Nate Faust, vice president of Quidsi (which runs Diapers.com and Soap.com), co-founder and COO of Jet ($ 3.3 billion, bought by Walmart for about 349.2 billion yen), And as SVP of Walmart, he has been involved in the e-commerce business for many years.
As time went on, he slowly realized that 25 years after the industry started, it was “crazy” to still rely on “disposable, one-way packaging.” This is a nuisance to consumers and has a significant impact on the environment, but Faust said, “If retailers try to tackle this problem alone, because of more expensive packaging and two-way shipping. It will be a huge cost increase. ”
So he’s trying to change that by launching a new startup, Olive, which packs shoppers’ purchases into reusable packages and delivers them once a week.
Olive has partnered with hundreds of apparel brands and retailers, including Adidas, Anthropologie, Everlane, Hugo Boss, Outdoor Voices and Saks Fifth Avenue. After the consumer signs up, install Olive’s iOS app or Chrome browser extension and say, “When you shop directly at a retail store or branded site as usual, Olive will support the checkout process and automatically Olive. They will enter your account details, “Faust said.
Image Credits: Olive
The products are sent to Olive’s consolidation facility, where they are stored and packed into a week’s worth of shipment. The packaging is still in use because retailers ship their products normally, but at least consumers don’t have to dispose of it. Ultimately, Faust said he would like to work with retailers to reduce or eliminate packaging.
In the meantime, Faust said the major environmental impact would come from “consolidating deliveries to fewer last mile stops.” The company estimates that doubling the number of items delivered can reduce the carbon footprint of each item by 30%.
Weekly deliveries are made by regular mail in most parts of the United States, and by local courier in densely populated urban areas. Luggage arrives in a reusable shipper made of recyclable material and can be returned by selecting the item in the Olive app and then returning it to the shipper and flipping the label.
In fact, Faust said the convenience of the return process (no need to print labels, no need to go to a local FedEx or UPS store) makes olives appealing to shoppers who don’t mind the environmental impact. Insists that it should be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELfk4rJbKto
“To maximize the impact on the environment, there must be a selling point other than the impact on the environment,” he said.
Consumers only pay the usual shipping costs and Olive shipping is available at no additional charge.
Faust admits that Olive is going against a “power showdown” with other e-commerce services, such as Amazon, that aim to deliver purchased products as soon as possible. .. However, consumer surveys have shown that shoppers are willing to wait a little longer to gain other benefits, Faust said.
In addition, Olive is starting with apparel because it has “low expectations for speed” compared to other categories, and even if you order only one item per week, shipping is economical enough. He also said that the price of the product is high enough to be demonstrated.