In the last century no other issue has impacted consumer consciousness like sustainability. We take an in-depth look at its impact on consumption and explore the implications for retailers. Read RetailOasis' latest reports at www.retailoasis.com

1. Disposability
or
Sustainability

2. Power is shifting ….

3. green
Greed Green

4. green
Institutions Individuals

5. green
Legislators Local Activists

6. green
Pop-up Permanent

7. green
Throw out Wear out

8. Fad Fashion

9. The way we consume is
changing

10. ‘The ruling
ideas of
each age
have ever
been the
ideas of its
ruling class’
Karl Marx

11. Roland Mouret US$2,150 Topshop £60

12. ‘Bling is over. Red
carpetry covered with
rhinestones is out.
I call it the ‘new
modesty’.
This whole crisis is
like a big spring
housecleaning – both
moral and physical’
Karl Lagerfeld

13. Liberated
1950s
Ostentatious Careless Impulsive
1980s
1990s
2000s
Consumption Consumption Consumption Consumption
Conspicuous consumption

14. Current wealth = materialism

15. Business
Increasing
Efficiency
availability
cut costs
Affordable
Government sustainable
Carbon Recession mass market
Legislations product
activist pressure
‘Ruling class’
green status

16. Hypothesis
• ‘Catalyst: ‘The Great Recession’
• Efficiency now the top of the business agenda
• Lack of capital in markets is creating
sustainable choice for consumers

17. Sustainability is not a market
position, rather it is part of a
business plan

18. Liberated Ostentatious
1950s
1980s
Careless Impulsive Considered
1990s
2000s
2010s
Consumption Consumption Consumption Consumption Consumption
End of conspicuous
consumption

19. INSERT VIDEO

20. 1. The facts
2. Consumer changes
3. Businesses who are changing
4. What you can do?
5. Close
6. Questions

21. 1. The facts

23. 3 key areas of concern
1. Production
2. Landfill
3. Recyclability

24. 1. Production
1kg of 2kgs of 45kgs of 1kgs of
apparel
output
= CO2
emitted to
waste
water
solid
waste
air

25. In the UK, 2 million tonnes of
clothes are bought each year

26. An increase of 33% since
2004, which is equal to…

27. 1.3 million tonnes of Co2
or
An extra 48,792 cars on the road
each year

28. 18 million tonnes of waste water
or
14 Olympic sized pools every year

29. 700,000,000 kilos of solid waste
or
An extra 4,666,667 full garbage
bags every year

30. 2. Landfill
10 7.5
garments
bought
= end up in
landfill

31. This is the fastest growing area
in landfill, in the past 5 years
this has increased by 25%,
which is equal to…

32. 1.5 million tonnes of clothing
or
An extra 167 t-shirts bought by
every Australian every year

33. 3. Recyclability
The low quality of disposable fashion effects
charity
Low quality Sent to charity
clothes store
Unable to be
Unable to sell
charitable

34. ‘Isn't the whole idea of (fast)
fashion the antithesis of a
sustainable approach…Each new
trend that sweeps through the
high street renders the old trend
obsolete? Its difficult to imaging a
more wasteful system.’
Mark Lynas, Climate Change Specialist

35. 2. The consumer thinking

36. Curve of adoption
Tipping point
Early Late
majority majority
Early
Innovators adopters 34% 34% Laggards
2.5% 13.5% 16%
Considered consumption

37. Considered consumption has been led by
the ‘ruling class’ for the past 5 years.
The recession is pushing the social
movement to its tipping point
Forcing the top half of the market to adapt
or consider adaptation

38. Ruling Class (Innovators)
Idealists
Well educated
Opinionated and politically active
Strong sense of social responsibility
Boomers & Generation X
Status-oriented

39. Statement-
driven:
‘Green is
good…I’m green,
says ‘I’m good’’

40. Followers (Early Adopters)
Followers
Tech Savvy
Ruled by need to know ‘First’
Savvy/ impulsive
Generation Y
Peer group orientated

41. Participation-driven:
‘I want to be green,
to be seen as part of
the team’

42. Value Middle (Early Majority)
Deliberators
Community-oriented
Trend-less
Fickle and mercurial (trade down and out)
Older more conservative
Work to a budget

43. Value-Driven:
‘There’s real value
in being green’

44. ‘This is the only
trend I’ve seen in
my fashion career
where I can say
with absolute
confidence, it is
not going away’
Julie Gilhart, fashion director
Barneys

45. 3. Businesses who are
changing

46. ‘It’s a steep and
perilous ladder to
climb to convince
the consumer that
you are acting
fairly…. based on
what you do as a
company (not
marketing)’
Anon

47. 6 case studies
Bigbox Middle Brand
Walmart Marks & Nike
Spencer
Fast fashion Discounter High end
Uniqlo Payless Fillipa k

49. ‘Dark Lord’ going green
Walmart is the worlds largest retailer
Retail’s largest carbon footprint
Was renown for importing in order to keep
prices down

50. ‘ To me, there can’t be
anything good about
putting all these
chemicals in the air…
the smog you see in
cities…so that
somebody can buy an
item for less money in a
developed country.
Those things are just
inherently wrong,
whether you’re an
environmentalist or not.’
H. Lee Scott, former CEO Walmart

