RETAILERS ROLE TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCT. (SCP)
Retailers have significant potential to affect change in society like no other industry, as they are located in a key position between suppliers and consumers. On the one hand, being in direct contact with consumers, they exert significant influence on what products consumers want to buy, and how they use and dispose them. On the other hand, they reach out to suppliers worldwide. In a way, they act as gatekeepers determining which goods and services to be offered and how they should be produced.
With this in mind, the CSCP has the mission of clearly illustrating retailers the opportunities behind sustainable consumption and production (SCP) strategies. The first publication, namely the Retailers Calendar is planned as a practical guide for retailers to help them locate priority issues.
The Retailers Calendar encompasses the most important aspects of a retailer’s business – including in-shop procedures, supply-side aspects, and product sales issues. Using case studies, indicative examples and practical advice, the Calendar aims to steer retailers toward environmentally friendly practices within a reasonable time-frame. It aims to incorporate everyday business concerns – such as profitability, cost-effectiveness, customer relations, brand value enhancement and timeliness – into the guide to make it user-friendly and realistic.
The manual is targeted at a wide scope of retailers from the developed and developing countries. The type of retailers ranges from well-established extensive chain-store operations to medium-scale businesses with a particular focus on businesses in the food, infor-mation and communication technology, do-it-yourself, car retail and textile sectors.
The guideline manual for retailers towards sustainable consumption and production consist of 12 steps – one for each month. The starting point is to present a business case for sustainability, including financial opportunities and risks, as well as to overview the process of prioritisation given the limited resources available. The subsequent chapters address the in-house operations of the retailer, such as management of water, energy and waste; the Retailer’s supply-side relationships; and the product sales and product utilisation issues on the demand-side. The concluding part concentrates on the methods to communicate sus-tainable actions to the Retailers’ stakeholders – namely, consumers, suppliers and regulatory bodies – to receive recognition.
It is designed as a complement to UNEP’s recently completed guide for retailers, "Greening Shops and Saving Costs – A Practical Guide for Retailers," which analyses financial and other opportunities for retailers in acting sustainably.
WORKSHOPS IN COLLABORATION WITH UNEP/SETAC LIFE CYCLE INITIATIVE
Value chain actors play an important role in shifting their customers’ behavior and lifestyles towards sustainable consumption. In order to cope with this joint responsibility retailers as well as manufacturers are in need of a collective strategy. Such efforts will make it possible to influence effectively the existing consumption patterns while successfully promoting sustainable production along the supply chain.
In this vein the Life Cycle Initiative (LCI), which was set up by UNEP/SETAC, develops new forums that bring together leading value chain actors, thus creating cutting edge networks in the field of sustainability. More than thousand life cycle experts world wide collectively work at providing guidance for and building awareness of life cycle approaches. Bringing the different value chain actors together, two workshops have recently been organized by the CSCP and UNEP/SETAC. The first one, the Expert Meeting held in Paris in January 2009, focused on life cycle thinking in the retail sector. The participants recognized the great potential for sustainability actions in the retail sector and highlighted once more the shared responsibilities that retailer and manufacturing companies do have in promoting sustainable consumption and production. Download the full report here.
The second workshop took place from 28 – 29 April 2009 in the city of Wuppertal. The workshop brought together more than 30 key actors under the title “How to work collectively to enhance communication of product chain information to consumers?”. This unique event enabled discussion among the major retailers and manufacturers on the main challenges of sustainable value chains. For more information about the workshop in Wuppertal click here.
ROLE OF MODERN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES
Retailers operations are increasingly complex, multi-faceted and international structures. They act as intermediaries between producers and final consumers, and many have the power to exert influence along the entire vertical chain, everything from the manufacturing process to consumers’ purchasing decisions.
CSCP has conducted a study analysing the way retailers use Modern Information Technologies (MIT) to communicate sustainability issues to the consumers. The retailer can utilise several main methods, including: in-store communication techniques, such as placement of products, set up of displays, use of packaging and personal selling; and beyond the store communications, such as advertising and direct marketing. The study identifies several MITs. Some are already familiar, like the Internet and in-store TV screens. Others are still being tested, such as Interactive Screens using Radio Frequency Identification Data technology, in-store Information Kiosks, virtual Personal Shopping Assistants and inventive use of Mobile technology. While the cost-effectiveness of some MITs is still unclear, the array of innovative techniques is impressive, offering promising possibilities in future consumer communications.
For more information please contact:
Burcu Tunçer • Project Manager
+49 (202) 459 58 12 • burcu.tuncer@scp-centre.org
How to work collectively to enhance communication of product chain information to consumers? A workshop on this topic was held on 28 – 29 April 2009 in Wuppertal. The participants...read more
