Consumer demand for more sustainable solutions is increasing, especially among younger generations: Members of the millennial generation (born 1981 to 1996) and Generation Z (1997 to 2012) express the greatest interest in sustainability. These groups will surpass the purchasing power of their Baby Boomer elders by 2030, with $68 trillion in wealth transferring to the younger generations.
Responding to growing interest in sustainability efforts, retailers continue to expand beyond traditional regulatory compliance and energy-efficiency improvements. Retailer sustainability efforts increasingly focus on making more sustainable products available to consumers in more sustainable ways, including electric delivery trucks and zero emission ships.
Retailers have also been making and delivering on goals to reduce carbon emissions while delivering greater consumer value. They are continually seeking new and more effective ways to scale their efforts.
To bolster retailers’ growing sustainability ambitions, the National Retail Federation recently launched the NRF Center for Retail Sustainability. It is the hub of an industry-wide effort to support retailers’ commitments to create net positive environmental, social and community benefits while generating economic value. The Center highlights industry sustainability efforts, provides tools and resources for NRF members, and facilitates engagement across retail value chains to make it easier for consumers to find high-quality, affordable and more sustainable products.
The Center is focusing initially on three core aspects of retail sustainability:
Facilitating the emergence of the circular economy by supporting retailer efforts to reduce waste, improve recycling efforts, sell products made from recycled, regenerative and other innovative materials, and collect, refurbish and resell products. A circular economy, as defined by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, mimics nature where there is no waste because all waste becomes essential for other valuable purposes.
Improving supply chains and supply chain traceability solutions by clarifying retailer and consumer needs, identifying existing tools, mapping overlapping and unique areas of focus, and supporting standards for data collection and data sharing protocols. More than 90% of a retailer’s sustainability footprint occurs deep within supply chains. Having deeper insights into every aspect of a supply chain creates opportunities for retailers to offer — and consumers to reward — more sustainable options.
Leveraging consumer insights to support a broader understanding about what consumers mean when they express a desire to buy more sustainable products, how different consumers understand sustainability differently, how sustainability priorities shift from product category to product category, and how retailers can better understand the sustainability priorities of their consumers.
The NRF Center for Retail Sustainability will host its first event during NRF 2024: Retail’s Big Show in New York City. A Jan. 16 invitation-only workshop for retailers, sponsored by Deloitte, will begin mapping the future of the circular retail economy, building upon existing work by retailers to sell “gently worn” or “previously loved” products or selling products in reusable or refillable packaging to reduce packaging waste.
The circularity workshop conversations will continue in early February at the 20th annual reverse logistics conference in Las Vegas. Other Center events and projects will be announced soon.
As the world’s largest retail trade association, NRF represents the largest, well-known retail brands as well as small and independent retailers. Combined, these retailers are the nation’s largest private-sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs and contributing $3.9 trillion to annual GDP.
The NRF Center for Retail Sustainability and its priorities reflect how important sustainability considerations are to the retail industry and to the consumers and communities it serves. To learn more, visit the Center online, join the NRF Sustainability Council or email sustainability@nrf.com.