Retail Dude

It’s a long time we talk about green – a buzz word of the past as in the recent time it was busted by the more powerful words like RECISSION, ECONOMIC CRISIS etc. But what I think is this crisis gave more motivation to retailers to make their business model more sustainable and future proof, so that they can erase the word crisis from their business books. And this sustainability is tightly related with Green initiations. But this green thing is not only for sustainability, if you can be creative in sustaining you can also win awards and also free media coverage and in result good word of mouth and advertising for FREEE. So where are these goodies -?

I came across two such communities who organize the Green awards and I think there might be more. And there main reason behind this is to create awareness of Green issues and to promote companies to reduce their carbon footprint and to serve the society in a better and sustainable manner.

The first organization is GREEN (GREEN is a catalyst for social and environmental change), UK’s first truly green communication agencies who organized Green Awards. And according to them the Green Awards were set up to recognize and reward creative work that communicates the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility, sustainable development and ethical best practice in any sector and across any marketing discipline. The award was launched in 2006 and in the three years since its inception, the ceremony has become established as a major event on the eco-calendar, enjoying great prestige and substantial media coverage.

And the GREEN 2008 Goes to —-

1. Green Awards GRAND PRIX & Best Green Internal Communications)- Nokia: The Power of We

2. Best Green Outdoor- Coca-Cola GB: Talent From Trash

3. Best Green Packaging - Lush Ltd: Squeaky Green - There’s no greener packaging than no packaging & Cadbury: Cadbury Eco-Eggs

4. Best Green Website - Friends of the Earth: The Big Ask(www.thebigask.com) & largeblue: green.tv(www.green.tv)

The second organization is IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) which is a membership community for the e-retail industry, whose vision is to maximize the commercial potential of online shopping. With more than 18 years experience in a rapidly-changing e-commerce market IMRG help members maximize the business opportunities, and stay up to date with developments in the e-retail marketplace.

The IMRG celebrates the green initiatives by organizing “The Online Green Awards” . More than 140 business leaders, academics and representatives of industry associations gathered together for the second annual On Line Green Awards – affectionately known as the OLGA’s – at the Kensington Roof Gardens in London.

And the OLGA 2008 winners are

1. Consumer Award Winners –

a. Small Retailer - Celtic Sheepskin

b. Large Retailer – Ocado

2. Panel Award Winners –

a. Small Retailer - Arena Flowers

b. Large Retailer - Dixons.co.uk

c. Large Supplier - Home Delivery Network

d. Green Thinker – Kelkoo

e. Grand Prix – eBay

You can surf through following links for more info and nominations –

GREEN - http://www.greenawards.co.uk/

IMRG - http://www.imrg.org/

One more interesting website to know your Own “Personal Carbon Footprint” –

http://mtc/InGreen/Pages/HouseholdEmissions.aspx

- Prateek Katiyar

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Apple has put a formal end to the use of plastic bags in its retail stores, say reports. Instead of giving bags to customers for taking products home, the company is now said to be offering help to carry large collections of goods to a person’s car. As an alternative, people can ask Apple clerks to hold on to various items while they continue shopping at other outlets in a mall.  The shift is said to be a part of Apple’s push towards appearing green in the public eye, which has involved eliminating toxins from its products and reducing the amount of packaging used. More recently the company has taken to promoting the energy efficiency of its computers, for instance noting that the updated Mac mini consumes only 13W when idling. The decision to remove bags from retail may also be connected to municipal laws, however, namely a ban in San Francisco, which is home to a number of Apple Stores and not far from the company’s Cupertino headquarters.

- Rajeev

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This article talks about initiatives taken by Nestle Water North America for greening its Supply Chain. Nestle which is leader in bottled water industry, manufactures for either home and office delivery or retail sales. Following are the initiatives taken by Nestle for greening the supply chain as well as in waste management:

·         One of the critical initiatives was Package Material Reduction. It reduced the weight of .5 liter spring water bottle to 12.5 gm in 2007 from 21 gm in 2007 with help of NWNA. It designed is bottle such that material use can be reduced. Like, lighter cap, reduction in plastic used in shoulder, use of smaller label etc. As result energy required in production of bottle also reduced by 25%.

·          Factory recycling to eliminate landfills.

