Ethical Online Shopping

Ethical online shopping in the UK 

Amazon's vast selection, from cat litter to surgical gloves, makes it difficult for any single ethical retailer to offer a complete alternative. This guide includes both niche ethical specialists and larger retailers with varying ethical practices to provide a wide range of options.

This guide to ethical online retailers is part of our Alternatives to Amazon series, designed to help you avoid using the global giant where possible. All of the brands in this guide are better alternatives to Amazon, so although there are some brands who score much lower down the table, all of them have more ethical credentials than Amazon.

Which ethical online shops are in this guide?

We’ve included a range of different ethical shopping websites. 

Charities like Amnesty Shop, Oxfam, and Viva! use retail to raise funds for their causes, while two retailers, Veo and Viva!, are 100% vegan.

Tech is covered by employee-owned Richer Sounds and refurbished specialist Back Market. 

Veteran ethical retailers include Ethical Shop, (owned by the not-for-profit co-operative publisher, New Internationalist), and Shared Earth, which has been selling Fairtrade products in the UK since 1986.

We've also assessed eBay and Etsy.

Like Amazon, they’re both global online marketplaces, but despite many ethical shortcomings they do score some points in our core ratings – something which Amazon fails to do.

We’ve also included two department stores: employee-owned John Lewis and, for the first time, Selfridges.

Ethical clothing brands, bookshops, general supermarkets and ethical online food supermarkets are covered in separate guides so aren't included here.

What do retailers mean by ethical?

Most retailers in this guide highlight their ethics, values, and positive impact on their websites. Many use ethical criteria as product filters, such as fair trade certification (clearly defined) or "ecofriendly" and "economic empowerment" (less defined).

Most retailers do explain what their categories mean, and we understand that ethics are partly subjective. Having said that, many require their products to comply with only one criterion. 

Some say they do this because their customers have different values and they want to give them a choice. But this seems weak to us, particularly for companies that trade on their ethics and impact.

Company-wide ethical policies

Ethical retail is a difficult business and we’ve seen several companies cease trading in recent years. So, we understand the need to be flexible and to provide shoppers with a range of options. But we’d prefer to see a commitment to more company-wide ethical policies – covering a range of environmental issues as well as workers’ rights – that are applied to all products.

We think it’s possible to have high standards and stay afloat.

If you agree and would like to see more company-wide policies, select products that meet a range of standards and let your favourite retailers know why you’re doing this.

Find alternatives to Amazon

This guide is part of our alternatives to Amazon series. 

There are many ethical problems with Amazon, not least the potential lost tax revenue from it tax avoidance of around £433 million in 2023 in the UK alone. 

How do other online shops compare to Amazon?

Compared to Amazon, which scores poorly across all our ethical categories, especially in tax, workers' rights, and environmental practices, most companies in this guide perform better in our rtaings. Even larger platforms like eBay, Etsy, John Lewis and Selfridges  demonstrate more ethical approaches.

Since we began highlighting the problems of Amazon, we have seen resistance to Amazon grow. We have been joined by Fair Tax Mark, Tax Justice Network and others in condemning the company’s tax record. We’ve seen workers, unions, anti-racism organisations, anti-gentrification movements and others raise voices against Amazon globally.

By boycotting the company, we are taking part in this global movement and building the pressure for Amazon – or the legislation that allows its abuses – to change.

As this guide shows, there are alternatives out there, which, as well as simply not being Amazon, also deliberately offer a more ethical selection of products, or even fund campaigning through their sales.

We’ve tried to make sure that the ethical retailers included in this guide cover most of what you might use Amazon for, so you have options for where to spend your money.

Is shopping online better for the planet?

Is online shopping better for the planet? While once considered "greener" due to lower carbon footprints than driving to shopping centres.  (according to a 2013 MIT study), the reality is now more complex. Context truly matters.

Over a decade on, the picture is far more complicated but one thing is clear: context matters.

Online retail still has efficiencies on its side. Large warehouses can be less energy-intensive than heated shops, and bulk logistics can cut per-item emissions. Yet those advantages are quickly eroded by the speed and scale of modern e-commerce. The push for next-day delivery means half-filled vans or even air freight, which drives up emissions.

Large number of returns with online shopping

Returns are one of the biggest fault lines but rarely appear in carbon comparisons. 

Roughly a third of all online purchases are sent back, rising to more than half in fashion in 2025, compared with under 10% in physical shops. 

Returns don’t just mean more vans on the road: many items aren’t resold. Clothes are often sent abroad for processing, sit in landfills or are simply destroyed – with an estimate of one truckload of clothing burned or buried every second. Not quite the “free returns” offer people signed up for.

Industry analysts calculate that shipping and returns together account for nearly 40% of retail’s greenhouse gas footprint. 

The ease of clicking “return” has normalised a cycle of over-ordering and waste at a scale unthinkable in a physical shop.

That ease is part of the problem. 

Online retail is built to encourage more buying, from one-click checkouts to personalised recommendations and “haul culture” – the unboxing and displaying of large quantities of products by social media influencers. Environmental and human costs are largely hidden from view.

Meanwhile, studies that favour online shopping often assume US-style suburban malls where every trip is by car. In the UK, the picture is different. 

A walk or cycle to your local high street, combined with other errands, can have a far lower carbon impact than a van dispatched for a single parcel. In fact, some studies suggest that when trips are short (under 2km) and purchases consolidated, physical shopping can outperform online by up to 60%.

