8 sustainable retail ideas to implement in your stores

Sustainability in retail remains an important concern for consumers.  From pre-used and vintage items to low-impact packaging, to traceable origins, people have become more conscious of how their lifestyle and shopping habits affect the planet – and they expect businesses to do their part.  According to a recent study, three-quarters of Gen Z consumers think that sustainability is more important than brand when making a purchase.

Nikki Baird, Vice President of Strategy and Product at Aptos, emphasizes that retailers need to clearly demonstrate their sustainability initiatives if they hope to win over consumers, stating: “If you have a high degree of disposable packaging, if you have lots of components of your products that [consumers] don’t perceive as contributing to making the world a better place, then they may categorize you as unhealthy.”

How can retailers be more sustainable?

Businesses must show that they are seriously listening to their customers and taking clear action to reduce their footprint on the environment if they hope to compete with other brands.

Here are eight ideas to invigorate your sustainability strategy for your retail stores, appeal to more consumers, and help the planet along the way.

1. Source more sustainable products and brands

From footwear brands Veja and Allbirds to LA fashion-brand Reformation, there’s a new generation of businesses setting the standard for sustainability. These companies are leading the charge in environmental fashion and gaining mass followings along the way thanks to their ability to marry cool styling with strong eco-friendly credentials.

This kind of movement is not just happening in fashion. In the consumer goods space, new independent companies are making waves by appealing to consumers with their strong ethics, total transparency and sustainable business models. UK smoothie brand Innocent Drinks is a great example. It has built its reputation on making simple, natural, healthy drinks, and is also a certified B Corporation (a voluntary audit carried out by global non-profit organization B Lab, which assesses companies’ impact on the environment, among other things).

Consumers are looking out for these brands because they place sustainability at the forefront of their mission. It pays, then, to keep your finger on the pulse of consumers, and stock the brands they are talking about.

2. Use recycled, reusable and biodegradable packaging

Banning single-use plastic carrier bags in supermarkets all around the world has been a step in the right direction towards cutting down on the consumption of plastic packing, which is widely recognized as a key environmental pollutant. But campaigners, and consumers, are urging retailers to do more. Recent studies have found that at least two-thirds of consumers think it’s the retailer’s responsibility to reduce the amount of plastic packaging used.

Popular supermarket chain Aldi in the UK has pledged to reduce its use of virgin plastic by 78 tons annually. This move comes as part of their initiative to use a minimum of 35% recycled packaging for its generic products, and commitment to achieving 50% recycled packaging in all its UK stores by 2025. Many alternatives to plastic packaging are becoming more mainstream, too such as biodegradable, plant-based packaging made from materials like starch and cellulose, which breaks down in a manner that is kinder to the environment than plastic.

Everyone, from big brands to small independents, is reassessing how they use packaging and where they can reduce their impact. It’s time, then, to explore how you can cut down on plastic in your own business and find more eco-friendly alternatives.

3. Revamp second hand

Coming with a long history and undeniable eco-friendly credentials, second hand is cool again. More consumers than ever are choosing to buy vintage and second-hand goods. According to recent data from Euromonitor, 24% of global consumers choose to shop for secondhand products to help the environment.

Vintage and second-hand items are popular with consumers for two key reasons: they help reduce the environmental impact of their purchases – the fashion industry is the world’s second largest contributor to pollution – and they’re affordable, allowing people to get hold of goods they perhaps wouldn’t have been able to afford new.

For retailers, second hand is big business and, in some cases, for instance luxury fashion, it opens up new opportunities to extend the hype for items and boost their value. Many have partnered up with third party reselling platforms like Farfetch and TheRealReal to keep track of the lifecycle of their products and certify their authenticity. In fact, the luxury resale market is expected to reach USD $77 billion by 2030.

It makes sense, then, for retailers to take part in the pre-worn and used goods markets. Popular initiatives include buy-back schemes, where retailers accept returned items to be repaired, resold or recycled into new products, or partnerships with resale platforms.

4. Explore rental business models

Just like second-hand is experiencing a renaissance, so too are rental business models. The change has already transformed the music and entertainment industry – think how Spotify has supplanted compact-disc sales and downloads, and how Netflix has replaced video stores and boxsets – and it’s likely to affect more industries in the coming years.

In fashion, services like Rent the Runway, an online rental for clothes and accessories that includes luxury items, are meeting consumer hunger for newness without causing the same damage as fast fashion – prioritizing experiences over ownership and making luxury more accessible to different kinds of consumers. Other businesses like IKEA are exploring rental models as part of their goal to improve circularity with their products and appeal to more environmentally conscious consumers.

