Canadian Retailer - Fall 2014 - 28

myStoRE retailer'S Guide vol. 10.5: SuStAinAbility

 Reduce waste you bring into the store.
Ninety-two per cent of a store's footprint
comes from products. The bulk of this
waste is packaging waste. Perhaps the
easiest way to cut the store's waste is to
limit the amount of waste that enters the
store. How many retailers ask suppliers
for sustainable options? The answer is: the
best ones do. Retailers have the ability to
influence suppliers and the supply chain.
Retailers are customers to vendors, and the
customer is always right. While nobody
wants to sacrifice sales in the pursuit
of more sensible solutions, the long and
steady fight can be won by steadily chipping away at the 92 per cent. Ask suppliers
to reduce waste by a percentage and that,
in turn, will help reduce the store's waste.
 Renew merchandise constantly. As a
general practice, retailers want to renew
merchandise regularly. It's what keeps a
store fresh and customers coming back-
we all want something new. If retailers
work on greening their merchandise
through merchandise renewal, they can
make the shift to more sustainable merchandise more easily.
QuIck chANgES

	
	
Eliminate the most toxic and wasteful products from
your inventory.
	
	
Create incentives-couponing and discounts-for customers
to purchase greener products.
	 green suppliers to provide samples that you can give for
	
Ask
free to customers. Samples might help them make the switch
to a friendlier alternative.
	
	
Lobby suppliers for products that ship with less waste and in
smaller, more streamlined containers.

market green Initiatives

Retailing is selling-selling products and
selling lifestyles. So there is nothing wrong
with letting customers know what the store is
doing to green the community. It's not bragging, it's marketing.
 Advertise efforts. Consumers don't often
see behind the scenes. They don't notice
changes to a store's lighting or heating
system. They don't see the store's efforts to
find the best green products on the market
unless the store tells them. Retailers should
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cANADIAN REtAILER | fall 2014

Greening merchandise can attract new customers.

see their time and monetary investment
in greening their store as an opportunity
to communicate with customers about the
store. Retailers should consider creating instore signage that points out more efficient
lighting systems and a newsletter touting
the store's search for the most effective,
most efficient products on the market. Let
customers see the store's commitment to
a sustainable lifestyle and help them see
that this commitment to a greener world is
really a commitment to them.
 Learn how to educate customers on sustainable products. Features tell, benefits
sell. The question to ask about many green
products is how it benefits the customer.
Sure, it helps the environment, but how will
it make life a little better for the customer?
How does it compare to other products on
the shelf? As retailers give customers the
option of green products, they'll need to
prepare to educate customers about why
they want this product, at this cost.
For more Retailer's Guides offering tips and
tools for small businesses, visit www.retailcouncil.org/research/publications.
http://www.retailcouncil.org/research/publications http://www.retailcouncil.org/research/publications
Canadian Retailer - Fall 2014

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