As businesses were taking hits during the pandemic, it looked unlikely for any to benefit from the cause if not vanquish. However, one business managed to play the cards to their benefit and managed to come on top, Loop. To put Loop’s success in short terms, the customer demands went up so high that in nine months the company opened branches across 48 US states. Although the company launched in May of last year, its success has been unrivaled due to the innovative solution it carries.
What Loop offers is refillable packaging and services across brands and products that you would normally buy from store shelves. Since the customers worldwide are looking for alternatives to single-use plastics and disposable packaging, they have found their solution in the image of Loop. The company has already opened branches in the UK and France. This customer behavior and demand towards refill and reuse attributes promise the industry a great deal of revenue and solutions. Here are the reasons why we think refillable packaging is going to take over shortly:
One aspect that makes Loop’s idea perfect is that instead of offering its products or offering a line of service to a confined number of brands, it chose to be collaborative and universal to escape the noise. It has made a platform where customers can log on and buy household products of their brand of choice which are then delivered to their doorstep. The new products are delivered in the Loop Tote which then replaces the items with empty bottles or containers. Through the help of their partner delivering services, Loop sends these recyclable materials to the parent company for repurposing, TerraCycle.
This freedom is given to choose from brands of their liking and repurposing packaging is a hope towards bringing customers to realize the importance and impacts of reducing single-use packaging. Last year the Ellen MacArthur Foundation cited 69 refillable packaging services offered by businesses across the markets worldwide.
The global brand colossus Unilever has also started turning to this solution. It has not only started rolling out refillable versions of some of its most popular brands but also partnered with reuse experts to come up with ideas to reach its goals.
Unilever’s dedication can be observed in the trial service it has been running in Santiago, Chile. This setup uses electric cycles for delivering a range of Unilever household products to doorsteps. Then the automated dispensing unit, which is connected to an app for virtual purchase and payment, refills the containers. However, there is no one-for-all solution, but the company has currently taken on the idea of running trials, studying the aspects that favor or disservice the trials, and upon the discovery of the right solution, polish it to perfection. If faced with the right solution, it can prove the most profitable idea. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation also estimates a $10 billion business opportunity if even 20% of the current plastic packaging were replaced by refillable or reusable substitutes. Refill and reuse of packaging is an idea that is rapidly adopted by numerous businesses. this will not only bring competition to the table between brands but also find inventive solutions to our environmental concerns. Making decisions in business is something that has to be done with the foresight of decades and making the right choice may not deliver instantly, however, they do bring in the expected margins eventually.
