As we enter the 2020s, a new type of shopper is emerging – the conscious consumer. More conscious about the impact of their shopping choices on the environment and societies, these categories of consumers are buying with a purpose. The fight against the coronavirus accelerated that trend significantly.
Doubt it? Take a look at the numbers.
- 72% of consumers have changed their buying habits in the last 2-3 years to be more ethically and sustainably conscious.
- 85% consider the impact the products they buy might have on the planet
- 49% of consumers are willing to spend more on a product if it comes from a sustainable or socially conscious brand.
One way to build a strong relationship with this group of consumers is through conscious retailing. Conscious retailing involves incorporating ethical and sustainable practices into your business. In this article, we take a look at how you can incorporate conscious retailing into your business.
More from Optimove on retail amid corona:
New VS Existing Retail Customer Behavior Trends in Times of Corona
March Madness in The World of Retail
Be Transparent
In a world where brands hide their supply chain practices and lie about being eco-friendly, being transparent can help you build trust with customers and increase sales. According to the Honest Product Guide, 63% of consumers choose products made by transparent brands.
Some steps you can take to incorporate transparency in your business include:
Show Your Internal Operations: Build trust with customers by disclosing your production process, and the environmental impact of your operations such as your carbon footprint. Looking beyond the COVID-19 crisis, footwear company Allbirds, says details of the lifecycle carbon emissions will be labeled on their shoes:
Go radical by revealing your production costs, publishing worker wages, and showing the faces of your workers. The sustainable women’s clothing brand, Reformation, displays the name and pictures of each factory worker on its company’s website.
Tell What’s in Your Product: Help customers choose products that fit their ethics by being truthful about what’s in your product. Place ingredients, nutrition, and sourcing information on your packaging and website. Deliver honesty by using words customers are familiar with. For example, “100% natural”, and remove exaggerated claims. Leverage your mobile app, websites, and digital tools, like SmartLabel, to help consumers digitally access detailed product information.
Share Where Your Product Comes From: Consumers want to know the origin of the products they purchase and are willing to pay a premium cost for traceability. Have an online map where consumers can trace where products come from and help them find more information to make conscious decisions by publishing a list of your suppliers. Also share information about your labor practices and what type of raw materials you use.
Empower Consumers to Consume Responsibly
Customers are looking to brands to help them pick products that are better for society and the environment. According to Forbes, 88% of consumers want brands to help them be more environmentally conscious and ethical.
Some ways to help your customers live responsibly and make a difference include the following:
Encouraging Green Behavior: Use social media to educate customers on how they can help the environment or create a platform to share tips on how to live sustainably. Encourage sustainable choices by having a recycling program, offering green shipping, and rewarding green behaviors. Reformation offers customers $100 Reformation credit to switch their electric bill to wind energy.
Having a Dedicated Website: Help customers shop ethically by displaying sustainable products in a dedicated section of your website like Net-a-Porter. The luxury brand has a sustainable website called NET SUSTAIN that offers a selection of consciously crafted fashion and beauty.
If you don’t have the resources to dedicate a section of your website to sustainability, allow eco-conscious customers to search for products on your website using sustainable and animal-friendly filters.
Designing Innovative Products: Respond to people’s desires to reduce their environmental impacts by designing products that are eco-friendly to use and dispose of. Conduct research to identify what environmental problems consumers have and see how you can design eco-friendly products to meet their needs. Track your customer sentiment and use the insights to shape your innovation.
Protect the Environment (and Animals)
Consumers think brands have a role to play in ensuring a sustainable future. According to Nielsen Global Connect, 81% of global respondents feel strongly that companies should help improve the environment.
Here’s how you can protect the environment and preserve the earth:
Be Eco Friendly: Switch to more sustainable packaging options such as cardboard, carton board, and paper. A division of L’Oréal USA, Seed Phytonutrients, uses recyclable, compostable, paper-based bottles.
Ensure the packaging option you choose offers optimum product protection and has a minimal environmental impact. Also, if you have eco-friendly alternatives to your existing products, highlight them online and in-store.
Reduce Carbon Emissions: Customers will prefer to wait longer for a delivery if it means less emissions and congestion. Consider replacing diesel-powered delivery vehicles with bicycles, eco-friendly bikes, and electric scooters and work with carriers that have SmartWay status. Educate customers on the importance of energy reduction and encourage them to cluster their purchases.
Be Animal Friendly: Consumer interest in animal welfare is growing. Three-quarters of consumers are studying labels related to animal welfare. If you make your products without animal testing, use cruelty-free certification like the Leaping Bunny logo on your packaging, advertising, and website and share your Animal Welfare Policy to show your commitment to protecting animals.
Stand Up for Something
Visibly supporting your employees, workers, and communities that you operate in is a great way to build relationships with customers especially as the world battles the coronavirus pandemic. Marketing Dive says that 40% of consumers want to hear what brands are doing in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s how you can walk your talk of “purpose” during this period.
Take Care of Your Employees: How you treat your workers during COVID-19 will influence future purchases. A people survey by Chain Store Age found that 89% are monitoring the treatment of employees by the companies they work for during these difficult times. Apart from implementing a work from home policy, consider offering paid sick leave, and additional compensation to frontline employees. Also, think about how you can help workers in your supply chain who’ll suffer a loss of income.
Lend a Helping Hand: According to a survey conducted by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, 56% of consumers are happy to hear how brands are helping out communities in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Make donations to areas in need, see how you can help the elderly and those with restricted mobility to shop, and provide financial relief programs to customers impacted by the pandemic by deferring payments on purchases.
Educate Consumers: Put a twist to your corporate social responsibility initiative by educating consumers on COVID-19 related issues. Johnson & Johnson runs an eight-episode social-first show titled “The Road to a Vaccine” to help viewers understand the steps in the process involved in developing a COVID-19 vaccine.
If you’re taking this route, have experts run the show, get your facts right, and don’t be salesy.
Today’s customers are looking beyond price and quality when making purchases and weaving conscious retailing into your brand’s DNA is key to ensuring they choose your brand.
Before embarking on conscious retailing, sit down with stakeholders in your business and identify areas where you can deliver growth by serving society and the planet. Whichever strategy you choose to incorporate conscious retaining into your operations, ensure you’re in it for the long run.
No doubt conscious retailing isn’t a walk in the park, but if you get it right, your business will prosper.