The „buy-less“ ideal can be profitable, according to UK retailers
Last week, the concept of "buy less, choose well and make it last" was discussed during a panel discussion at the Brand & Retail Conference.
Involved were executives from George at Asda, Boots and Character.com, who made the case for prioritizing sustainability in retail.
Panelists, also included Scott MaCrae, purchasing director at George at Asda, and Karen Hewitt, purchasing director and co-founder of Character.com.
Julia Redman, founder of Buyers' Eye, led through the topics. In particular, these included topics currently affecting high-street and online retail.
The focus was on the role of the retailer in sustainability.
“It would appear to contradict profitability,” said John Carolan, head of category at Boots for baby and GM addressing the leading argument against the buy-less ideal.
“But sustainability is a growing emphasis for consumers and soon customers will prioritise their values over everything else.”
Shipping, sourcing and manufacturing in the UK, and "quality over quantity" were highlighted as important factors.
These aspects contribute to what sustainability looks like from a retailer's perspective, particularly when balancing a brand's sustainability goals against the current cost of living crisis.
The speaker also gave insights into their current approaches to balance relevant topics for their companies and adapt to the customers needs regarding sustainability.
The possibility of collecting and analyzing data helps companies to build a closer relationship with customers and customize product lines and services to customer needs.
Understanding what the customer really wants will help to reduce overproduction or products that don’t sell. Also focusing on high-quality products is and will be an important factor:
“Making long-lasting product will help with profitability in the long term, because it will build,” said John. “People want to buy less but buy better. Sh*t products that are marketed well have no future,
because crap product doesn’t work. You might sell a lot for a short time but people don’t want it and it will damage your brand(…).
UK manufacturing is not dead, there’s plenty of opportunity there if you find it.“, so John Carolan.
Source: www.productsofchange.com