The message is clear: more and more consumers around the world choose to buy products from brands that prioritize sustainable retail.
The Importance of Sustainable Retail: Statistics and Trends
If you’re unsure whether it’s worth investing in a more sustainable retail business, integrating sustainability into your business model is not a necessity. However, nowadays, if you want to reduce your negative impact on the environment and attract and retain an increasing number of consumers and employees who care about social responsibility, taking steps to make your business more sustainable is crucial.
How to Develop Your Sustainable Retail Business
Wanting to develop your sustainable retail business and achieving sustainability are two different things. However, here are some actionable strategies to make your retail business more sustainable:
1. Transition to E-Paper
If your business consumes a lot of paper, one of the easiest ways to reduce it is by sending invoices via email. Not only will you save resources, but your customers will also appreciate having one less piece of paper to deal with. According to The World Counts, 420 million tons of paper and cardboard are produced each year, and more than five million acres of forest are cut down in a typical month. Eliminating paper invoices not only helps reduce the company’s carbon footprint but also ensures that invoices will not be discarded as waste later.
2. Reduce Waste in the Manufacturing Process
Customers care about how their products are made and want to know that you care too. The manufacturing process can produce a lot of waste, and you can move towards sustainability by monitoring your retail supply chain. If you manufacture any products yourself, review your waste and look for ways to use recyclable or reusable materials in the manufacturing process. If you purchase and sell pre-manufactured goods, ask your suppliers about transparency regarding issues such as labor practices, safety conditions, pollution, and waste. There are no industry standards for disclosing this information, so you must be proactive in obtaining it.
3. Look for Clean Energy Options
In addition to reducing physical consumption, consider shifting to consuming less of the wasteful energy type. There’s an area where going green helps you save serious money. Energy costs continue to rise, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the average electric bill rising from 14.7 cents per kilowatt-hour in July 2022 to 16.8 cents per kilowatt-hour in July 2023. Contact your utility suppliers and ask them to conduct energy audits in your store and suggest ways you can reduce consumption. You can also look into solar energy options to power lights and other electronics. Reducing your air conditioning temperature by seven to ten degrees Fahrenheit for eight hours a day reduces consumption by 10%, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Turn off your computer, copier, and printer when you leave for the day. And make sure your employees are committed to your environmental mission by appointing a “green” team or energy advocate to monitor usage. Simple behavioral changes provide opportunities for low- or no-cost energy savings.
4. Recycle Old Goods
In addition to selling consumers new items, look for ways you can help them recycle old or used goods. For example, Eileen Fisher stores offer a project called Renew that collects, repairs, and sells used clothing from the company, donating the proceeds to nonprofits that benefit women and children. The outdoor brand North Face has a program called Renewed Take-Back, which collects used clothing and offers customers a $10 discount on their purchase. These items are reused in products like insulation, carpet padding, toy filling, and new clothing fibers. Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program (one of its many sustainable business initiatives) collects used shoes that are recycled into materials used to create running tracks, playgrounds, and courts. If your company sells items that replace old goods, consider offering to collect items that can be reused or donated to someone who can use them.
5.
Be Transparent
Sustainability is important to consumers, so be sure to share your vision and work with your customers. You are not just boasting about yourself, but giving customers the opportunity to continue their sustainability efforts by supporting a business that cares about the environment, society, and the future.
6. Purchase Sustainable Brands and Products
If you stock various brands in your retail store, one way to make your business more sustainable is to purchase products only from brands that follow sustainable business practices. For example, when orders are shipped to your store, do they come in recyclable packaging? Do the brands inform you of their goals to reduce environmental impact and waste? Are the materials or ingredients used to make the products sustainable? These are great questions to ask before you decide to stock a new brand.
7. Explore a Rental Business Model
Fashion services like Rent the Runway and Nuuly allow customers to rent goods from a variety of brands, leading to reduced consumption and waste, and a lower negative environmental impact. Shoppers can choose a plan or subscribe to receive a certain number of products delivered monthly. When they are done, they can return them and select another set of products or (depending on the business) skip a month.
8. Use Upcycled or Recycled Materials for Store Displays and Decor
Instead of buying all new product displays or store decor, purchase used or vintage furniture, or furniture made from recycled materials. Anything you can do to reduce, reuse, repurpose, repair, and recycle will contribute to sustainability in retail.
9. Sell Secondhand Goods or Set Up a Buyback Program
Secondhand or pre-owned products are popular among conscious consumers for two main reasons. Buying used clothing means that the environmental impact of the purchase is lower, and secondhand clothes are generally more economical. Shoppers can feel good about the purchase and buy products they may not be able to afford new. The used business model may not be suitable for all retailers, but even if you are not a secondhand retailer, there may be ways you can integrate this sustainable retail strategy into your business. For example, set up a buyback program that allows you to accept items previously purchased for resale, repair, or recycling into new products. You can also partner with resale platforms to sell repurchased items in bulk.
