Sustainability Influence for Grocery Retailers. (Image Credit: Glow)
An Expanding Opportunity
For grocers, there’s already a $3.9 billion opportunity to attract sustainability-influenced shoppers, with evidence indicating its growth. While 83% of shoppers deem it important for retailers to act sustainably, only 31% currently cite sustainability as a significant influence on their retailer choice. However, this gap will narrow, with 45% of shoppers expecting sustainability to have a greater impact on their choice of retailers in the next 12 months, and only 15% anticipating a decline.
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You Are What You Stock
This data underscores that shoppers are increasingly prioritizing retailers and brands aligned with their values. Hence, it’s crucial for grocers to communicate their social and environmental actions to shape perception. However, shoppers also evaluate retailers based on what they stock. Previous Glow research revealed that 63% of shoppers believed the products sold by a grocery or convenience store significantly affected their perception of its sustainability credentials. Thus, capitalizing on the sustainability opportunity requires retailers to collaborate with suppliers. Notably, shopper sustainability concerns vary at a category level (beauty, snacking, household, etc.) across such issues as packaging, community contribution, resource usage and health considerations. Therefore, it’s vital to understand what consumers care most about by category to ensure that your product range delivers against these needs.
Maximizing Impact
Despite the current cost-of-living crisis, sustainability remains a consideration for shoppers when selecting retailers and brands. Embracing sustainability presents a significant commercial opportunity, one that’s expanding. However, realizing this opportunity at scale necessitates addressing barriers to behavior change. This begins with pricing strategy and extends to marketing efforts. After all, if shoppers aren’t aware of a retailer’s positive impact on people and the planet, how can they choose it over the competition?