·         It started using light weight carrier equipment. It also combined LTL Loads and optimized trips and reduced truck empty miles to ensure that gallons of fuel are saved. It also increased the payload of its carriers by adding more axel. This ensured lesser carbon emissions.

·         It replaced its older vehicle and targeted highest emissions impact vehicles

- Rajeev Damani

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Every company or retailer worry about their bottom line, because this is the thing which they want to see increasing on day to day basis and for that they strive day and night. But now their problem become triple and they have to worry triple times as now their is not bottom line their is triple bottom line to take care of.

The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) is the phrase was coined by John Elkington in 1994. It was later expanded and articulated in his 1997 book Cannibals with Forks: the Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business. The concept can be old but because of the much hype of green, many retailers are going to materialised this concept now. The green is about sustanability which in turn is an explicit component of most CSR agendas and is being used by many to rethink and retool business processes and their responsibility for ’stakeholders’ rather than shareholders. In this case, ’stakeholders’ refers to anyone who is influenced, either directly or indirectly, by the actions of the firm. According to the stakeholder theory, the business entity should be used as a vehicle for coordinating stakeholder interests, instead of maximising shareholder(owner) profit.

TBL determines the impact of three P’s : profit, people and planet on the business and this is becoming the standard framework for CSR. “Profit, People and Planet” are used to succinctly describe the triple bottom lines and the goal of sustainability. Thus a comprehesive CSR agenda should cover economic, social and environmental factors.

In my marketing classes I saw these “P”s increasing from 4 (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) to 7 (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Packaging, Positioning, People) but now what I am seeing is a new P is adding to it which is “Planet” making them 8Ps of marketing mix, but ultimately all these Ps lead to one P only that is “Profit”, which really matters in the end.

-Prateek Katiyar

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IBM Retail Store Solutions has been declared winner of the 2008 Point of Sale Green Excellence of the Year award for its SurePOS 700 series of point of sale systems from Frost and Sullivan. This showcases IBM’s outstanding efforts in energy conservation and safeguarding natural resources. SurePOS 700 system is powered by high-performance; energy-efficient processors that help customers reduce system energy consumption by nearly 36 percent.

-       Rajeev Damani

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“Lighting the way to greener retail” is a report by Naulight which I went through recently. The report concludes the benefits of replacing environment unfriendly fluorescent tube with digital lighting in refrigerated display. By doing so a mid size retailer can save up to 50% in their lighting expenses apart from the benefits to the environment.

The report says that fluorescent tubes used in refrigerated display consume excess energy as they produce heat in a chilled environment. Replacing them by digital lighting would result in reduce energy consumption as well as improve merchandising appeal.

Naulight also performed a small test with one of its retail customer whereby it replaced the fluorescent tubes in one side of the aisle with digital lighting and kept other side same. Result was 19% higher sales in the side where lights were replaced.

So, replacing fluorescent tube with digital lighting is a good idea as it will result in reduced energy consumption i.e. reduced cist, increased sales and improved environment.

Full report can be viewed at:

http://www.greenbang.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/lighting-the-way-to-greener-retail.pdf

 - Rajeev Damani

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After reading the article and surfing the sites as mentioned in article “Thrift Stores” , I came across the term “Give-away Shops“. Give-away Shops also known as freeshops, or free stores are second-hand stores where all goods are free. They are similar to charity shops, only everything is available at no cost. Whether it is a book, a piece of furniture, a garment or a household item, it is all freely given away. They reflect a switch over from scarcity to abundance brought about by increased material wealth due to technological advances. The idea of free goods still carries some stigma, so many people who use these shops are those who are led to them either by need (financially poor, such as students, single parents and the elderly) or by conviction (anti-capitalists). A free store is a temporary market where people exchange goods and services outside of a money-based economy.

I am able to find one pic of the free store —

Inside a free shop in Freiburg, Germany

From the picture you can depict that it is not that bad if you are getting a merchandise absolutely Free

The roots of the “free store” lie in the anarchist movement. Today the idea is kept alive by the new generations of environmentalists who view the idea as an intriguing way to raise awareness about consumer culture and to promote the reuse of commodities.Now the donors are often not motivated by financial need or strictly anti-capitalist conviction, but by a desire to get rid of what would otherwise be garbage without adding it to landfills.

