Finnish customers find ecommerce least sustainable

Finnish consumers rate ecommerce the least eco-friendly industry compared to the rest of Northern Europe, while Danish customers are the most critical about sustainability. Moreover, Finn.no, Matsmart, Aarstiderne, Tori.fi and Bol.com are voted most sustainable online retailers.

These are the most important conclusions from the Sustainable Brand Index 2022. The annual report measures how consumers perceive the sustainability of different brands. Over 1500 businesses, 35 industries and 70 thousand consumers were interviewed. The ranking includes 5 European countries: the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark.

Finn.no, Matsmart, Aarstiderne, Tori.Fi and Bol.com

Firstly, customers were asked what they found the most sustainable online stores in their country. In Finland, car retailer Tori.fi took first place, while meal box Aarstiderne was voted number one in Denmark. Food retailer Matsmart was voted most climate-friendly in Sweden, as well as marketplace Finn.no in Norway. Lastly, Bol.com was found the most eco-friendly ecommerce player in the Netherlands.

Ecommerce more sustainable than physical retail

Aside from the most sustainable shops, respondents rated industries on sustainability. Finnish customers voted ecommerce as the least sustainable industry compared to its surrounding countries. Ecommerce sits at the bottom of the list at number 20 of 26 industries in total.

Finnish customers voted ecommerce as the least eco-friendly industry.

In most other Northern European countries, ecommerce is rated as more sustainable. For example, in Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands online retail sits at number 10. Physical shops, such as fashion stores and electronics stores, are generally found to be less eco-friendly.

European customers more critical of green marketing

Another important conclusion of the report is that in all countries except Sweden, customers are more critical of green marketing. In Finnish and Dutch markets, sympathy for sustainability campaigns has even decreased by 10 and 5 percent respectively.

Danish consumers are the most critical about sustainability campaigns.

Additionally, Denmark stands out as being the most critical: Danish consumers ranked businesses the lowest on average compared to other Northern European countries.