Refining fashion brand’s sustainable packaging overhaul
Thrift+ is a pre-loved fashion marketplace fighting waste by making secondhand seamless
Ditching virgin plastic packaging without increasing costs
Thrift+ is a secondhand fashion marketplace, empowering people to feel and look their best whilst doing their part for the planet. And as a B. Corp, sustainability is at the heart of everything they do. But they had two major packaging problems.
First, Thrift+ had issues with their packaging supplier. Instead of being a collaborative partnership, it was one-sided, plagued by poor communication, long lead times and a heap of unresolved issues including misprinted QR codes — a vital part of their Thrift+ Bag scheme.
Second, Thrift+ wanted to switch from virgin LDPE mailer bags to paper mailer bags in line with their recent rebrand that highlighted the brand’s commitment to sustainability. The only challenge: Thrift+ didn’t want to compromise on function and they didn’t want to lose the competitive pricing of virgin plastic.
But, after working with Sourceful for a year, Thrift+ reported the paper bags were taking up too much space in their warehouse. On top of that, Thrift+ wanted their vibrant, yellow branding to reflect in their packaging, too, rather than the kraft colour of the paper mailer. So, as Thrift’s super supplier, Sourceful got to work adapting their offering with a brand new solution.
More sustainable, branded custom recycled mailer bags
Whilst the new paper mailer bags were a major milestone for the brand at the time, Thrift+ still needed a recycled plastic mailer bag solution that better reflected their branding, was more sustainable than a virgin plastic bag, limited the space inside the bag and used less material per shipment. So, we pitched a custom LDPE recycled mailer bag made from 98% recycled plastic which - more importantly - Thrift+’s customers could still recycle at collection points after use, helping us to all continue taking action against the climate crisis.
Using the data from one of our other clients, we developed a thicker material for Thrift+ through sampling, testing 60-80-90microns. In effect, Thrift+ wanted to know that their bags were durable while also consciously limiting the amount of material to keep their carbon footprint down. The best solution meant opting for 80mic which became and excellent balance between sustainability and product performance.
Our sourcing team then reached out to Sourceful’s network of vetted suppliers to source GRS-certified, 98% recycled content mailer bags, which we then customised to Thrift+’s needs. These were recyclable at collection points which was an important sustainability credential for Thrift+.
More sustainable packaging with the credentials to show it
Thrift+ has packaging products which deliver on their aim to align packaging with their mission. What’s more, Thrift+ had the facts and credentials to share with their climate-conscious customers, demonstrating just how important sustainability is to the brand. What’s even more is that this new packaging was clearly aligned with their branding, preserving consistency across all of their customer touch points.
Sourceful is bringing all of Thrift+’s SKU’s under one roof, meaning higher efficiency, better pricing and a simpler, more streamlined operation to come. They also use Sourceful’s Auto-Stock platform to manage and restock their inventory through a single online platform.
Throughout this project, we were proud turn up for Thrift+ as a super supplier, in that we proved we were willing to be adaptable and tackle all types of problems that Thrift+ was facing, on all fronts. Sourceful can help improve sustainability, logistics and product performance depending on a brand’s specific business needs.
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