Consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products in routinely purchased categories such as food, beverage, beauty, and cleaning products, giving retailers in these categories a clear competitive advantage and grow their business, a recent report has stated.
As emerged in Blue Yonder's fourth annual Consumer Sustainability Survey, this discrepancy is tied to the high costs associated with sustainable product options and consumer wariness of brand sustainability claims and messaging.
Results found that 78 per cent of consumers say that sustainability considerations are somewhat or very important when choosing to buy a product or shop at a retailer. These considerations are especially important in younger generations like Gen Z (88 per cent) and Millennials (86 per cent) compared to Gen X (77 per cent) and Baby Boomers (66 per cent).
Consumers face several barriers in aligning their purchasing behaviours with sustainability, chief of which is the higher cost of sustainable products (54 per cent).
Consumers seem willing to face the cost of sustainable shopping for some purchases, but not others.
When asked which product categories they’ve focused their sustainability efforts in, consumers cited food and beverage (48 per cent), cleaning products (37 per cent), personal care and beauty (30 per cent) and clothing and footwear (26 per cent) the most.
More expensive categories like appliances (20 per cent), consumer electronics (19 per cent) and automotive (19 per cent) proved less popular.
The survey shows that most consumers say that they are prepared to increase their spending, with 47 per cent reporting a willingness to spend an additional 5–9 per cent more on sustainable products, most notably among Gen Z (52 per cent) and Millennials (50 per cent).
Just over one-third (36 per cent) are not willing to spend more money on sustainable products, which is especially true among Baby Boomers (52 per cent).
Sustainability continues to be incorporated into corporate messaging. The majority (55 per cent) of consumers feel they can sometimes trust brands’ sustainability claims, depending on the message, brand, or history.
However, only 20 per cent of consumers believe that brands are accurately communicating their sustainability initiatives in their ads and marketing. The trust is considerably low in the UK with just 17 per cent believing the messaging.
“It’s promising to see consumers are ready to align their habits with sustainability as its importance grows, and we hope this enthusiasm will translate to lived behaviours,” said Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer, Blue Yonder.
“Consumers are already prioritising sustainability when it comes to some retail categories. But we can’t rely on consumers alone. We also need brands to demonstrate and communicate clear and quantifiable sustainability benefits.
“Our respondents are sending a message that ethical sourcing and clean ingredients matter when it comes to food, cleaning products, beauty, and clothing,” said Lesley Simmonds, vice president, Industry Strategy – Retail, Blue Yonder.
“Retailers in these categories can gain a clear competitive advantage and grow their business if they execute with credibility, affordability and convenience in mind.”
