Silk & Snow is integrating sustainability into the customer journey through a platform that supports nature restoration.

Traditionally, the sleep-essentials retailer offers customers a complimentary bedding bundle with the purchase of each mattress. Now, through a partnership with nature-restoration platform Veritree, shoppers can choose to forgo the free product and instead plant trees in wildfire-affected regions of British Columbia.

According to Albert Chow, co-founder and CEO of Silk & Snow, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sleep Country, the values-driven option allows customers to make a measurable, verified and transparent environmental impact.

By embedding reforestation into the checkout experience, Silk & Snow aims to both enhance customer engagement and drive business efficiency. Over one year, customers chose to help plant 30,000 trees, saving Silk & Snow more than $1 million in product, shipping and warehousing costs.

Chow says the Veritree initiative ladders back to Silk & Snow’s mission to improve the planet and, conveniently, will help customers get a good night’s sleep knowing they’ve made a positive choice.

The marketing approach was primarily activated through email, SMS communication, banner and pop-up website integration and cart add-on panels on online product pages.

“We wanted to integrate the Veritree program into our communications and website, positioning it as a brand-equity tool rather than customer acquisition,” Chow tells strategy.

The partnership with Veritree has yielded measurable results, according to Silk & Snow’s data.

For example, customers foregoing a freebie had a 32% higher average order value and were 10% more likely to become repeat customers. And during the brand’s campaign coinciding with Earth Day in April, tree purchases increased by 128%.

Chow says the Veritree initiative positions the Silk & Snow brand as an “aspirational, aesthetically-driven destination grounded in sustainability” and that CSR marketing will continue to be integral to the business no matter the economic climate.

“We understand that in times of economic uncertainty, where and how customers spend their dollars hold even more gravitas. We believe that staying true to our values builds confidence in our customers, so they know the value of their purchase goes beyond the product.”

Veritree has partnered with more than 300 companies to help embed verified restoration into their business models. In May, it reached a landmark milestone of 100 million trees pledged across its global projects.