Environmentalism biggest challenge for many retailers

Meeting consumer demands for more environmental goods and services are the biggest challenge for marketers and supply chain managers in the United Kingdom and France. Remanufacturing products costs nearly 3.5 million per year in these two countries.

Sustainability is a hot topic. More and more consumers want their favorite shops to do something with this subject, like using recycled packages to ship items or using electric vehicles to complete the last mile in delivery.

A study by Bazaarvoice finds that meeting environmental consumer demands is the number one challenge faced by British (55 percent) and French (49 percent) respondents, ahead of shipping, packaging and product build quality. In Germany, the quality of products is seen as the greatest challenge (46 percent), followed by environmentalism (40 percent).

Remanufacturing shouldn’t be taken on lightly

“It’s clear that the process of remanufacturing products is not to be taken on lightly and where businesses are prioritising consumer demands for greener products, we’re seeing the highest cost figures”, Joe Rohrlich, Chief Revenue Officer at Bazaarvoice added.

The research also shows that across Europe, almost nine in ten businesses have looked in to more recyclable packaging. But these numbers don’t correspond with the actual number of companies that are currently doing something about it. For example, 64 percent of businesses in the United Kingdom don’t use recyclable packaging. In Germany (80 percent) and France (87 percent), these numbers are even higher.

On the upside: three quarters of respondents across Europe say their business currently invests in higher quality materials to improve the product lifespan.