Sustainable and fair commerce: winning strategies for responsible retail

Consumers are growing more concerned about environmental issues, prompting brands to rethink their models to merge performance with sustainable development. Unified commerce has become an indispensable solution for transforming production and distribution to align with the demands of a more responsible market.

So, how can businesses adopt this approach without sacrificing competitiveness? Let’s explore inspirational success stories that showcase how leading retailers have leveraged unified commerce to implement sustainable strategies effectively.

Unified commerce: a sustainable revolution

Definition of unified commerce and its stakes

Unified commerce seeks to unify all sales and communication channels into a single platform, merging customer, product, and inventory data to deliver a cohesive experience. 

This centralization ensures real-time inventory visibility, reducing stockouts, and enables personalized recommendations and offers. By streamlining flow management, unified commerce helps producers and brands adopt more sustainable practices.

Benefits of a sustainable and equitable approach

The demand for responsible products is on the rise in many countries, compelling retailers to meet the expectations of consumers who are mindful of product origins and environmental impacts. Impressively, more than 70% of consumers are willing to pay a premium for products that positively impact the environment.

A sustainable and equitable approach involves optimizing logistics, reducing waste, lowering energy consumption, and committing to transparency with customers. This strategy allows brands to remain competitive while providing clear communication about the origins and environmental impacts of products.

Embracing sustainability does not impede commercial growth; rather, it caters to evolving consumer expectations and enhances brand competitiveness.

Success stories

Leading companies in unified commerce

Decathlon has revolutionized its model by centralizing inventory and sales channel management. The brand adopted technologies like RFID and mobile payments. Using Orisha Commerce’s platform, Decathlon has boosted checkout efficiency and reduced staff training time.

In France, Kidkanaï, the Kiabi group’s second-hand brand, has harnessed unified commerce to promote more responsible fashion. By connecting all its touchpoints, Kidkanaï ensures optimized inventory and return management and enhances the customer journey with fixed, mobile, and second-hand dedicated checkouts.

Similarly, BUT, a furniture retailer, has optimized its delivery systems through a unified commerce strategy and centralized inventory management. Orisha Commerce’s platform has enabled BUT to advance its omnichannel approach, providing a seamless customer experience.

Cooltra, a European leader in sustainable mobility, has also utilized Orisha Commerce to support the swift growth of its scooter rental business by deploying a sustainable omnichannel platform.

Implemented sustainable strategies

Sustainable strategies focus on optimizing logistics, promoting circular economy, and committing to responsible practices.

Decathlon has embraced more responsible logistics by adopting ship from store, allowing orders to be shipped from the closest store to the customer. The brand also strengthens its circular economy model by expanding its program for the second life of sports equipment: rental, repair, resale of second-hand items, and reconditioning are directly integrated into its digital ecosystem, facilitating customer participation. This strategic approach seamlessly merges ecological commitment with commercial development.

Orisha Commerce’s Workshop module streamlines the management of repair workshops, ensuring smooth and transparent repair processes, thus enhancing customer satisfaction. Discover our Workshop solution!

On the other hand, BUT optimizes its logistics network with centralized inventory management and offers furniture and appliance buyback services in exchange for vouchers, giving products a second life. By facilitating reconditioning and recycling, BUT encourages customers to adopt more responsible consumption habits.

Keys to the success of a sustainable and equitable strategy

Implementing effective logistics solutions

Effective logistics depend on data centralization to ensure a comprehensive view of inventory. Ship from store and click & collect are hybrid strategies facilitated by unified sales channels, reducing both delivery times and carbon footprints. Optimized logistics also enhance team performance by streamlining processes.

Orisha Commerce offers advanced inventory management solutions that assist retailers in adjusting their offerings in line with trends. Our platform provides real-time inventory visibility across all channels—warehouses, stores, and e-commerce. Explore our solution!

Promoting customer engagement and loyalty

Unified commerce equips retailers with the tools necessary to meet new consumer sustainability expectations, enabling a more transparent and responsible approach. By centralizing customer, product, and inventory data, this system helps implement eco-friendly practices like optimizing logistic flows and integrating short circuits. Brands can provide sustainable alternatives such as second-hand items, repair services, or rentals while ensuring a smooth and consistent customer experience.

Transparency is crucial in today’s purchasing decisions. Unified commerce’s traceability tools allow brands to inform customers about product origins, manufacturing conditions, and carbon footprints, thereby fostering trust and engagement. Increasingly, consumers favor products labeled to guarantee respectful conditions for workers and the environment.

The future of commerce: challenges and opportunities

Emerging trends in the sector

Unified commerce is increasingly pivotal in the retail sector. By centralizing data, retailers can offer seamless shopping experiences. When combined with artificial intelligence, this framework enhances hyper-personalized offerings, such as tailored recommendations, dynamic promotions, and intelligent chatbot assistance.

The growing circular economy and responsible consumption models present new opportunities for retail development. Practices like second-hand sales, product rentals, and reconditioning are becoming prevalent in sectors such as fashion and electronics. Fairer commerce also requires better compensation for producers, often achieved through shorter supply chains.

Brands such as Decathlon and BUT have already implemented solutions to extend product life via repair, buyback, and resale services. Explore Orisha’s ReCommerce solutions!

Impact of technologies on sustainable and fair commerce

Overproduction is a primary source of waste in commerce. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, brands can analyze real-time sales data to better anticipate demand. Predicting consumption trends allows for optimal sourcing.

Simultaneously, technological innovations support the circular economy’s growth. Integrated platforms provide customers with straightforward solutions for giving products a second life, whether through buyback, resale, repair, or recycling. Sustainable and fair commerce is becoming more accessible and appealing to consumers. The advancement of new technologies aids in monitoring the production chain, ensuring greater transparency regarding product origins and environmental impact.

Unified commerce is now essential for reconciling performance and sustainability. The rise of new technologies like artificial intelligence optimizes inventory management and proposes new, more virtuous consumption models.

In light of growing consumer expectations for ethics and transparency, retailers would benefit from adopting these solutions to offer a more sustainable commerce that meets tomorrow’s challenges. The goal is now to propose a performance and fair commerce, capable of adapting to international market demands while promoting responsible production.