10. Recycle or Donate Unsold Inventory or Samples
Creative reuse or recycling is when you turn waste materials or unwanted or consumed products into new materials or products. It reduces fabric and textile waste by reusing gently used fabrics or leftover goods. The next time you have leftover fabric, samples, or inventory, rather than throwing it away, look for ways to reuse it. Whether reused to create new products that you sell in your store or sold or donated to another company that can reuse it in new products, recycling helps reduce waste.
11. Reduce Waste and Costs with Digital Showrooms and Sample Making
Retailers and brands in the fashion, home design, and beauty industries use digital showrooms to make the buying and selling process easier for everyone. Instead of scheduling buying appointments in a physical showroom or at trade shows, brands can showcase their collections and buyers can visit them anytime that suits them and place orders, all on one platform. Depending on the digital showroom service provider, brands can create virtual or 3D samples for selling.
12.
Finding Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint in Shipping and Logistics
McKinsey and Company found that products claiming to be related to sustainability account for 56% of all growth over the past five years. With transportation accounting for 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to Gitnux, finding ways to reduce your carbon footprint in shipping and logistics will benefit the environment and your revenue flow. Your business can reduce its carbon footprint by switching last-mile deliveries to electric vehicles, motorcycles, or bicycles, and using parcel boxes or third-party logistics centers to improve order fulfillment sustainability. Download the Future of Shipping and Logistics report.
13. Investing in Recyclable, Organic, or Reusable Product Packaging and Shipping Supplies
Each year, the e-commerce packaging market produces about 10 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Since 60% of respondents to McKinsey and Company said they would pay a premium for a product with sustainable packaging, it is essential to consider how to make your product packaging recyclable, organic, or reusable. However, environmental impact goes beyond consumer demand. Packaging is a primary source of e-commerce emissions. It is five times higher than buying products in-store.
14. Offering Customers Carbon-Free Shipping Options
Providing carbon-free shipping options is another great way to build sustainability in your retail store. Enabling customers to choose these options at checkout allows them to feel part of your sustainability efforts by opting for eco-friendly shipping. For example, Shop Pay helps communities plant trees with every payment to offset the environmental impact of shipping.
15. Setting Sustainability Goals and Committing to Them
Use some of the above recommendations to build a sustainable retail strategy, then communicate your goals internally to your team and externally to potential and current customers. This will help hold your business accountable and can also influence a shopper’s decision to purchase from your store. Keep your messages simple and communicate your sustainability progress with customers.
Examples of Sustainable Retailing
Ganni uses innovative materials in-store and reuses unsold inventory.
As part of its conscious fashion brand efforts, Ganni strives to use sustainable materials for its in-store displays and décor. This includes recycled plastic platforms, product displays, seats made from plastic waste, reused chairs, single-use plastic containers that are repurposed, and waste-free wooden flooring.
The Los Angeles-based sustainable fashion brand Reformation aims to sell clothing that is environmentally friendly and stylish. But it also impacts the environment through its certified green stores. There are a total of six stores at Platform, Melrose, Vintage Melrose, Santa Monica, Fillmore, and Valencia.
Levi’s is reducing its environmental impact not only by educating customers on the benefits of wearing their clothing longer (wearing an item for an additional nine months can reduce its carbon footprint by 30%) but also by helping customers extend the life of their Levi’s clothes through repairs and recycling at its tailoring shop. Additionally, in 2020, Levi’s launched its first buyback program called Levi’s SecondHand. Customers can bring their jackets and jeans back to the stores for a gift card that can be used to purchase secondhand jackets and jeans at Levi’s secondhand clothing marketplace.
Kiehl’s is a well-known brand with a history of over 150 years, yet it remains modern with sustainable initiatives. Some of these initiatives include:
- Containers
- Products made from recyclable glass
- 80% of its plastic packaging is made from recycled materials
- A selection of its best-selling products is available for refill to reduce jars that are disposed of after a single use
- Customers can return empty products through the Recycle & Be Rewarded program and receive cash discounts to help achieve Kiehl’s sustainability goals
While Simons offers customers the latest trends in clothing, accessories, and home decor, sustainability is another trend that the brand is paying attention to. In 2018, the company opened its first net-zero energy store in Quebec City, Canada. Utilizing industry-leading technology to eliminate its carbon footprint, the store is designed to generate enough on-site energy to meet its consumption throughout the year. The 80,000 square foot space, which was once a Target store, is powered by solar energy and is heated and cooled using a geothermal system that regulates temperature by tapping into the earth’s energy, improving energy efficiency by 60%.
Improving Your Sustainable Retail Business
We don’t expect you to implement all of these sustainable retail practices immediately (or ever), but we hope you’ll consider how to take small steps to make your business more sustainable. As you’ve learned, this will not only earn you respect and loyalty from customers but can also help you save money and resources. Additionally, you will contribute to reducing the negative impact that retail and e-commerce can have on the environment.
This article was rephrased by Stephanie Vozza and updated by Alexis Damen.
Source: https://www.shopify.com/retail/going-green-how-to-save-energy-and-cut-retail-biz-expenses
Leave a Reply