What can consumers do?

Choosing slower delivery, bulk ordering from a single supplier and resisting impulse hauls all help.

Retailers, too, must act by investing in electric fleets, smarter routing, and better sizing tools to cut returns. In 2025, perhaps the real question is less whether online or offline is “better”, but how our individual practices can be reshaped. How can we push back against a retail model designed to keep us endlessly consuming?

The rise of rental retail

Facing a cost-of-living crisis and climate emergency? Consider renting instead of buying! Owning less and sharing more is gaining popularity, especially among Millennials and Gen Z, who see ownership as less of a status symbol. Rental options, from tool libraries to department store schemes, offer a smart and sustainable alternative. Like resale, rental is now an important pillar of the circular economy.
 

Library of Things

One of the best-known UK examples are Libraries of Things, community projects where people can borrow household items like drills, sewing machines, or carpet cleaners for a small fee. There are over 100 Libraries of things including 17 in London. By making rarely used goods affordable and accessible, they save money, reduce waste, and build local community networks. 

Have a look at our Library of Things directory to see if there's one near you.

High Street rental

Meanwhile, mainstream retailers are beginning to embrace rental. Back in 2021, John Lewis expanded its furniture rental programme, allowing customers to lease items for as little as three months. The scheme, run in partnership with Fat Llama, made higher-quality furniture more accessible without committing to ownership – an important shift given that one in three Brits replace their sofas every five years, long before they reach the end of their potential lifespan.

Selfridges has also broadened its rental service, with clothing, handbags, and accessories available for daily, weekly, or monthly hire through its Reselfridges platform, often at a fraction of the retail price. These schemes aim to extend the life of products as well as introducing customers to the idea that fashion and homeware need not be disposable.

Rental options and the risk of over-consumption

However, not all rental is automatically sustainable. Delivery emissions, packaging, and energy-intensive cleaning processes can all undermine the benefits. There is also the risk of over-consumption: renting more than you truly need because it feels easy and affordable. Critics warn that for fashion, rental can risk normalising churn rather than challenging it.

Community-based models like the Library of Things arguably have the strongest sustainability case. By pooling resources locally and focusing on functional items used only occasionally, they prevent unnecessary production in the first place. Retailer-led rental schemes, by contrast, sit within companies still driven by growth and sales.

Still, the cultural shift is significant. Renting what we need, when we need it, challenges the deeply embedded idea that ownership equals status. Whether it’s a carpet cleaner used once a year or a flashy suit for a special event, these models push us toward a future where access matters more than possession.

What are online retailers doing about packaging?

What are online retailers doing about packaging? For the first time, we're rating retailers on packaging, considering both what consumers see and supply chain practices. It's not enough to buy unpackaged products if they're shipped in single-use plastic from the warehouse!

How the brands scored for packaging

Most of the small ethical brands scored well, while larger companies have room for improvement. 

Shared Earth was the only company to score 100 as it had taken action to reduce packaging in all areas of its business. It has long told suppliers not to use plastic packaging and has rejected products when suppliers insisted on bubble wrap. 

Oxfam and Spark Etail, the owner of Ethical Superstore, Natural Collection, and Spirit of Nature, scored 70. Spark Etail sells lots of unpackaged, refill, and plastic-free products and uses no plastic in its packaging to customers. Oxfam has reduced plastic in its supply chain and sells mainly unpackaged and plastic-free products.

Back Market and eBay scored 0 as no information could be found and they appeared to have taken no steps to reduce packaging. 

Etsy scored 10 as it stated that it provided its sellers with the opportunity to buy affordable recycled paper packaging. This was considered minimal action.

Online retailers and the climate

For our climate rating, Oxfam leads the pack among the smaller retailers with a score of 80, thanks to its comprehensive carbon reporting and ambitious targets. Its 2023/24 environmental sustainability report reveals a remarkable 68% reduction in emissions compared to its 2011/12 baseline, with clear short-term targets and plans to reach net zero from UK operations by 2040. 

Tied with Oxfam at 80 is eBay, which stands out among big platforms for its strong climate credentials. It is using more electric vehicles in its distribution network, and its emphasis on pre-owned and refurbished products aligns well with circular economy principles.
 

Workers' rights

Most small companies in this guide are retailers only, rather than manufacturers, so their policies are focused on ensuring fair purchasing practices. Many prioritise fair trade or organic products and maintain transparency about suppliers. The Ethical Shop, Shared Earth, and Social Supermarket all scored full marks for their detailed approaches to supply chain responsibility, publishing tier 1 suppliers and prioritising long-term partnerships.

Between the larger department stores, Selfridges performed strongly with a score of 80, reflecting solid worker and supply-chain policies, while John Lewis fell behind at 50. This may surprise some, given its employee-owned structure, but highlights that worker ownership at the top does not automatically translate into comprehensive protections for suppliers further down the chain.

At the other end of the spectrum, Etsy and eBay scored worst, with 10 and 0 respectively. Etsy faced backlash in 2023 when it introduced a controversial “reserve system,” placing 75% of many sellers’ takings on hold for 45 days. Hundreds of small businesses reported serious financial difficulties as a result, underscoring how marketplace models can pass risks on to smaller suppliers while taking little responsibility for labour standards in their supply chains.

Additional research by Shanta Bhavnani.