Flipkart Goes Green

An evident shift in shopping preferences has been observed among Indians, who are now more inclined towards sustainable and environment-friendly products. Consumers today are more aware of sustainability than ever before and are looking for ways to incorporate these practices into their daily life. As per a recent report by Bain & Company, the expenditure on planet-friendly products in urban India is expected to grow by over 50 percent over the next 3 years. People’s awareness about the benefits of sustainable products and their will to make an impact is also reflected in the American Express Trandex report, which stated that 92 percent of Indian adults surveyed were willing to pay a premium to switch to eco-friendly alternatives. 

In tandem with this, Flipkart takes a proactive and holistic view of conducting its business responsibly, incorporating all aspects of sustainability. It has introduced multiple initiatives over the years such as the elimination of single-use plastic packaging from its own supply chain, commitment to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions by 2040, and drawing 100 percent of its electricity needs from renewable sources for Flipkart’s entire operations by 2030. ‘Flipkart Green’ is its latest endeavor in the same direction.

What is Flipkart Green?

‘Flipkart Green’ is an online store for globally certified environmentally and socially sustainable products, aiming to help conscious consumers find their needs. More often than not, many customers feel the lack of ready access to and easy availability of sustainable products. Flipkart Green hopes to bridge that gap and also provide more information for enabling customers to make the choice.

Flipkart Green will be able to provide multiple sustainable brands under one roof so that customers wanting to switch to alternatives don't have to search for credible information about each product before making the choice.

“According to Flipkart’s consumer insights, one of the primary challenges faced by the buyers was that even if they were seeking to buy sustainably, the journey to do that across the products they buy was prohibitive and time-consuming. With their continued trust in Flipkart over the years, they would also be reassured of the quality and authenticity of these products and labels on Flipkart Green,” Dharashree Panda, Director - Sustainability, Flipkart.

Products on Offer

To begin with, Flipkart Green has over 40 brands and more than 30,000 sustainable products. It aims to provide access to information and better availability of globally certified sustainable products to customers looking for environmentally conscious brands and products. Initially, a vast selection of fashion, beauty and makeup, grooming, healthcare, food, home, and lifestyle products are being made available. This will further expand to include products from many other categories including healthcare, food, sports and fitness, toys, stationery, electronics, and appliances as well.

Products with globally recognized sustainability certification (for instance, USDA organic and Peta-Certified Cruelty-free) are being listed on Flipkart Green.

“In order to ensure authentic products are displayed, an authorization letter from our partner brands is being obtained accompanied by a copy of the certifications related to the claims listed, which are subsequently reviewed by our internal teams. Thereafter, these products are tagged and listed as being sustainable and made available to customers,” she explained.

Marketing New Store

The company is looking at being informative and consumer-friendly in its approach to Flipkart Green and to do that it feels social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube will be able to engage audiences. It is also engaging with influencers to connect with a larger audience. In this manner, Flipkart aims to have all its bases covered for disseminating information about this.

“We are hopeful that given our presence in the country, together with the increasingly aware masses about sustainability and green initiatives, this e-store should easily be able to build more awareness on sustainable products,” asserted Panda.

READ MORE: The Rise of Sustainable Beauty and its Growing Popularity Among Consumers

Vision with Flipkart Green

The paucity of information, premium pricing, and lack of easy accessibility to sustainable products and eco-friendly brands emerged as key challenges for customers when the company started researching this offering. Interestingly, as it worked with participating brands on their offerings, Flipkart realized that a lot of the anecdotal examples for these challenges were not necessarily true and that is precisely what it hopes to continually change as it scales this store.

With customers starting to adopt sustainable products such as bamboo toothbrushes, reusable grocery bags/jute cloth bags, reusable water bottles, and dishcloths to name a few, the ‘Flipkart Green’ Store will bring shoppers one step closer to having easy access to such sustainable products. Flipkart aims to redefine aspirational consumerism to include environmental and social considerations and to ensure that customers are empowered to make conscious choices.

“Through the Flipkart Green Sustainability Store, we aim to create a sustainable, equitable, and more inclusive e-commerce ecosystem. This also aligns with our goal to promote sustainably sourced products towards improving social, economic, and environmental well-being of the larger ecosystem,” Panda concluded.