Why Retail Brands Should Pivot Towards Sustainability Post-Pandemic

An age-old philosophy of the retail market is to create a sense of urgency in order to maximize business. Bumper summer sale ends soon! Only a few seats left, grab your tickets now! This sense of urgency is always a fiction in the age of e-commerce incline, yet it is successful in motivating people to act fast and buy those products. This sense of urgency sadly fails to translate when it comes to addressing the issues of climate change. Even though climate scientists have been advocating in a unified voice, ‘big green planet will end soon, we must act now to save it’ for decades.

It took a global pandemic for us to reboot our lives and introspect the carbon footprints we and the brands are leaving behind. The age-old law of business, if you don’t adapt, you don’t survive, stood true to the test of time. With brands competing on bringing the latest designs in the fastest and cheapest way possible on the palm of your hand, concerns for sustainability have immensely been raised.

People don’t want the horrors of the pandemic to govern their future, this is why concerns for a climate change catastrophe are making them realign their choices to consume brands that are more sustainable. Sustainability should be an additional feature of the brand to appease the advocates of climate change, but it should be the obvious norm. 

With the pandemic taking such a toll on our lives, consumers have become more and more conscious about the choices they make and the brands they choose. People are now interested in not just knowing about what goes into your product but also how it’s made, and what happens after a consumer is done with it. Brands are now expected to maintain a flexible, responsive approach to consumer needs, with a less complex supply chain and operations. 

The pandemic has called for an immediate shift to a sustainable lifestyle. Consumers are now consciously looking at factors such as quality and durability. This pandemic has been a major eye-opener as to how we need to simplify our supply chains and make them more customer-centric.   

Reusing and conscious buying are the newest consumer trends that are governing brands. People are now moving away from the idea of impulse buying which was the main cause of overstocking by brands and hence proves to be an unsuccessful practice in today’s world.

We see a sharp shift in the likeability of brands that have lesser carbon footprints. It has become imperative for brands to pivot their mission and vision to align with the sustainability expectations of the consumers while fulfilling their needs. 

Making your digital presence ‘greener’ is also another way through which you can be more sustainable. In this world where your identity majorly depends on how impactful your online presence is, brands should consider it as an opportunity to disseminate the brand’s philosophy. 

This pandemic is a test of brands on grounds of sustainability and adaptability. Brands are no longer just sellers, they need to create a connection with their customers. They need to focus on building a sustainable community along with growing their business.