Sustainability For Craft Business Owners
Many businesses are beginning to see the value of aligning with their environmentally conscientious consumers. We see evidence of this consumer mindset shift amongst small-business marketplaces like Etsy committing to offset 100% of carbon emissions from shipping and packaging. According to current research, most small businesses want to be environmentally conscious through their own actions, but they don't know how to achieve this.
We designed a web platform that helps small business owners make informed decisions on sustainability featuring uniquely matched shipping solutions and interactive 3D models that supports a learning-centric design.
Most respondents consider hand-making items the most time-consuming. The second most time-consuming activity is marketing (e.g., photography, listings, social media). Sourcing of materials and shipping providers is the third most time-consuming activity.
76% of respondents say that 20% or less of their business expenses go toward order fulfillment. Respondents rated cost and durability as the most important aspects of shipping materials and sustainability as least important in comparison to these two characteristics.
88.9% of respondents consider sustainability when making decisions about order fulfillment, and 40.7% of respondents consider packaging materials the most unsustainable part of order fulfillment.
We asked Etsy sellers about the biggest challenge of reducing their environmental impact. Since this question prompted a written answer, we made an affinity diagram of these responses (see below). Most respondents find it challenging to find sustainable materials, pay a higher price for sustainable packaging, and ensure their products are protected during shipment.
Cost is the biggest impediment for small craft businesses to make sustainable business decisions.
Etsy sellers are more receptive to sustainability when it is part of their brand identity.
Etsy sellers need an easy way to source sustainable packaging materials online.
Etsy sellers want comprehensive and easy-to-understand information on sustainable shipping options.
Taylor lacks the support that larger businesses have when it comes to sourcing sustainable materials. This is a multifold issue because she also lacks the resources to learn about which sustainable materials best fit her needs and besides, she’s running a one-woman show. Who has time to do that?
The terminology used for packaging characteristics was too technical and difficult to understand
Design still lacks crucial information to help users feel truly confident in making sustainability-related business decisions
The quiz is designed to help users make better-informed decisions without putting too much effort into searching and comparing different materials.
One of our users' critical needs is access to high-quality and thorough information about shipping materials. Users want to feel like they have done enough research to be making quality purchasing decisions. This feature provides sellers with concise, expert-level information about a specific product or material contained within the store or quiz results.
One of our users' critical needs is access to high-quality and thorough information about shipping materials. Through these readings, users can get a more in-depth understanding of how certain items impact the environment.
The store feature is where users can go to look through our knowledge database by simply selecting a category of shipping products and then using filters to search through a variety of sustainable shipping products. Each product listing page will contain information about the lifecycle of the material, production, and how it can be recycled or otherwise discarded.
Craft business owners want to feel confident in the sustainability choices they make, which translates into being able to validate their decisions with facts and research. But more importantly, they strive for the most affordable options without sacrificing the visual aesthetics of their brand.