’t perform as well as messages with more specificity. Qualitative surveys have shown us that users want brands to do the legwork—to share metrics that can validate the authenticity of their claims. How much landfill waste is diverted? What is the quality of life like for factory workers? We’ve learned that specificity in claims both honors the intelligence of your audience and shines a better light on the brand’s impact.”

Maggie advises that brands looking to share their impact start by finding the metrics they can quantify. Maybe that’s the amount of landfill waste diverted or the number of students you’ve impacted with your give-back programs. Whatever you land on, Maggie advises that “your audience will appreciate the specificity.”

3. Spotlight your purpose throughout your promotions calendar

If you’re looking for ways to center your values throughout your brand experience, consider taking a more purposeful approach to seasonal sales and promotions.

“We encourage our clients to not feel like they have to have a voice on everything.” Says Smith, who advises her clients to start by deciding which holidays to recognize. “There are brands that feel like they need to have a social post about every special day or movement. You can deeply care about a cause and also not be the voice of that cause.”

Opting out of holidays can be a powerful way to center your purpose. Outdoor retailer REI does just that when it comes to Black Friday. In 2015, at a time when no other large retailer had shut down on Black Friday, REI decided to pay their employees to take the day off and “OptOutside,” getting outdoors instead of participating in what REI CEO called “out of hand” Black Friday sales.

While the OptOutside approach aligns well with REI's mission, you don’t have to completely “opt out” to take a more purposeful approach. Jewelry with a purpose brand GLDN flips Black Friday on its head with a promotion they call Bright Friday.

In lieu of a sale on Black Friday, GLDN donates an additional $5 from each order to the First Nations Development Institute (FNDI), a non-profit working to improve economic conditions for Native Americans through grants, training, and other services.

“In a sea of sales and discounts and red text everywhere, it's always a breath of fresh air,” says Marissa Moore, GLDN’s Lead Brand Designer. “We get to focus on FNDI, celebrate them in the message, and really live out our values in the purest form possible—by taking this time that's so sales-oriented and profit-driven, and give back to something we all care about so passionately.”

Whether you’re opting out or reframing a holiday to match your purpose, Smith advises that brands get selective about which holidays, occasions, and current issues to incorporate into their message. “A promotions calendar is a really good way to double down on what you care about.”

4. Say something through the product itself

If you’re looking to work toward a mission, there is perhaps no better way to center that than in your product itself. Japanese camping brand Snow Peak is possibly the best example of that.

Snow Peak’s mission is to create “restorative outdoor experiences that alleviate the stresses of modern life.” But, their approach centers on a uniquely Japanese perspective.

Mike Anderson, Senior Brand Manager at Snow Peak, explains that the very idea that the outdoors is so separate from the self and is a place where comfort is not warranted is a Western framing.

“In the West, camping is like what you see in Calvin and Hobbes growing up. It's something that builds character. It's hardening to the spirit.” Anderson says this is in direct contrast to Snow Peak’s Japanese perspective. “Japanese didn’t even have a word for nature for hundreds of years until the Portuguese came. Before that, the relationship with nature was so close that they didn't really have a word for it.”

Aligned with that framing, Snow Peak’s products are intentionally designed to enhance, rather than detract from, the experience of being outdoors. It’s why you won’t see any high-visibility orange or green tents in a Snow Peak showroom, which Anderson says is all tied back to the mission. “We're trying to help people just find some calm and be inspired to spend time in nature.”

5. Sprinkle brand messaging throughout the website—not just on the Homepage or About Us pages

One thing is common among the brands we work with, and I’m guessing it’s true for you as well: very few visitors ever make it to the “About Us” page. What’s more, for many ecommerce brands, a large percentage of visitors may never even make it to the homepage.

If you’re doing any kind of Google or Bing shopping bidding, it’s common for site visitors from those cost-per-click channels to never actually visit the homepage and either convert or abandon after visiting only the product page.

In practical terms, this means that all the homepage real estate that your marketing team and C-suite fight over—the homepage hero banner and mission statements—likely aren’t seen by a large portion of your audience. While it might be disappointing to learn that your audience is missing out on all that curated content, we believe knowledge is power, and you can use this information for good.

GLDN has leveraged this pattern to improve conversion rates for product page visitors. The Good’s Digital Strategist Sumita Paulson explains, “When we performed our audit of the site, we found that GLDN had social impact messaging on some pages, but not really present on product pages, especially above the fold.”

Paulson explains that for a brand like GLDN, she wanted to leverage that unique approach to communicate quality and purpose. “Social impact is baked into the product from how they hand make it to where the revenue goes. There’s a lot of care put in, so we started by featuring their efforts throughout the product page, and it won spectacularly.”

“We were pretty shocked at how just making that message more visible resulted in higher engagement, higher conversion, and a 12% increase in adds to cart,” says GLDN’s Marissa Moore.

Paulsen explains that the solution is simple, but it wouldn’t necessarily work for all brands. “I think there’s this perception of experimenters always adding things to a page. Our approach is not that. In general, we take a ‘less is more’ approach to optimization. But in this case, GLDN’s mission is so baked into the brand experience that we felt it was missing at the product page level.”

Moore cautions that simply messaging your stances on social issues isn’t enough to overcome a poor product offering, but it can be the deciding factor for visitors choosing between yours and a competitive product. “It’s not their first thing driving a purchase decision, but ultimately, it’s that extra little bit that would push them over the edge with us versus one of our competitors,” says Moore.

6. Educate customers with a faucet, not a firehose

For brands with social impact at their core, it can be hard to clearly communicate social impact throughout the website without overdoing it. You have to make sure it is “woven throughout the ethos,” as Marissa Moore of GLDN puts it, but too much of a good thing can be counterproductive.

