‘BYOB’: M&S is the first major retailer for packaging initiative for click & collect orders

M&S has stepped up its promise to lower its use of plastic packaging by declaring it is proceeding with a new ‘BYOB’ – Bring Your Own Bag – click & connect initiative to 251 stores.

‘BYOB’ – Bring Your Own Bag – click & connect.

The ambition takes away the demand for the conventional plastic carrier online that are picked and packed at the collection store by requesting customers to carry their own bags. M&S is the first prominent merchant to adopt this method which will save 10 million units of plastic yearly. 

The roll-out pursues a successful trial at 16 M&S stores, with consumers reminded at the point of checkout to get their own bag when arriving at the store to collect an order placed online – clients are then reminded again when informed that their order is prepared to collect. Over seven months, 39,347 orders were fulfilled this way, removing over 109 thousand plastic units. Customers praised the approach as ‘simple and straightforward’ and an easy way to help them reduce their own plastic consumption.

More than 60% of customers opt for click & collect – over 15 million orders annually. Of those orders, 25% are picked and packed in the customer’s chosen collection store – the equivalent of four million parcels. Over the next few months, all click & collected orders picked and packed at the customer’s collection store will be provided without a plastic carrier – with the ambition to expand the initiative to all click & collect orders in the longer term.

Stephen Langford, Director of M&S.com, said: “Using our stores to fulfill click & collect orders continues to grow, and we want to use this as a channel to encourage a behavior change that helps to reduce unnecessary packaging waste. During the trial phase, we had great customer feedback as they saw it as a simple action that, collectively, can make a big difference.”

While waiting for client collection, orders are kept and protected from 100% recycled materials in a reusable bag. The action is one of the numerous ways M&S is moving towards its target of removing 75 million units of plastic packaging in its Clothing & Home business.

• In Clothing & Home, M&S has removed 60m units of plastic since 2018
• In Womenswear, M&S has removed the plastic covers from the 500,000 cashmere jumpers it sells each year and saved 1.5m pieces of plastic by moving from a single hanger with a size pip to a 2pp waterfall hanger in its women’s leggings and joggers range.
• In Menswear, M&S removed 72,640 pieces of plastic from men’s Merino and cashmere scarves and, in spring 2022, launched new formal shirts in the Sartorial range with the reduced plastics by removing outer bags, replacing internal plastic clips with more sustainable options, and removing the spare plastic collar stays.
• In Lingerie, 5m pieces of plastic in women’s knickers by displaying products on a table instead of hangers, and 598,025 pieces of plastic have been removed from across all 2pp and 3pp ladies’ socks.
• In-Home, M&S has started removing 3.2m units of plastic from its bedding and 360,000 pieces of plastic from bathmats. The protective plastic in cutlery sets has also been replaced with lightweight tissues, removing 259,000 units of plastic.

As part of M&S ‘future of e-commerce packaging’ program, the retailer is trialing several other innovative online order packaging solutions – for both home delivery and click and collect – at any one time. The program, alongside the latest initiative, has seen the rollout of the following:

• The green bag used to package products is made from 100% recycled plastic and is fully recyclable via M&S’ plastic takeback scheme in-store – which accepts all types of plastic that some local authorities will not collect
• A switch to paper tape – instead of plastic – on cardboard boxes – saving 2,781,000 meters annually
• 100% recyclable cardboard boxes that can be put in at-home recycling bins
• Mobile-friendly paperless customer returns and receipts – saving 205 tonnes of paper annually.

Innovative eco-friendly garments packaging to overcome the single-use plastic by Seaman Paper