The Finnish outdoor retailer increased their average order value while wow-ing their customers.

Their secret? Reusable packaging.

Scandinavian Outdoor is an excellent example of a brand that took the initiative to switch to reusable packaging in the early days and keeps enjoying its many business benefits.

Sustainable packaging proved to be a powerful tool to improve e-commerce’s revenue and shopping experience online and at home

• 30% higher Average Order Value by offering RePack for free above a threshold
• Better customer retention and satisfaction with an 80 Net Promoter Score
• Improved environmental impact with more than 50 000 single-use packages avoided

About Scandinavian Outdoor

Scandinavian Outdoor is a Finnish retailer and online store chain. Their journey started over 40 years ago with the sale of scout badges. Today the brand serves customers with a comprehensive selection of outdoor clothing and equipment, not forgetting scouting items.

Challenge: adapting to consumers' expectations while meeting financial targets

Back in 2015, the Finnish company sensed the demand from outdoorsy customers for more sustainable practices. When shopping online, they want to have the smallest impact.

Scandinavian Outdoor wanted a shipping method that resonated with their customers’ values.

As a retailer offering large items like backpacks and shoes, they had requirements on the packaging size. And as with any company, it had to be financially realistic.

Solution: keeping packaging in the loop

Reusable packaging was an innovative solution that caught the attention of Scandinavian Outdoor. It seemed good for the environment and had an attractive cost structure.

We co-designed a bigger bag with a flat bottom that still fits in letter size for returns. Everything that Scandinavian Outdoor sells fits in these 45-liters monster bags (except for skis, but we’ll be fixing that one day)

The brand first made RePack available on its shop as a 3.50€ option. That fee covered the full cost of the packaging. This makes shipping with RePack cost-neutral for the company.

The promise was simple: Choose RePack for 3,50€ return it and get 10% off your next purchase.

Results: improved e-commerce metrics, satisfied customers and a happy planet!

A year later, Scandinavian Outdoor’s e-commerce performance improved greatly:

• Shoppers choosing RePack had a 30% higher average order value (AOV)
• RePack users were more satisfied with their experience than non-RePack users.
  

With RePack, Scandinavian had discovered a valuable user segment that was spending more, was ready to pay for sustainable packaging, and loved it!

To go even further, the brand started offering a free RePack shipping for every order above 79€.

A month later:

• The site’s AOV increased again
• The NPS reached a score of 80 (that’s beyond excellent!)

The cherry on the cake?

Scandinavian Outdoor did not only generate higher revenues and greater customer satisfaction. They also significantly reduced their environmental footprint :

• The return rate is as high as 74% among their shoppers
• 50 000 single-use packages were avoided since RePack was implemented (still counting!)

To wrap up

With reusable packaging, Scandinavian Outdoor found a way to reconcile revenue, customer satisfaction, and environmental action.

That’s what a successful implementation of sustainable packaging looks like!