Discovering a greener way of life

With the recession continuing to drain consumers’ budgets, retailers’ once-prominent CSR message is not as visible. Launching an eco-friendly line of products was previously en vogue, but in these cost-conscious times, creating a budget alternative has been the more popular route to garner consumer appeal.

In light of this, some might view Home Retail Group’s investment in an Eden Project partnership to help Brits live more sustainably as a surprising move – if not a gamble. After all, cutting short-term costs – not carbon footprints – is presently the main driver for consumer spending.

A year ago, as part of the year-long 21st Century Living Project, 100 families were selected from Homebase’s Spend and Save programme and given £500 to make their day-to-day lives more sustainable. The participants have been selected from a wide demographic across the country and range from consumers in their 20s to pensioners. The only condition of the project was that everyone involved had to be a homeowner and could change the basic fabric of their property.

Each participating family received a start-up kit of green products to test, and their homes were audited to assess their carbon footprint and sustainability. They have also been assessed since to monitor progress.

Watson says the information collected from the research project will be shared with the retailer’s marketing and trading teams to inform and start developing company-wide strategies that will include product ranging decisions, marketing and promotional plans, internet content and the development of service propositions.

Eden Project director of retail Mark Beeley says: “This project will give us hard, fast information about what people are really doing. Product development is hard unless you can discover the kinds of products that people want. I’m interested in customer motivation and behaviour and also the activities people are taking part in to live more sustainably that there is not a product for yet.”

Home Retail head of corporate responsibility Rosi Watson, does not think the economic climate will dictate the success of the project. She says:
“At times like this sustainable living is more likely to appeal to people. It’s about saving money and energy. A lot of people group sustainable living with the organic and fair trade side of being green and think it’s expensive. We need to educate customers and show them it’s about cutting down waste and being more efficient.”

She adds: “We really want to find out what barriers are stopping consumers from living more sustainably.” And this particular aim is a sizeable challenge. Environmental charities have been striving for decades to uncover why the British consumer does not or will not go green.

Any change, it seems, will be slow. Despite there being a boom in media interest in all things eco during the pre-recession economic buoyancy, the UK average amount of household
waste did not decrease from 2002 to 2006, according to figures released last year by the Office for National Statistics figures.

In addition, consumer analysts at Mintel have reported that Brits’ anxiety to stay out of the red has made them care less about going green. Mintel director of retail research Richard Perks says: “The thing that is uppermost in people’s minds is saving money – they are cutting costs and trading down.

The green message has taken a back seat.” He adds: “Consumer confidence is returning but the green message doesn’t have the pull it had 18 months ago. People are very happy to be eco-conscious if it saves them money, but at this stage they are not going to make a significant investment to achieve this. They are not going to spend money they don’t have to.”

Home Retail’s strategy, though, is focused on the long term. Watson believes the information gained from their research will assist Home Retail in identifying future gaps in the market that the retailer can quickly fill. Government targets stipulate that carbon emissions from UK homes should be cut 29% by 2020, and 60% by 2050. Watson says Home Retail is looking ahead and is trying to understand what it will take to meet the Government’s targets and be in a position to supply the right products, information and services to help customers achieve this. “The most important thing for us is to find out what customers want from products – this is critical to helping people live more sustainable lives,” she says.

Speaking to some of the families involved, the combination of information, advice and money from the 21st Century Living Project has been fruitful (see boxes). Their experiences prove that despite the recession, green issues are still on people’s minds – there is a desire to continue to become greener when the project is over and, what’s more, they expect retailers to do their bit to help them.

When the project is completed in January next year, Home Retail and the Eden Project intend to take their findings to Westminster. Watson says:
“This is valuable research and we intend to share it with the Government. We have to help the consumer live a more sustainable lifestyle and meet energy reduction targets. Neither the Government nor the retailer can do
it alone.”

Moreover, retailers should not overlook the positive PR that they can gain from maintaining a CSR focus. A couple of years ago, many shoppers could be forgiven for becoming a little disillusioned with the sheer number of green pledges being made by retailers. Now that these are few and far between and the risk of green-washing has lessened, a strong, credible CSR announcement provides more of an opportunity for a retailer’s name to stand out in the crowd and to have a point of difference. Ultimately, by not taking an eye off the green agenda, it may well help retailers to have a competitive edge when the recession lifts.

Retailers’ thoughts may be bogged down by the economic climate, but long-term thinking is crucial. Yes, the green agenda is perhaps less of a priority for some brands when keeping their heads above water is a challenge in itself, but thinking that the pre-recession green fervour was a flash in the pan will be a mistake.