Connect with us

Blogs & Perspectives

Does Green Lead to Green?

Retailers are sincere in their efforts to build and merchandise responsibly. But they also hope customers will reward the effort.

Published

on

Maybe it was because it was April, during Earth Week, but for a while everything I read or heard was tinged with green.

From all directions, I was being told how to make my office ecologically friendly, how to light my home for maximum energy-efficiency, what to buy at the supermarket and what kinds of bags to put it in. I never thought I’d hear this much about low-flow toilets and waterless urinals.

And I was getting endless lectures from Hollywood, from Madonna, George, Angelina and Brad, Leo, all the usual scolds – the ones who drive their Priuses to the airport to jet around the world to their multiple mansions; the ones whose movie sets use diesel generators to power trucks, lights and special-effects equipment.

Retailers were also front and center, installing solar panels and making sure everyone knew about it. Their efforts are noble. But if they’re hoping to impress and retain customers, is it working?

Not everyone thinks so. “The biggest trend in retail today is building green,” retail consultant Ed Nakfoor of Birmingham, Mich., told the Oakland (Mich.) Business Review. “It’s almost like a lot of businesses are worried that if they don’t, they might be perceived as behind the times. But I don’t know if anyone is basing their shopping decisions on whether or not a store is using energy-efficient light bulbs.”

Wal-Mart disagrees. It insists shoppers are tuned into the ecology as never before, buying environmentally friendly products and respecting retailers’ efforts to use sustainable materials, lower energy usage and generally diminish their carbon footprints. The retailer’s Live Better Index shows a 66 percent increase this year in consumers’ purchases of compact fluorescent light bulbs; organic baby food and formula; organic milk; extended-life paper products; and concentrated liquid laundry detergents in reduced packaging. This proves, says the giant retailer, that shoppers are considering the environment before choosing a retailer and making a purchase. And Wal-Mart store designers have been appealing to those sensibilities with their highly publicized white roofs, solar panel initiatives, secondary-loop refrigeration systems, motion-sensing LED caselights and advanced daylight harvesting system.

Advertisement

“We want to help Americans understand that environmental choices are accessible and affordable for everyone,” says Wal-Mart’s chief marketing officer, Stephen Quinn.

But is it really resonating with consumers? And are retailers maximizing the benefits of going green? A panel at our International Retail Design Conference in Seattle will delve deeply into the issues and benefits.

Advertisement

SPONSORED HEADLINE

7 design trends to drive customer behavior in 2024

7 design trends to drive customer behavior in 2024

In-store marketing and design trends to watch in 2024 (+how to execute them!). Learn More.

Promoted Headlines

Most Popular