Sustainable Marketing

In today’s world, there are many great benefits of buying locally produced products, Due to their shorter distance travel to the market they tend to have less environmental footprint. However, less and less attention are paid to how far shoppers travel to make their purchases and how much impact they have on the environment.

Interestingly, many consumers view eCommerce as more eco-friendly than shopping on Main Street because they don’t have to travel from their homes to do so. However, according to the environmental impact studies on the topic are mixed, and the actual answer depends on factors such as the number of products purchased at a time, the density of the surrounding area and the distance traveled to a store. Moreover, online is estimated to represent only 7 percent of retail sales in the United States, with the vast majority of goods and services still being sold through traditional retailers.

Given that the overwhelming majority of sales are made offline, the Internet and Internet-enabled mobile devices can have a significant impact how people shop when used to facilitate offline transactions closer to home. To that end, new mobile players with location-based services are emerging that aim to drive hyperlocal shopping.

For local businesses, such apps provide new ways to reach local audiences and drive foot traffic. Consumers benefit from the added convenience of finding what they need nearby. The environment also wins as consumers travel fewer miles to shop.

Product locators. JiWire recently launched Compass, a mobile advertising platform that enables retailers to target mobile users with relevant ads based on the location. What is interesting is that Compass can geolocate products from more than 200,000 retailers, allowing customers to then text or call retailers to put an item on hold for purchase. Not only does this create a superior consumer experience, but it enables consumers to avoid extra trips to make a purchase.

Emerging mobile apps are motivating more consumers to shop locally. eCommerce was once hailed as a more eco-friendly way to shop because it eliminated the need to drive to a store. Now it should be mobile’s turn to help reduce the distance consumers have to travel to shop.