To promote sustainable development, retailers limit the number of orders customers can place each year

Recently , Toward , an online luxury retailer focused on sustainability , proposed a new plan to promote sustainability by limiting the number of orders customers can place per year .

Toward mainly sells luxury goods, including Citizens of Humanity jeans and Vivienne Westwood women's clothing, with prices ranging from US$130 to more than US$1,000.

Ana Kannan, founder of Toward , said customers can limit their annual orders to 12 if they wish. Customers will receive a reminder at checkout telling them how many orders they have placed so far this year , and they can also check their annual order volume .

Kannan mentioned that this is just a minor change and the company will not force customers to choose order limits, nor will the company provide any incentives for customers who choose to join the program .

However, Kannan said that in the future, Toward may offer discounts and exclusive early sales to participating customers. For now, the program is intended as an educational measure to help build sustainable awareness among customers .

Kannan mentioned that creating awareness is the first step to promote sustainable development . The fast fashion industry has made consumers develop blind and frequent shopping habits, and it is trying to correct this shopping mentality of consumers .

According to Kannan, while most Toward customers currently shop only once a month , this is not the case for other retailers. According to McKinsey's 2021 survey data, Americans buy an average of one new piece of clothing every five days . And for every five pieces of clothing purchased in a year , three will be thrown into landfills by the end of the year.

Toward 's plan to limit the number of orders a customer can place each year is intended to reduce waste by setting limits on brand e-commerce websites and reminding customers to pay attention to their order quantities .

At the same time, limiting the number of orders also has the benefit of better controlling the amount of returns . Returns have dealt a heavy blow to the retail industry in the past two years . According to relevant data , the total amount of returns in the retail industry in 2020 was 428 billion US dollars.

In addition, limiting the number of annual orders from customers can also help retailers alleviate product supply shortages . Under the influence of the epidemic, supply chain systems around the world are in chaos , and many brands and retailers are facing serious challenges of product shortages .

E-commerce platform

Cross-border e-commerce market

Sustainable

Environmental friendly