Retail sector missing a trick on sustainability

The consumer survey, conducted by the Post Office Shop, showed that one in five shoppers named ‘eco-friendliness’ as their main priority when deciding where to shop, while a massive 60% said it was a consideration, but did not come ahead of cost or quality.

However, it seems that retailers are not doing enough in the eyes of their customers as only 15% of respondents believed that high street retail brands were doing enough to mitigate their environmental impacts.

The results show a clear commercial imperative for retailers to put greater focus on sustainability and to communicate their activity more effectively to their customers.

The research, carried out with more than 1,200 Post Office Shop customers, also asked about respondents own efforts to be more sustainable in the workplace, and the results showed a clear gender divide. Just over one in ten women (12%) did not consider their environmental impact in the workplace, compared with almost twice the number of men (21%).

And, while over all 57% of respondents said they contributed to eco efforts at work as well as home, 59% said they thought their employer could be doing more to improve business sustainability.

An infographic displaying the findings is available here.

edie staff