51. Sustainability = good business
everyday low cost means everyday low price

52. Putting on pressure
Hedge themselves against suppliers – forcing
sustainability
The greener their suppliers are the more cost
efficient Walmart is
Eg. P&G slimmed down laundry detergents,
better value and less space on shelf

54. The green giant
Walmart have taken their environmental
message to market
Positioned as part of their value proposition
Strategy to leverage saving + community
mindedness of early middle

58. 2,000 vendors committed to reducing
packaging
Sold 100 million CF Light bulbs in 15 months
World largest purchaser of organic cotton
15% increase in retail energy efficiency
Global Co2 Emissions is down to 20,388,574

59. ‘I can honestly say I
never expected to be
at Walmart's headqu
arters watching
people do
the Walmart cheer’
John Hocevar, Greenpeace
campaigner

60. • image

61. The middle market plan
£200 million sustainability initiative ‘plan a’
Mission: ‘to become carbon neutral, have no
waste going to landfill, ensure raw materials are
sustainable, raise the bar in ethical trading, and
help customers lead healthier lives by 2012’

64. 100 point plan, setting ‘realistic but influential’
goals
Business Suppliers Consumers
efficiency product action

65. Oxfam clothing exchange
Goal: increase the amount of recycled material
it uses
Supported by consumer campaign with Oxfam
clothing exchange
Customers were given a coupon for £5 to use
in store when they recycled their clothes

67. So far they have
reduced the amount
of clothes sent to
landfill by 1,000
tonnes

68. Wash at 30
M&S is encourage customer to
wash clothes at 30 degrees
Saves 40% energy per wash
‘Think climate – wash at 30’ on
the garment care labels

69. "We continue to make
solid progress and
although Plan A is less
than two years old it is
already becoming
ingrained into the way
we do business.
Conditions may be
challenging on the high
street but Plan A has
made us think of new
ways of working’
Stuart Rose, CEO

70. • Image here

71. Garbage to gold
Partnership with Steve Nash (basketballer and
environmentalist)
Nike have created the first performance recycled
basketball shoe
‘Trash talk’, made from their own manufacturing
waste and modeled after Nash’s shoe (RRP$100)

73. ‘any opportunity
to promote the
environment and
preserve our
planet is a step in
the right direction’
Steve Nash

75. Recyclable fast fashion
Japanese-based ‘fast fashion’ retailer Uniqlo
has been recycling its wares since 2001
Collections are held in March and September
in Japanese stores
Wearable items distributed to developing
countries

78. Fashion to fuel
Items no longer wearable are recycled:
1. Fiber used to make thermal insulation work gloves and
cotton rags
2. Converted into power generating fuel.
Since March 2007, 800,000 items had been
recycled

79. ‘Uniqlo believes it
is not only
responsible for
manufacturing and
selling truly great
clothing…but also
for making sure the
value of clothing is
fully utilized
through reuse or
recycle’

80. Payless shoe source

81. Discounter reduces footprint
Signed Summer Rayne Oakes
(model/environmentalist) as a consultant to a
new range of green foot wear
Retailing for less than US$30 from April 2009
Made from sustainable and eco-friendly
materials

83. ad

84. ‘The sustainability
movement is pervasive
today and is touching so
many elements of
consumers’ daily lives. It’s
our mission to
democratise the latest
ideas in footwear and
accessories…and the
biggest idea is to make
them green’
Matt Rubel, CEO

85. Filipa K

86. High-end made to last
Swedish fashion-basics brand, Filipa K created
an outlet for their ‘used clothes’
Extra revenue stream for the brand, selling its
wares to customer not traditionally in their
price bracket
Currently located in Stockholm, run by a 3rd
party ‘vintage store owner’

88. “We are incredibly proud
to be able to work with
sustainability in this way.
The fact that the superb
quality and design of our
products enable us to
operate a second hand
concept is very much in
line with the things for
which Filippa K stands,”
Filippa Knutsson, Creative Director.

89. 4. What can you do?

90. Recognise
Re-Learn
Re-Align
Re-Engineer
Re-Launch

91. 1. Recognise
Recognise the trend to sustainability in
your business practices

92. 2. Re-learn
Relearn the behaviors of the
‘considered consumer’ segments

93. 3. Re-align
Re-align your offering to your chosen
consumer segment:
- Ruling Class (Innovators)
- Followers (early adopters)
- Value (early middle)

94. 4. Re-engineer
Re-engineer your business by
making long term efficiency the key
driver

95. 5. Re-launch
Re-launch your brand with clarity
around your point of sustainable
difference

96. Recognise
Re-Learn
Re-Align
Re-Engineer
Re-Launch

97. To summarize…
1. Sustainability is not a trend
2. When implemented correctly directly
correlates to business efficiency
3. Sustainability is not a continuing expense

98. Footnote
If you don’t change ….legislation will force you
Dept-Enviro Food Rural Affairs ‘sustainable clothing
action plan’
Launched at London Fashion Week, developing 20
product road maps – clothing is one
Development stage to help high street retailers
enforce more sustainable practice (esp. supply chain)

99. it’s not easy being green

100. ….simple questions, please
Stephen.kulmar@retailoasis.com