How do you find the right balance and communicate your purpose if you’re committed to causes like environmental impact, empowering women and girls, and Indigenous sovereignty, among others?

For companies like GLDN that affect change through a mix of approaches, they’ve learned that not every touchpoint is suitable for every message. “What we've begun to discover is that different platforms are the right place for different messages,” says Warren. Rather than sharing their entire approach in each communication, GLDN highlights their intentionality in a slow drip—throughout the customer journey. They share women’s empowerment messages on social media while reserving their nuanced approach to environmentalism for the shopping experience.

For brands with a similarly matrixed approach, it might be wise to consider when and where certain parts of your mission are best communicated. The slow drip approach assures your brand story unfolds elegantly over the course of the brand experience, rather than overwhelming users on first look.

7. Use collaborations to bring awareness of the causes you care about

If you’re looking for ways to raise money, increase awareness, and inspire excitement for sister causes that matter to you, consider a product collaboration.

Pendleton Woolen Mills has been doing just that with its National Parks Collection since 1916. The year the National Parks Service was born, so too was Pendleton’s first National Parks blanket. What started as a collection of blankets, each named after an iconic national park, has expanded into the National Parks Collection, which now includes apparel and accessories. But the collection is more than the product itself. The National Park Collection’s profits go back to the nonprofit’s namesake, which to-date totals more than $1.7 million.

Again, every collaboration is an opportunity to highlight the causes you care about, but it’s important to inform your customers about the specific ways you contribute.

“When we started working with Pendleton, we discovered that brand awareness was strong on the West Coast, but elsewhere in the country we had a long way to go to inform shoppers about their unique history and approach,” says The Good’s Strategist, Sumita Paulson. “We tested our way into a message that not only educated customers about the National Parks, but highlighted the dollars raised for the charity. We found that it not only improved consumers’ brand perception, but it also increased purchases by 9%.”

8. Say more with imagery

If you are producing original imagery for your brand, how does the approach highlight your brand values? Smith says being intentional about the art direction can be the key way to connect the dots for your audience. “That is where the mission should shine through.”

From Patagonia making feature-length films about dam removal to a small technical clothing brand showing their product in use, Smith contends that brands should ditch the studio images and let their campaign strategy say something more.

“That's your core opportunity to speak to who you are. If you're an apparel brand and you have a purpose, it shouldn't just be your clothes on the white background. How can you tie in your purpose?”

Smith highlights her project for the original Canadian camping brand Woods as an example. Her strategy was to nod to their heritage by leveraging a farm-style setting and graphic treatments borrowed from the brand archives. “We were really able to shine the light on their history. It was all about that original 1800s heritage.”

9. Invest in community-building experiences

If your community has a shared interest, how do you feed their fire? For Snow Peak, fostering a community is perhaps what they do best. Although they are beloved for their intentional product design, Senior Brand Manager Mike Anderson insists that when it comes to Snow Peak’s values, design is secondary to the community around it.

“We hold our audience above everything else. They are what makes the brand special, so we're constantly investing in experiences that help enable and foster that connectivity in our community.”

Snow Peak has been following through on this for years with experiences like Snow Peak Way (their annual camping festival), opening Takibi, a Japanese restaurant in the heart of NW Portland, and expanding their North American presence with their impressive showroom. But there is perhaps no more meaningful way to experience the Snow Peak way than with their most recent activation: the Long Beach Campfield.

The Campfield is a thoughtful campsite on Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula that offers campers a way to relax and enjoy the restorative properties of nature and a chance to try Snow Peak gear through rentals and an on-premises retail experience. It’s an on-brand way for people to grow in community and experience firsthand how Snow Peak products can enhance the outdoors.

10. Get intentional with packaging & fulfillment

What do physical touchpoints like packaging, packing materials, and mailers say about your brand?

While it’s true that fulfillment leaves a lasting impression, Smith contends that it doesn't mean you need to go all-out with unnecessary add-ons. Precisely because the unboxing experience is so important, she believes it can be a pivotal moment to cement your brand values with your customers.

“How many times have you gotten a package from somewhere and thought, ‘How many boxes? Why is this tiny thing in a giant box with all of these packing chips and blow-up cellophane?’”

Smith evaluates a brand’s fulfillment and packaging in the course of any rebranding project. “It’s where we can have the biggest impact on our clients.”

Smith recommends brands looking to go green choose natural tape that biodegrades and find ways to eliminate some of these “extras” like postcards and stickers. By adopting recycled packing materials and a minimal waste approach, Smith insists that the added cost of going green is usually quite minimal. “Pricing out both the sustainable option and comparing with the less sustainable option, they are usually not as dramatically different as you might think.”

Aside from being the better choice for the planet, going minimal with pack-and-ship decisions can have a strategic upside as well. Take, for example, Noah Clothing. Noah doesn’t claim to be a completely sustainable company, saying, “True sustainability would mean turning back the clock on over a century of clothing consumption and production trends.” Yet their outspoken founder’s stance on the sustainability problem in fashion combined with their packaging that “sucks” have together earned the brand a favorable reputation within the industry.

Noah opts for some of the most un-fancy packaging in ecommerce: a simple recycled envelope and a postcard to remind the recipient that 30% of municipal waste comes from packing materials.

Grow Your Business, Grow Your Impact

Taking inspiration from peers with similar values is sure to set you on the right path, and then you can carve your own unique road to success.

Showcasing your social and environmental initiatives will build trust and loyalty with your shoppers… especially when they connect with your mission. And the best part? When you grow your business, you can grow your impact and achieve the shared goal of using “business as a force for good.”

If you’re interested in tailored recommendations on how to put these ideas into action for your ecommerce brand, get in touch with our team. Your social initiatives and your shoppers are unique to your business and deserve an individual approach.