Flora & Fauna customers fund greener parcel deliveries

HealthPost-owned online retailer Flora & Fauna has logged more than 17,000 customer contributions towards climate and biodiversity projects through a checkout feature that estimates delivery-related emissions and adds a matching payment.

The feature forms part of Sphere's Click Sphere for Good initiative. Flora & Fauna introduced the tool in September. Customers see an estimate of emissions linked to the delivery of an order. The retailer adds a small climate contribution at checkout. Customers can also add an extra payment.

The optional customer contribution links to the Sunnyside Permanent Planting Project. The project sits in south-west Western Australia. The release described it as a verified climate project that supports native ecosystems.

Sphere and HealthPost said the feature recorded more than 17,000 contributions in the period around the Christmas shopping season. They framed the contributions as roughly equivalent to planting around 380 trees.

Checkout feature

Sphere positions Click Sphere for Good as a tool for online retailers that want to show delivery emissions at checkout and fund climate projects. Flora & Fauna uses it on its Australian website.

The system calculates an emissions estimate in real time. It uses order contents, the delivery address, and the chosen shipping method. Flora & Fauna then makes a payment that matches the estimated amount. Customers choose whether to add an extra low-cost contribution.

Retailers can add the feature through a Shopify app. Sphere said the same software also includes reporting tools.

Holiday scale

The companies pointed to the volume of parcel shipments during the holiday period as a driver of interest in checkout-based contributions. Australia Post reported 103 million parcel deliveries from November through Christmas last year. Sphere said this showed how many transactions could carry an emissions estimate and contribution mechanism if more retailers adopted the feature.

The use of emissions estimates at checkout has become a point of focus for retailers that want to show the footprint of eCommerce logistics. It also reflects a wider push by payments and commerce technology providers to embed sustainability-related features inside online purchasing flows.

Sphere said the Flora & Fauna deployment operated as a pilot for Click Sphere for Good. It said it wants other retailers to use the tool.

"We're extremely proud to see the success of Click Sphere for Good's pilot with Flora & Fauna. The contributions to climate action from Flora & Fauna and their customers show the desire consumers have to reduce their carbon footprint. With the success of the pilot, we hope to see more widespread adoption and even greater reductions in emissions," said Shaun Lordan, CEO, Sphere.

HealthPost said the initiative formed part of a broader approach to environmental impact. The group owns Flora & Fauna and Nourished Life in Australia through The Future Co.

HealthPost described itself as a family business from Aotearoa New Zealand. It said the group sells more than 15,000 products from 500-plus brands and runs the HealthPost Nature Trust in Mohua Golden Bay.

"Flora & Fauna's partnership with Sphere has been a great success. We're delighted with the uptake and the way customers have embraced this climate contribution feature. Together we've already directed contributions linked to an estimated 7.6 tonnes of delivery-related emissions in just four months. For us this is a practical, meaningful and transparent step we're taking now, alongside the harder work of directly reducing our footprint over time," said Abel Butler, CEO, HealthPost.

The Click Sphere for Good feature remains live on floraandfauna.com.au. Sphere said other retailers on Shopify can request access to the app.