Sustainability Has Captivated Retail: Why Getting it Right Will Make You a Winner

Sustainability has gained a lot of mindshare in the retail world. We’ve seen everything from retailers’ partnerships with brands like thredUP and TheRealReal to the creation of designers’ fully sustainable clothing lines.

These initiatives, coupled with consumers who want to feel connected to brands and embrace things old and new, have created an environment where it has become impossible to ignore the impact that resale is having on the retail market. With 59 percent of consumers expecting retailers to make their clothes ethically and sustainably, and the secondhand market projected to grow to $51 billion in five years, there’s an overwhelming push for retailers to give consumers what they want — or face the consequence of losing customers to brands that will fulfill their needs and preferences.

Generational Change Plays a Role

Research shows that secondhand shoppers range from designer buyers to bargain hunters. In fact, 74 percent of 18-29-year-olds prefer to buy from sustainably conscious brands and are adopting secondhand at a rate faster than other generations — a whopping 2.5X — something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by designers and retailers.

Just recently, Alice + Olivia debuted an eco-conscious and eco-friendly Fall 2020 collection at New York Fashion Week. The line was designed in collaboration with Daniel Silverstein, founder of "Zero Waste Daniel," an initiative to help curb fashion’s waste problem. For this particular collaboration, Zero Waste Daniel used excess fabric from the Fall 2020 collection to create embroidered designs for existing Alice + Olivia pieces. This initiative then allowed Alice + Olivia to reuse pieces from former collections to cut down on the waste that a completely new collection would have produced. This kind of initiative speaks volumes to the consumer desire for high-end goods, while also indicating a more conscious desire to support brands with a clear brand promise centered around reducing unnecessary waste.

Similarly, brands like Everlane and Gap appear to be taking on a sustainable mind-set with different kinds of initiatives to enhance their brand promises. Everlane is building partnerships with the best, ethical factories around the world in an effort to ensure workers have access to fair wages, reasonable hours, and a good environment — all while providing what they call radical transparency to customers. The apparel retailer openly shares with customers where its products are made and how much it costs to make them. This is a smart move with consumers wanting more transparency from the brands they choose to invest in. Everlane also made a commitment to have no new plastic in its entire supply chain by 2021. To do this, the brand is working to replace all synthetic fabrics with renewed materials, replace virgin plastic poly bags with renewed versions, and eliminate all single-use plastic from its offices and stores.

Gap, on the other hand, recently announced its partnership with thredUP, which comes as no surprise as it continues to look for ways to stay relevant to consumers. The partnership, like thredUP's previous deals with Macy’s, J.C. Penney, and Madewell, allows customers to drop off their used clothes at select Gap, Banana Republic, Athleta, and Janie and Jack locations in exchange for credits to use at the retailer’s portfolio of stores. As younger generations gravitate toward paring down their closets and move away from fast-fashion, partnerships like these will only continue to become more prominent.

Logistics is Still a Key Puzzle Piece in Any Sustainability Initiative

The way retailers approach their sustainability initiatives can be different across the board. However, there's something they all have in common — wanting to ensure their customer experience is impeccable. Forward and reverse logistics as well as eco-friendly delivery are key pieces of this.

Something that retailers have focused more on is how consumers can return their purchases with ease, whether through a carrier or by returning the items themselves. Retailers need to offer the same experience for making and receiving a purchase as they do when accepting items for return. Additionally, 83 percent of consumers believe that it’s important for retailers to offer environmentally conscious shipping and delivery options. This is a significant number that shouldn’t be ignored, and is something that consumers will absolutely take into consideration when deciding which brands they’ll shop.

Both of these initiatives are fundamental to creating exceptional customer experiences and winning the loyalty of the next generation of consumers.

Erik Morton is the senior vice president of product and strategy at CommerceHub, a distributed commerce network for retailers and brands.