This article about Sustainable Retail was co-authored with students from the Digital Major of HEC Paris Masters in Management, promo 2022. During the course, students have to learn how to optimize and create content to be published. For this, they dive into the trends impacting Retail and e-commerce, and only a select few are published in the blog. 

We want to give our special thanks to Fanny Dorisse & Lili Azaroual, the two students who co-authored this post.

The future of Retail has been a hot topic in recent years, and the debate is turning towards sustainable retailers. 

More generally, the retail industry’s ethics and corporate social responsibility are being thoroughly questioned. And it’s no wonder with fast-fashion Retailers pumping out new collections every week. 

Consumers, on average, throw out 80 pounds of clothes every single year. So it’s no secret that many of our current practices are wreaking havoc on the planet. 

None of this is lost on the ethical consumer. 

4 Trends Driving Sustainable Retail in the Fashion Industry

There is a growing trend among European consumers that are turning more and more attention to the sustainability of the products they purchase. As of 2020, the average search growth for sustainable shopping terms grew by almost 7x. 

More and more people are making purchasing decisions based on Brands’ corporate social responsibility. 

They are also developing brand loyalty toward companies that focus on sustainability and ethical business practices. 

According to the Forrester Consumer Index, as of 2019, almost half of consumers switched to a different product because a brand violated their personal values.

Businesses that want to survive must know about the rise of ethical consumption. What does it mean in terms of environmental and social responsibility?

And what does it mean to be a responsible business today? 

Let’s look at four of the current trends in sustainable Retail:

1. Slow shopping
2. Fairtrade retail
3. Ethical retail
4. Recommerce

1. Slow Shopping: Removing Time Pressure From Retail Promotions

Online shopping and “one-click” purchasing have accelerated the pace of the buying experience. 

Still, a new trend is emerging, which intentionally slows things down. 

Instead of pressuring customers into panic buying, it encourages shoppers to take their time, enjoy browsing, and make considered decisions. 

What’s driving this move from convenience and quantity towards curation and quality?

Business savvy and intentional rejection of impulse purchases. 

Some of the biggest retail events have been built on flash sales and short-term deals that promote impulse buying. But, like slow food a few years ago, the latest trend in sustainable commerce is slow shopping. 

This forces retailers to offer something above and beyond price and promotions. They have to provide an experience and product quality that aligns with rising consumer expectations. 

This change offers a massive opportunity for brick-and-mortar retailers to provide shoppers with a more elevated experience and keep them longer within the store. 

This approach positions shoppers as guests rather than buyers, effectively fostering brand loyalty from customers. 

Stores have found different ways to invite their “guests” to slow down and spend more time on site. For example, they started adding cafes, lounges, libraries, and art spaces. Indeed, they encourage people to take their time and enjoy themselves. 

This kind of experience is far different from classical discount stores, which focus on the lowest possible price, no matter the product’s sustainability.

The slow-shopping experience is the antithesis of shepherding customers through overstuffed shelves and fluorescent lights.

2. Fairtrade Retail: How is Fair Trade Retail Sustainable?

Fairtrade is not a new concept, but it’s receiving renewed attention as demand for transparency in business practices is growing. 

Consumers want to know how brands treat and compensate their employees. 

There are headline-making events, such as the 2013 Dhaka garment factory collapse in India. During this event, thousands of workers were killed, bringing working conditions into the spotlight. 

There are also many reports about underpaid and overworked laborers in many industries. 

These reports have forced brands outsourcing their manufacturing to conduct corporate social responsibility audits and search for Fairtrade labels. 

But the term “fair trade” has come to mean many things. In essence, it means that products are made by workers fairly paid and provided with ethical working conditions. 

The demand for fair trade labels spans all industries, from food and beverage to clothing to home decor. 

3. Ethical Retail: What is it and what is sustainable about it?

Ethical Retail is an umbrella term that includes fairtrade and much more aspects of corporate social responsibility. 

An ethical retailer means you have a business model that provides social, environmental, and political responsibility. 