Thus these give-away stores are not only helping society but also result in reuse of commodity which otherwise end up into waste or pollution for environment.

- Prateek Katiyar

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On the internet i came across a list of top 10 retailers not top because of their sales figure neither because of their revenues and bottom line etc. They are top in applying green thoughts to their organization and lead with the green banner in their hands. This also astonished me as i came to know that this green bug bite some of them way back in 1998

An electricity supplier focused on renewable sources — Juice Energy Inc.– picked the following companies as frontrunners in green business :-

Patagonia
In 1998, Patagonia became the first California-based company to buy electricity from 100 percent renewable energy sources and achieved LEED gold certification for its Nevada distribution center. Additionally, Patagonia is a leader in recycling, with its Common Threads Garment Recycling Program, which recycles used fleece for use in new products.

Kohl’s
Kohl’s is the second largest retail purchaser of green power and the largest among department stores, using 201,396,000 kWh annually. Kohl’s is also working to complete the largest rooftop solar project in U.S. history next year, with installations at 63 of their 80 California locations.

Whole Foods
Whole Foods, a leading natural and organic supermarket, purchases green power equal to 100% of their electricity usage, over 509,100,000 kWh annually. Their green power usage earned them the distinction of EPA Green Power Partnership Power Partner of the Year 2006 and ranks third among all green power purchasers. Whole Foods also gained LEED Silver certification for its Sarasota, FL store, the first supermarket to earn the designation.

prAna
In 2005, the outdoor and lifestyle apparel wholesaler prAna launched their Natural Power Initiative to purchase green power equal to the electricity usage of all 250 prAna retailers, the company’s corporate headquarters, and the homes of all their full-time employees, equaling 29,678,000 kWh annually. Now prAna plans to purchase wind power for their entire North American dealer base of approximately 1,000 retail partners in addition to its contracted U.S. - based sewing facilities.

REI
REI, or Recreational Equipment Inc., purchases green power equal to 100% of their annual electricity consumption, totaling 63,080,000 kWh, which ranks 9th among retail purchasers. REI has also committed to reducing CO2 emissions by 1/3 from the 2006 baseline by the end of 2009.

UPS
UPS operates the largest alternative fuel and low-emission fleet in the industry, with 19,647 such vehicles worldwide. UPS is also reducing its emissions by purchasing 2,949,545 kWh of green power for its California facilities and streamlining delivery routes resulting in the elimination of more than 28.5 million miles of driving to date.

Timberland
Timberland recently introduced Green Index tags on a number of its products, which rate products based on environmental factors such as greenhouse gas emissions, the use of solvents, and organic content. Timberland also plans to become “carbon neutral” by 2010 and recently changed all packaging use for its footwear to 100% post-consumer recycled boxes and soy inks.

Nike
Nike has set a goal to be “carbon neutral” by 2011 and currently purchases 79,820,000 kWh of green power for its World Headquarters, representing 72% of annual consumption. The company is also designing its footwear to meet targets for waste reduction, elimination of volatile organic compounds and increased use of environmentally preferred materials by 2011.

Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart has made a commitment to reduce overall GHG emissions by 20% over the next 8 years and set a long-term corporate goal to purchase 100% of their energy from renewable sources. Wal-Mart has also set a goal to increase fuel efficiency of its fleet by 25% over the next 3 years and is currently the largest single purchaser of 100% organic cotton products.

Target
The discount retailer, Target, became a certified organic produce retailer late last year and now offers more than 500 choices of organic certified food. Target also reduces waste through food-donation programs, giving away nearly 7 million pounds of food last year. They also have four buildings in California using on-site solar electricity, with systems under development at 14 additional stores.

- Prateek Katiyar

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Riding on the wave of transformation, Where every retailer is changing his color to green just to attract more customers and to show that “they really care”. The brick & mortar models have goals all set! and plans all ready! to implement, even the budget has been allocated for the greenness. The giant retailers like Walmart, Tesco and Target have even rolled out the plan and are trying to become more greener than each other. In this race the pure play click models are not lagging behind, the largest e-tailer - Amazon has joined the green wagon and are storing the green products for their customers. It has launched “Amazon Green Section”, which lists products customers have selected as most environment-friendly, from cleaning supplies to computers to personal solar chargers. Check out the list here

- Prateek Katiyar

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