Introduction

What’s the Story? The Coresight Research team will attend and participate in this year’s Shoptalk conference, which will be held on March 27–30, 2022, in Las Vegas, US. Shoptalk 2022 will address the sudden transformation in the retail environment since the outbreak of Covid-19, as the industry is looking to embrace technology and innovation to address new challenges. On March 27, 2022, Deborah Weinswig, CEO and Founder of Coresight Research, will emcee and feature on the judging panel of Shoptalk 2022’s “Shark Reef” startup pitch competition, which will see 15 early-stage US retail-technology innovators compete to win the Shark’s Choice and Audience Choice awards. In the lead-up to the event, we are profiling the participating innovators. This report forms part of our Innovator Profile series, which focuses on emerging technologies that are disrupting traditional retail and fueling innovation across the retail value chain. We present EcoCart, a sustainability-focused e-commerce enablement company. Coresight Research collaborated with EcoCart to offer insights into its service capabilities and offerings. Why It Matters Coresight Research categorizes the 15 participating innovators into four areas of disruption in retail. EcoCart falls under “reducing waste and increasing sustainability.” Customers, employees and governments are increasingly demanding sustainability efforts from businesses, seeking transparency in sourcing, progress in environmental initiatives and the reporting of goals. Technology companies can assist retailers in achieving their sustainability goals, across carbon emissions reduction, waste management and more.

• Coresight Research believes that sustainability will remain one of the foremost multiyear trends to watch in retail. Read more Coresight Research coverage of sustainability in retail.

EcoCart: In Detail

Headquarters San Francisco, California, US Funding Stage Seed stage Total funding amount: $3 million Company Description Founded in 2019, EcoCart is a sustainability-focused e-commerce enablement innovator that helps retailers and consumers offset the carbon emissions related to online retail. The company deploys algorithms that calculate the carbon emissions of every order, based on factors such as shipping distance, package weight and product type.

• For retailers: EcoCart offers an e-commerce plugin that merchants can use to offer a carbon-neutral order option for their customers at checkout, and retailers can choose to pay the cost of making the order carbon-neutral for their customers to show their support for e-commerce sustainability.
• For consumers: EcoCart offers a Google Chrome extension that calculates the carbon footprint of orders at over 10,000 stores. The consumer then has the choice of paying an extra cost to make their order carbon neutral when shopping at these stores.

[caption id="attachment_143651" align="aligncenter" width="700"] EcoCart’s carbon-neutral checkout feature
Source: Feastables[/caption]   What Problem Is the Company Solving? E-commerce contributes significantly to carbon emissions globally, across the packaging, transporting and returning of goods. As consumers increase their use of e-commerce and demand faster, more convenient shipping options, retailers and consumers should be mindful of their environmental footprint and make efforts to offset detrimental impacts. EcoCart aims to make online shopping a climate-friendly and ecologically sustainable experience by partnering with, and funding, various environmental projects that reduce the detrimental impacts of e-commerce. EcoCart’s software enables users to understand their ecological footprint and directly fund projects such as initiatives to protect forests and wetlands, or promote clean energy through wind and biogas farms. The company’s analytics dashboard also provides retailers with the opportunity to understand the environmental impacts of specific parts of their product lifecycles and use that information to optimize their supply chain to support ecological sustainability in the future. Market Opportunity Due to the recent pandemic-led shift to e-commerce among consumers, retailers are increasingly looking to optimize their supply chains and enhance their offerings to meet consumer expectations around fast delivery, for example. We estimate that total US online retail sales (excluding automobiles) reached $805 billion in 2021 and will reach about $1.2 trillion in 2025, representing a CAGR of around 10%. Key growth drivers include emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, supply chain optimization, product localization and higher Internet penetration rates globally. However, retailers must balance order-fulfillment improvements with sustainability, particularly as consumer awareness of their impacts on the environment when shopping is increasing, and social values are driving demand for businesses to be held accountable for their impacts on the planet. According to EcoCart, 92% of its customers want to support brands taking positive climate action. Furthermore, in a 2021 survey of Chinese consumers by Coresight Research and China Luxury Advisors, 56% of respondents reported that a company’s or product’s sustainability claims have a big impact on their purchasing decisions. There is clear opportunity for brands and retailers to positively engage with sustainably minded consumers by communicating environmentally friendly brand values and taking action to reduce carbon emissions, among other sustainability initiatives.

What We Think

We expect consumers to increasingly weigh a company’s or product’s environmental impacts, such as contribution to rising carbon emissions, when making a purchasing decision. Retailers can leverage advances in analytics to better understand their ecological footprint and take the necessary steps to offset negative environmental impacts. We believe that retailers which demonstrate a commitment to an ecologically sustainable future to their customers will gain an advantage in the market.