26. Feb 2024

Seven tips for a more sustainable e-commerce tech stack

More and more consumers expect their preferred online retailers to fulfill their social and environmental responsibilities. A key factor in achieving this is adopting a sustainable e-commerce tech stack that minimizes energy consumption and, therefore, reduces the carbon footprint. We’ve outlined seven steps to help achieve this.

A typical “standard” online order, delivered to the customer’s doorstep, produced an average of 1,421 grams of CO2 equivalents in 2021, according to a study conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI on behalf of the German E-Commerce and Mail Order Association (bevh). This is roughly nine times the emissions of a passenger kilometer traveled in a combustion engine vehicle, calculated as the distance traveled multiplied by the number of passengers. Besides packaging and logistics, digital infrastructure is a crucial lever for improving sustainability in online retail. The study authors estimate that digital infrastructure contributes 5.5 to 25 percent of total emissions.

However, this figure also includes consumers’ IT infrastructure, which accounts for a larger share than that of retailers. Nevertheless, online retailers can reduce their environmental footprint by making their e-commerce tech stack as sustainable as possible. Manuel Ludvigsen-Diekmann, CTO of the e-commerce service provider Shopmacher, has compiled seven points that online retailers should consider.

1. Use Cloud Providers

With a cloud-based IT infrastructure, many users share the same infrastructure, utilizing only the resources they need at any given time. This optimizes hardware usage and avoids overcapacity.

2. Choose Energy-Efficient Servers

Partner with hosting providers that use energy-efficient servers and renewable energy sources to minimize your ecological footprint. These providers invest in modern server hardware that meets current energy efficiency standards, using energy-efficient processors and optimized cooling technology. Positioning data centers in locations with favorable climate conditions and using energy-saving lighting also improves energy efficiency.

3. Focus on Composable Structures

Even the latest tech stack will eventually become outdated or need scaling. From an environmental perspective, it’s better to build systems from independent, interoperable components. This allows for individual elements to be easily replaced without overhauling the entire system.

4. Pay Attention to Sustainable Web Design

The internet has become one of the world’s biggest energy consumers. Retailers can calculate their online shop’s CO2 emissions using tools like this. The good news: with sustainable web design, the energy consumption and carbon footprint of an online shop can be significantly reduced. The first principle is “mobile-first” because browsing on mobile devices is much more energy-efficient than on desktop PCs. Reducing unnecessary elements, graphics, animations, and especially videos shortens load times and saves energy. An optimal UX helps online visitors reach their goals faster, reducing page views and CO2 emissions.

5. Implement an Efficient Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A CDN distributes static resources like images, stylesheets, and JavaScript files across servers located in different geographic regions. This places these resources closer to end-users, reducing latency and speeding up load times. By distributing static resources across multiple servers, the load on the origin servers is reduced, better utilizing the servers and reducing the need for additional capacity. CDNs also use powerful caching mechanisms, ensuring that once-fetched resources are stored for future requests, minimizing data traffic and energy consumption.

6. Recycle Outdated Hardware

Avoid electronic waste by properly recycling old devices. Functional hardware can also be donated. Many non-profit organizations, schools, or community projects can benefit from working hardware.

7. Communicate Your Sustainability Efforts

Many consumers now pay close attention to whether companies they shop with are taking environmental measures. You could attract these customers by making your sustainability efforts visible. You can also encourage your customers to shop more eco-consciously, for example, by highlighting the carbon footprint of a video click under video content.With a cloud-based IT infrastructure, many users work on a shared infrastructure. Each individual only uses the power they actually need. This means that the hardware is used efficiently and overcapacity is avoided.

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