We’re more than happy to introduce some speakers of our upcoming E-commerce Berlin Virtual conference.
Today, we decided to invite Mikael Fristedt Westre from Box Inc for a virtual cup of coffee to talk about Study: “What is sustainable E-commerce according to consumers?” topic. Enjoy!
You’re a head of Box Inc. How did your journey begin?
After university I started working as a management consultant for The Boston Consulting Group and had a lifetime of learnings about hypothesis driven strategy in a few years’ time. A few years later I founded a startup with some friends, but we killed it after less than one year. Some seven years ago I started working in Stora Enso and learned about the exciting dullness of the packaging industry! That’s also where I founded Box Inc.
What does your role entail daily?
Just about everything! We work closely as a team so I have daily interactions with sales, marketing, customer service, product owner and developers. I keep a close eye on what our customers are doing and saying to see what we can learn to develop the user experience. Everything else is a mix of strategy work, analysis, presentations, coaching, learning, networking and I even write copy sometimes haha!
What is the biggest challenge you face in your job?
Making the right priorities for me and the team. We are on a high growth journey and time is our most limited resource.
“We are on a fantastic journey to change the packaging industry for the better.” How do you want to achieve that?
I’ve worked in the packaging industry for quite a few years. A problem that I’ve recognized is that many smaller companies struggle to find the right packaging and suppliers for their needs. They don’t necessarily have sourcing or packaging competence and generally lack time for these administrative topics. These companies are also typically underserved as many suppliers focus on their large accounts. Box Inc was founded to solve this problem and create a marketplace for packaging focusing on SMEs (Mittelstands).
How do you support e-commerce companies? Why should they trust you?
Most of our customers are in fact E-commerces and there are probably good reasons for that. Many E-commerces are growing fast with full focus on their digital marketing, tech and logistics. Packaging has a significant impact on their business both in terms of customer experience, cost and sustainability, but they seldom have room to invest resources and time into the topic. We help these companies by simplifying the sourcing process. The result is saved time and money while getting a better packaging solution.
You support eco-friendly packaging. How important is that to the world, not only e-commerce? What’s the real impact?
Box Inc is owned by Stora Enso, the Renewable Materials Company so it is very clear for us what our focus is – sustainable packaging made from renewable materials. The world needs to change consumption behavior from current produce – use – dispose model to a circular one. That is the only sustainable route for packaging going forward not just for E-commerce but other industries as well.
What trends do you think will dominate e-commerce in the future?
I think E-commerce adoption among businesses i.e. B2B E-commerce will grow fast over the coming years. Consumers have already come so much further in their shift to buying online, but business will follow quicker now than before especially since many businesses were forced to change their ways of working because of the pandemic.
How can e-commerce businesses stand out from the crowd in 2021?
I believe sustainable and ethical businesses will thrive in 2021 and going forward.
Hungry for more e-commerce tips?
Register for free ticket to see Michael’s speech —> Click here