On top of these, materials and product sourcing must meet ethical standards. 

Predatory business practices and environmentally destructive operations are no longer benefiting from the blind eye. 

There are plenty of ways that consumers can assess how ethical a business is. 

Certified B Corporations, for instance, earn that distinction by meeting the strictest standards. B-corp labels certify that companies are true to their social, environmental, transparency, and accountability standards among these standards. 

More and more customers look for labels and certifications such as B Corp. But, in general, ethical consumers vote with their wallets, aligning their values to their shopping.

Some retailers have understood that there can be significant growth opportunities as a growing number of shoppers are willing to pay more for goods and services ethically produced. 

4. Recommerce: What is Reverse Commerce?

Retail was built on consumers looking for new products to buy. 

Buying used or second-hand products were reserved for very few industries like the auto industry, but it has never been mainstream. 

That is, until the emergence of Recommerce.

Recommerce, or Reverse Commerce, is one of the most critical trends in Sustainable Retail. It is at the center of the circular economy. 

Recommerce consists of buying and selling second-hand products. 

With the rise of online shopping, second-hand transactions have found an unparalleled growth opportunity. 

The ease and reach of online CtoC commerce has pushed the emergence of online marketplaces focused on Recommerce. 

People can sell products directly to other people on these platforms and even make a living out of them. 

But this trend is nothing new.

Over the last two decades, platforms such as eBay internationally, CraigsList in the US, Wallapop in Spain, or LeBonCoin in France offered C2C transactions of second-hand products. 

But all these platforms weren’t built and designed with a specific focus on the circular economy or Sustainable Retail. 

Over the last few years, some actors have emerged in the Fashion and Electronics industries. 

These new players are offering security and reassurance in the second-hand market. They do this by providing product or seller verification, guarantees, and even in some cases, refurbishing products. 

Back market is a French marketplace that is disrupting the European electronics industry. 

Their brand positioning is based on acquiring or selling refurbished products because they are cheaper but more sustainable. This positioning has quickly resonated with European audiences. 

In the Fashion industry, players like Vinted or Vestiaire Collective are taking full advantage of the circular economy. 

These two marketplaces allow consumers to buy and sell second-hand fashion items. In the same vein as Back Market, their brand positioning is not on finding cheap products but on making the fashion industry more sustainable.

Below is a list of some of our favorite fashion brands pioneers and leaders in sustainable Retail. 

Five Fashion Brands Leading the Way of Sustainable Retail

1. Patagonia: The Pioneers Of Sustainable Activewear

Known best for: Activewear and outerwear for all ages

Key sustainability initiatives: Certified B Corp, Fair Trade Certified, Organic Cotton, 1% for the planet member, environmental initiatives, philanthropy. 

Patagonia is a California-based activewear company.

They have been at the forefront of the environmental movement for a long time. They were among the earliest companies to prioritize sustainable choices in their products. 

Patagonia switched to organic cotton and recycled materials a lot earlier than most fashion brands. 

The company’s activism extends from protecting public lands to halting the climate crisis. It even implemented a “self-imposed Earth tax,” which implies they direct 1% of revenue to nonprofits that protect the environment. 

This “tax” is the basis for the one percent for the planet initiative, launched by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard in 2002. 

The brand has been in the news recently as it joined a growing number of brands boycotting Facebook as an initiative to stop the spread of hate content globally. 

This highlights the company’s stand, which is ready to lose on one of the major traffic acquisition sources to stand on its moral high ground. 

2. Sézane: Curated Apparel For Conscious Consumers

Known best for: Curated Women’s apparel and accessories

Key sustainability initiatives: Ethical labor practices, sustainable materials, recycled packaging, philanthropy, and renewable energy in manufacturing.

Paris-based Sézane creates curated women’s apparel for conscious consumers. 

The brand positioned itself away from fast fashion, releasing only four seasonal collections per year, plus smaller monthly capsule collections. 

Most of the company’s clothing is made with organic cotton, recycled materials, and vegetable-tanned leather. This enables the brand to increase the sustainability of their produced goods and reduce their environmental impact. 

