Eleven & Nordicfeel launch e-commerce sustainability initiative “No Air e-commerce”

Växjö, Sweden – 300 trucks every year. That is how many trucks the beauty sites Nordicfeel and Eleven are saving through its No Air e-commerce initiative, which means that the boxes are adapted to the product and not sending unnecessarily large packages.

“Our sustainability work is an ongoing process where we are constantly trying to improve. For us it is important to send beauty products and not air to our customers”, says Pernilla Barkman, CEO of Eleven and Nordicfeel.

E-commerce is a fast growing business in Sweden and more and more packages are being sent. But many packages are unnecessarily big and contains almost as much air as product. It requires unnecessarily large space during transport to the customer and the packages are also usually too large to be distributed to the customer’s mailbox, which means additional transports to delivery points.

E-commerce retailers Eleven and Nordicfeel wants to change this through their sustainability initiative No Air e-commerce.

To reduce the air, seven different box sizes have been developed to better adapt to the size of the products that the customer has purchased. For the smallest items padded envelopes are being used instead of cartons.

“Less air in the boxes also enables more packages to be delivered to the customers mailboxes. This means fewer transports to drop-off points and less number of trucks and cars on the roads”, says Marcus Johansson.

In addition to developing new sizes, several changes have also been made to the boxes to minimize the air.

“We are continuously making adjustments to the dimensions of the boxes. To find the right fit, we have involved the whole team, including the ones that are packing the boxes. That way you find the right size the fastest way”, says Marcus Johansson.

Another step in the sustainability work is to use locally produced cartons to avoid long shipment. “As a part of our sustainability work, we will also use recyclable and FSC-labeled boxes”, says Marcus Johansson.

In addition, almost all plastic in the boxes have been replaced with paper. “During this year we made significant improvements by using paper filling instead of plastic”, says Marcus Johansson.

Customer feedback so far has been very positive. “We have received a lot of positive reviews from our customers for not sending big boxes with a lot of air and also for removing the plastic filling in the boxes”, says Marcus Johansson.

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