JoshThe internet has made it easier to find anything you want to buy, including eco-friendly and natural products. But at the same time, it has also made it a little harder to find the products you want. Not only are there so many choices out there that it can be hard to decide what offers the best value at the best price, but there are also a lot of people who make false claims about what products are organic or natural. They may claim to be “green,” but may contain noxious chemicals disguised by natural sounding names.
Here are a few things you can do to find the best eco-friendly ecommerce products available:
Use Predictive Search
You likely already have a history of searching for the eco-friendly products that are important to you. Over time, a predictive search tool can learn your preferences so that it can make the right recommendations to you. Just like how Google tries to fill in the words it thinks you will type next based on the most popular searches it gets, a predictive ecommerce search tool will fill in products it thinks you will like based on past searches and buying decisions.
That way, when you search for “natural cleaners,” you can be sure that the products that come back in the search results actually contain the ingredients you consider to be natural. When you search for “organic,” you’ll get search results that are actually organic and not just claiming to be.
Know Your Terms
Companies throw around a lot of terms that sound like they’re environmentally friendly but not always are. For example, a product can be all-natural and contain a substance you wouldn’t want in your body or in your soil. For instance, cyanide is naturally occurring in apple seeds, so you wouldn’t want apple seed puree in your toothpaste.
Look up the legal definitions for terms like “natural,” “organic,” “pure,” “eco-friendly,” or “environmentally friendly.” There are guidelines for some terms you will see and no guidelines for others. If you know what the law says, you’ll know if the company is bound by rules for its claims or is just making an assertion that you have to research to verify.
Know the Top Companies
Companies get a reputation for the quality of the products they sell and the practices they employ. If a company has a history of making products with questionable ingredients but claiming that they are environmentally friendly, consumers are going to know about it and spread the word. That company will quickly develop a poor reputation.
Do a little research to find the companies that have the best reputations for offering high-quality products and for practicing truth in advertising and marketing. The companies that offer great, eco-friendly ecommerce products will rise to the top, and you will learn about them quickly. Look for products made by those companies when you are shopping.
Read Carefully
A product may claim that it is “all-natural,” but there may be an asterisk next to that claim or there may be some fine print nearby. Other products may claim to be 100 percent natural or organic, but their ingredients list may include items that are neither organic nor natural, simply because there are small enough quantities that the company can legally make those claims.
The only way to know for sure what is in the products you are using is to read all the information on the package and the site carefully. If you don’t have the opportunity to read the package, ask questions online before you buy. Or go to a forum and ask questions from those who have used the product in the past. The answers are always there – you just need to be willing to ask the questions and to know which questions to ask.
Don’t get lost in the sea of online merchandise when trying to find the eco-friendly products that are important to you. Use a predictive search tool and do a little research to find the products that align with your values. You’ll be able to find the items you want more quickly, and you can feel confident that you are buying what you truly want in a product. Furthermore, do your due dilligence as a consumer.