M&S rolls out reduced packaging initiative for click & collect orders

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 28, 2023

M&S is addressing some of the issues linked to large amounts of excess packaging created by online orders. It said Tuesday that it’s rolling out a new ‘BYOB’ – Bring Your Own Bag – click & connect initiative to 251 of its stores.

This removes the need for the traditional plastic carrier across online orders that are picked and packed at the collection store by asking customers to bring their own bag. It said it's the first large retailer to adopt this approach, which will save 10 million units of plastic annually. 

So does it mean orders aren’t packaged at all before they’re picked up by the customer? No. While waiting for customer collection, they’re stored and protected in a reusable bag made from 100% recycled materials. 

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It’s trialled it successfully at 16 stores with customers reminded at point of checkout to bring their own bag when going to collect an order placed online. They’re reminded again when notified that their order is ready to collect. 

M&S said that over the course of seven months, 39,347 orders were fulfilled this way, removing over 109,000 units of plastic and getting a thumbs-up from customers.

It’s particularly important given that over 60% of customers opt for click & collect these days. That’s over 15 million orders annually with around 25% picked and packed in the customer’s local store – the equivalent of four million parcels. 

The ambition is to expand the initiative to all click & collect orders in the longer term.