Measuring Sustainability

What does it mean for the retail industry? What does it mean for your brand?

There is an exciting movement going on in the consumer goods industries. Some companies are beginning to value ethical long-term decisions and strategic processes rather than focusing singularly on their bottom lines. I’m excited when I see brands, specifically ones partnering with Backbone, work in unconventional and innovative ways to build products. Brands like Allbirds, Taylor Stitch, Outerknown, Baggu, and Naadam have created their business models around sustainable materials and production processes.

This is exciting not only because focusing on sustainability is good for the environment, but because innovation is our bread and butter at Backbone. Many brands have focused on e-commerce and digital personalization for their customers, but the making of physical products has been a process left relatively unchanged for decades. We know that the way you create and get to market will define your success in 2020 and beyond.

A competitive supply chain is not only essential in terms of product making, inventory management, and customer delivery, but also in terms of impact visibility. I urge you to ask yourself the following questions:

• How much fabric, materials, and components are you using?
• How many samples are you making?
• How much inventory are you over-ordering?
• How do you access data related to your impact on the environment?
• How do you scale a successful consumer goods brand while making ethical factory decisions?

The answers aren’t easy, but Backbone can be part of the solution. We work hard to enable brands to define and improve their sustainability efforts through data-backed decisions on consumption and product creation. Having visibility into every aspect of the supply chain in order to mitigate over-production and inventory loss will not only help your brand’s profit margin, but can also bring confidence to customers searching for a more thoughtful, intentional product.

Now is the time to make an impact on your company’s footprint. I encourage my industry colleagues to move towards more intentional, ethical, and sustainable decision making. Let’s do it together. My office door is always open.

This article was originally published August 8, 2019, exclusively on LinkedIn.