What is Optera & SPS's Retail Sustainability Collective?

Supply chain emissions are a huge problem for retail organisations.

The startling reality? These emissions overwhelmingly exceed their operational emissions by over 11-fold, as data from CDP has shown.

The primary contributors to this discrepancy are inefficient logistical systems that arise from the need for rapid delivery, coupled with overproduction, material wastage and the energy-intensive processes of manufacturing, packing, and distribution that define modern supply networks.

In light of these challenges, it's imperative for retail organisations to reinforce their commitment to sustainability. Achieving this is not just beneficial for their long-term business prospects but is crucial for fostering a sustainable environment.

A notable stride towards this goal has been the formation of the Retail Sustainability Collective, a collaborative effort spearheaded by Optera, a frontrunner in ESG software solutions, and SPS Commerce, a significant player in the realm of cloud-based supply chain management solutions.

This new alliance aims at enabling retailers to effectively minimise their supply chain emissions.

Retailers partaking in this initiative will benefit from extensive primary data coverage across their supply chains, which facilitates more precise emissions reporting and allows for the improvement of sustainability practices through advanced support and educational resources.

Tim Weiss, CEO and Co-Founder of Optera, explains the thinking behind the collective.

“For too long, sustainability teams have been going it alone, often in a siloed function trying to build separate, and sometimes duplicate, processes and programs from scratch," he says.

“The Retail Sustainability Collective will enable sustainability teams to tap into existing networks and processes within their organisations – streamlining emissions management and making it a core part of business operations.”

Why are supply chain emissions so high for retailers?

The extensive and intricate nature of global retail supply chains is a major reason for their high emission levels.

Powered largely by non-renewable energy sources, these networks span extensive processes that include the extraction of raw materials, manufacturing, packaging, and distribution.

The advent of globalisation, coupled with the consumer demand for swift deliveries, necessitates extensive transportation across vast distances using trucks, ships, and airplanes, all of which are often inefficiently fuelled.

This situation is exacerbated by the consumer push for fast fashion, lower product costs, and frequent new product introductions, which collectively accelerate the production cycles and compound the environmental footprint.

Given these complexities, systemic changes are essential for retail organisations to effectively manage their substantial energy use and improve their overall data visibility and emission management capabilities.

Optera's role in the solution

Leading the way in the corporate shift towards enhanced supply chain sustainability is Optera. This ESG-focused entity specialises in managing emissions throughout the supply chain.

Optera is build on a robust platform. They provide organisations with advanced data monitoring, real-time analytics and interactive supplier engagement.

By facilitating comprehensive measurement and reduction strategies for greenhouse gases across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, Optera is quickly becoming instrumental in advancing transparency and responsibility in emissions reporting.

The company's overarching goal is to foster a more environmentally sustainable future for the supply chain sector.

What kind of impact might the Retail Sustainability Collective have?

This newly launched Retail Sustainability Collective is poised to transform how supply chain emissions are managed.

By providing suppliers with robust tools for emissions calculation and a streamlined process for data submission, the initiatives a unified approach encourage retailers among to share and manage emission data.

This collaborative environment not only promotes improved interactions between sustainability and supply chain teams but also aids retailers in developing effective decarbonisation strategies and setting industry benchmarks.

These efforts are geared towards enhancing supplier performance assessments, improving cost-efficiency and maintaining a positive corporate reputation.

The initiative is also well-aligned with the growing market and regulatory demands for environmentally responsible practices , ultimately leading to strengthened business resilience and a sustainable future for the global retail market.

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