The brand was born as a digital native vertical brand (DNVB), with no intermediaries to drive costs. Instead, materials are sourced with consideration, in particular to the origin and working conditions of the sourcing place. 

The quality and design of the clothing make them pretty much evergreen pieces to be worn with a Parisian-chic attached to them. 

Sézane also helms a philanthropic initiative called DEMAIN, from which it raises money to support a diverse range of charitable organizations. 

3. Veja: Recycled Shoes That Outlast Seasonal Fads

Known best for: Fairtrade footwear for all ages

Key sustainability initiatives: Ethical labor, recycled materials and rubber, transparency regarding carbon impact, and organic cotton.

Veja makes shoes designed to outlast seasonal fads so that they look just as good in ten years as they do today. 

One of Veja’s promises is that each pair of shoes has “one foot in design and the other in social responsibility.” 

The cotton and rubber used to make Veja shoes are sourced directly from producers in Brazil and Peru. 

Those producers use a range of recycled materials made out of 100% recycled plastic bottles. During this process, plastic bottles are collected, turned into flakes, and extruded into polyester fiber. 

Veja also earns top marks for its ethical labor and sustainable retail practices, particularly when outsourcing to other countries and their carbon footprint. 

There is an astounding level of transparency regarding the Veja Project on the brand’s website. 

They explain in detail how all shoes are made in a factory in Brazil, the working conditions in the factory, and the carbon impact of importing their shoes. 

4. Ecoalf: Fashion That Recycles Waste From The Ocean

Known best for: Apparel and footwear from recycled plastic bottles

Key sustainability initiatives: Certified B Corp, recycled materials, water conservation, and the Ecoalf Foundation to remove ocean debris

Ecoalf is a Spanish fashion company with the tagline “Because there is no planet B.” 

This tagline reflects the brand’s commitment to environmental sustainability throughout its vision and values. 

The company uses over 400 recycled fabrics in its product lines to remove debris from the ocean. As a result, its “ocean sneakers” are considered one of the lowest carbon footprints in the market. 

Ecoalf was also Spain’s first fashion company to receive B-Corp certification. 

In 2015, the Ecoalf Foundation was launched to upcycle ocean waste, reflected in their motto.  

The project has collected more than 600 tons of trash from the sea in the past six years. This is a significant action to reduce plastic waste in the ocean. 

5. Pact: Organic, Sustainable, Fairtrade Cotton

Known best for: Apparel for all ages made from fairtrade cotton. 

Key sustainability initiatives: Fair Trade Certified, organic cotton, carbon-offset shipping

Pact is a US brand that refers to itself as “Earth’s Favorite Clothing Company.” 

You could think that this title sets the bar pretty high, yet they manage to meet that bar. 

The brand is careful about every link in its supply chain to meet the highest standards in sustainability. 

Indeed, they control everything from sourcing their organic cotton to the manufacturing of the pieces. On top of it, they also work to offset the carbon footprint of their shipping options. 

They designed their shipping box to be reused to donate your used clothing to nonprofit organizations. This is called the “Give Back Box.” 

Pact also participates in a fair trade movement dedicated to improving lives and protecting natural resources in over 45 countries.  

The company received a Fair Trade certification regarding their manufacturing lines, respect for safe working conditions, and paying living wages. 

Key Takeaways of Sustainable Retail In Fashion

Sustainable Retail in all of its forms is gaining more and more traction with consumers. 

Innovative businesses are taking notes and are adapting, especially in the fashion industry.

The global pandemic is accelerating a shift in the public’s values and priorities, and consumers are looking for transparency from brands. In this sense, a lack of transparency is no longer an option for companies.

Consumers are increasingly expecting social and environmental responsibility from the brands they purchase from. 

As a result, some brands are prioritizing strong values of sustainable Retail. These brands are leading the way, showing that it is possible to have a sustainable business model with strong values.

The ones that do so will pull ahead and survive the waves of change from Ethical Retail. 

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