Ohi partners with EcoCart

Ohi, the instant commerce platform that enables brands to meet their customers’ expectations of superfast delivery in under two hours, has partnered with EcoCart to offer a carbon-neutral e-commerce fulfillment option to Ohi brand partners and their customers. Through the partnership, merchants that use Ohi’s instant commerce solution can minimize the carbon footprint associated with delivery of their e-commerce orders using carbon offsets.

“Research shows that the vast majority of consumers prefer to do business with eco-friendly companies whenever possible, and we’re absolutely committed to helping our merchant partners reduce the environmental impact of their businesses,” said Ben Jones, founder and CEO of Ohi, in a statement. “We’re proud to launch this partnership with EcoCart to offer environmentally friendly, superfast delivery that benefits consumers, helps our brand partners grow their businesses while reducing their carbon footprint, and ultimately supports a healthier planet.”

Ohi’s partnership with EcoCart is enabling both brands and shoppers to help protect the environment by mitigating the impact of their carbon footprint at a moment when consumers are increasingly mindful of the effects of their consumption on the planet. A recent survey by the IBM Institute for Business Value in association with the National Retail Federation found that nearly 80 percent of consumers consider sustainability important, and that nearly 60 percent are willing to change their shopping habits to be more sustainable. Recent Gartner research found that 73 percent of millennials prioritize sustainability over price when shopping.

EcoCart’s proprietary technology allows Ohi merchant partners to offer a carbon-neutral order option at checkout. Shoppers who choose that option trigger an automatic donation to an independently verified carbon-offsetting project, capturing or counteracting the harmful effects of the amount of carbon associated with their order delivery. Customers pay nothing extra to make their Ohi deliveries carbon-neutral, while Ohi’s merchant partners can choose to pay a small fee to EcoCart based on the estimated carbon footprint for each delivery. Ohi doesn’t retain any of the fees, which EcoCart contributes directly to a variety of environmental projects across the globe.

Ohi is committed to providing carbon-neutral delivery and continually reducing its platform’s carbon footprint. With traditional e-commerce fulfillment, orders are shipped by plane or ground over long distances, but Ohi’s network of micro-fulfillment centers ensures that e-commerce orders travel only a short distance to arrive at consumers’ doorsteps. Ohi further minimizes its carbon footprint in urban areas by using a bike, e-bike, scooter, and foot couriers to provide ultrafast delivery. In addition, Ohi encourages the use of eco-friendly, reusable totes for 2-hour and same-day deliveries whenever possible. As part of its commitment to more sustainable local delivery, Ohi will be covering the first month of carbon offsetting for Ohi-fulfilled orders for any brand that wants to try this new service, with no further commitments required.

“Through this integration, Ohi is empowering its brand partners with a win-win option that’s shown to facilitate deeper customer relationships and drive business results, while helping to have a meaningful positive environmental impact by offsetting the unavoidable emissions of shipping their products,” said Peter Twomey, co-founder and COO of EcoCart, in a statement. “We’re thrilled to partner with Ohi to give the company’s merchant network a simple and easy way to sell more sustainably.”