Retail Supply Chains Face Urgent Sustainability Challenges

Retail supply chains produce emissions that are 11.4 times higher than the emissions generated by retailers’ direct operations, underscoring the critical need for comprehensive decarbonization. While nearly 70% of corporations are working to reduce supplier emissions, fragmented data and internal silos remain significant barriers to progress.

In response to these challenges, Optera and SPS Commerce have announced the Retail Sustainability Collective, a new partnership aimed at transforming how retailers and suppliers collaborate on sustainability initiatives. The initiative seeks to enhance data visibility and streamline sustainability efforts across supply chains.

Scott Williams, Senior Manager of Product Management at SPS Commerce, noted, “These challenges aren’t unique to emissions data. We’ve been helping retailers and suppliers face similar visibility and data collection challenges across various supply chain datasets for decades.”

The Retail Sustainability Collective offers targeted solutions for both suppliers and retailers:

For Suppliers:

• A single submission process for multiple retail customers.
• Built-in emissions calculation tools for suppliers at different stages of sustainability maturity.
• Benchmarking insights to compare performance.

For Retailers:

• Broader primary data coverage across entire supply chains.
• Expert-guided supplier outreach and data validation.
• Integrated collaboration through existing supply chain infrastructure.

Optera’s Outreach module supports suppliers through tailored pathways for data estimation, calculation, or reporting. To date, over 2,000 suppliers in 25 countries have used Outreach to share primary emissions data. Meanwhile, SPS Commerce leverages its two decades of experience in streamlining supplier data sharing to include emissions data, utilizing tools already familiar to retailers and suppliers.

Tim Weiss, CEO and co-founder of Optera, emphasized the transformative potential of the initiative, stating, “For too long, sustainability teams have been isolated, building processes from scratch. The Retail Sustainability Collective enables these teams to tap into existing organizational networks, integrating emissions management as a core business function.”

By combining their expertise and leveraging established infrastructure, Optera and SPS Commerce aim to bridge the gap between sustainability commitments and actionable progress, driving meaningful decarbonization across retail supply chains.