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- Unified Data Collection: The Retail Sustainability Collective simplifies emissions data submission for suppliers and improves data quality for retailers.
- Primary Data Access: Retailers gain comprehensive primary emissions data for more accurate sustainability plans.
- Enhanced Collaboration: Streamlined processes foster stronger partnerships between sustainability and supply chain teams.
Retail’s Supply Chain Sustainability Challenge Retail supply chains generate emissions 11.4 times higher than operational emissions, driving urgency for comprehensive decarbonization efforts. Despite nearly 70% of corporations working to support supplier emissions reduction, fragmented data and internal silos obstruct progress.
Bridging the Gap with a Joint Solution Optera and SPS Commerce announced the Retail Sustainability Collective—a partnership aimed at revolutionizing how retailers and suppliers collaborate on sustainability initiatives.
Scott Williams, Senior Manager, Product Management at SPS Commerce, explains: “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’s Value The partnership leverages Optera’s expertise in emissions management and SPS Commerce’s decades-long experience in data exchange to streamline processes for both retailers and suppliers:
For Suppliers:
- Single submission process for multiple retail customers.
- Built-in emissions calculation tools for varying sustainability maturity levels.
- Benchmarking insights for performance comparisons.
For Retailers:
- Expanded primary data coverage across the entire supply chain.
- Expert-guided supplier outreach and data validation.
- Integrated collaboration using existing supply chain infrastructure.
Related Article: Optera Upgrades Supply Chain Tool for Enhanced Scope 3 Emissions Reporting
Proven Expertise in Action Optera’s supplier data collection module, Outreach, supports suppliers through three pathways—estimation, calculation, or reporting—tailored to data maturity levels. Over 2,000 suppliers across 25 countries have used Outreach to share primary emissions data.
SPS Commerce’s established frameworks have streamlined supplier data sharing for over two decades, enabling efficient data exchange for item, sales, and EDI information. This experience now extends to emissions data, using familiar tools already in use.
Tim Weiss, CEO and co-founder of Optera, highlights the broader impact: “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 leveraging combined expertise and established infrastructure, the Retail Sustainability Collective is set to drive meaningful supply chain decarbonization, bridging the gap between commitment and actionable progress.
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