Although three-quarters of small and medium size businesses believe that sustainability is important, the majority say that they are reluctant to invest sizable funds in sustainable practices.

According to a DHL Express survey of more than 5,400 small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SME) across an array of logistics industries — including retail, consumer goods, and fashion — 75% said that sustainability is either "very important" or "extremely important" to their businesses, with just 1% saying that it's "not at all important." Globally, an average of 35% of SMEs said that sustainability is "extremely important," with China and India leading the way at 72% and 59% respectively. 

Despite that, 53% of SMEs said that they could only commit 1-3% of their operating budgets to sustainability, while just 9% were willing to invest more than 5%, and 16% planning to invest nothing. That appears to at least partially be driven by the fact that SMEs have struggled to get buy-in for their sustainability goals both internally and with customers, including 42% of retail businesses, 46% of consumer businesses, and 40% of fashion companies. Combined across all industries, only 29% believe that their customers would be either "extremely" or "very" willing" to pay more for sustainable shipping options.

A separate DHL Express survey of more than 12,000 consumers presented a different picture, though, with 62% saying that they would "always" or "sometimes" choose to pay more for sustainable shipping.