With more businesses venturing into the rental market, this is a consumption model that’s likely to grow and stick around for the future. US analyst McKinsey believes that established players will progressively regard alternative ownership as a force they need to embrace, or at least test, through new collaboration models with retailers or start-ups in the sector. This will require careful business-model considerations, and a clear choice between partnerships, in-house development, or mergers and acquisitions. Technology has a critical role to play too. So, when deciding what technology underpins your retail operation, particularly when it comes to your Point of Sale, it’s worth considering what tools and functionality you’ll need in the future, as modes of consumption continue to change.

5. Encourage and incentivize recycling

Linked closely to second hand and renting, a growing number of initiatives are allowing consumers to recycle their well-loved clothes when they’re ready to part with them – and be rewarded for it. U.S.-based sustainable fashion brand Madewell is committed to reducing textile waste by offering customers a chance to trade in their pre-loved jeans. Through this program, old denim is either resold or recycled, keeping it out of landfills. In return, customers receive $20 off their next pair of Madewell jeans, making it a win-win for both fashion and the environment.

But this trend isn’t just linked to fashion. For instance, IKEA Canada allows customers to bring back their used furniture and receive store credit, and UK department store John Lewis accepts beauty packaging, which can be more challenging to recycle.

Recent studies published in Harvard Business Review reveal that consumers place higher value on products when they are part of a buy-back program, showing a willingness to pay even without extra purchase incentives. For retailers, this suggests that implementing programs allowing customers to trade in used products can be highly beneficial, both in terms of customer satisfaction and contributing to environmental sustainability.

6. Redesign greener stores

A report from Business for Social Responsibility has found that sustainable design in retail, otherwise referred to as “green retail spaces,” are becoming the new norm, and brands that have developed experiential spaces often have more success with green marketing strategies.

LA-based fashion brand Reformation sells clothes that are both covetable and eco-conscious. If that weren’t enough, it’s also making an impact with its sustainable stores which are Green Business certified, meaning they implement strategies to save energy, improve water efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. This involves incorporating materials like LED fixtures, rammed earth and recycled fabric insulation in its buildings, and offsetting its construction footprint and electricity usage.

This is not the only company going green. Starbucks has already rolled out over 6,000 greener stores worldwide as part of an ongoing effort to reduce 50% carbon emissions, water usage, and landfill waste by 2030. By reducing their carbon footprint and emissions, retailers can lessen their impact on the planet and improve their brand image, while also saving significant costs.

7. Offer eco-friendly delivery options

Expedited shipping, promising one-day or even one-hour delivery, has fueled consumer demands and expectations for speed. While this is great news for consumers who want instant gratification, for the planet this can have devastating consequences.

Although it’s hard for retailers to step out of the quick delivery game, it’s possible to take steps in the right direction. Amazon, famous for its same-day Prime delivery, said it now moves most of its inventory without air transport and has pledged to make 50% of its deliveries “net zero carbon” – meaning they won’t create any harmful emissions – by 2040.

British luxury department store Harrods has also taken steps to reduce emissions by changing their delivery fleet from diesel powered vehicles to hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO).

Retailers can take smaller, but still meaningful, steps to decrease the environmental impact of deliveries. You could, for example, give your customers more choices, such as claiming extra loyalty points or a discount code if they’re willing to wait a few extra days for delivery. This would allow you to ship the item on an ecologically efficient route and schedule – and it would likely save you costs, too.

8. Set up a sustainability hackathon

If you are out of ideas, it may be worth turning to your customers to come up with the next best sustainability concept. Once reserved for coders and software engineers, hackathons are now being used more broadly to solve wider challenges in many industries, including retail.

Companies including Kering, LVMH and Burberry have all launched hackathons, calling on developers, students and experts to help solve supply chain management and overproduction among other sustainability issues, and awarding prizes to the teams that come up with the best ideas. These hackathons have yielded surprising results, including a project for zero-waste packaging for wine and spirits, a process that turns grape seed waste into a cosmetics ingredient, and a concept for the trench coat of the future, a garment that can be adapted and customized for different stages of a customer’s life.

With a growing number of consumers expressing interest in, and concern with sustainability, being green is not just an ethical choice for your retail brand – it’s also a smart business decision. If you need help figuring out how technology can help you on the path to sustainability, don’t hesitate to contact our experts.