Managing green with green: How sustainability and profitability go hand in hand

Following up on a new year's resolution to buy more sustainable clothing, I was recently on the hunt for a pair of workout pants made out of recycled material. I stumbled upon Good On You, a directory of fashion brands and retailers that provides an easy-to-understand score and in-depth analysis of the ethical and sustainability practices of these companies. As I started using this directory and basing my browsing decisions on their associated ratings (not to mention bookmarking the site for future shopping hauls), I realized something important: incorporating and communicating sustainable practices is no longer a luxury or niche topic for many consumers, including myself. It's a requirement.

While some global brands like Patagonia, Levi's, and AGU have had sustainability at the cores of their business models for years, household names like Kate Spade and J. Crew are also joining the conversation by partnering with a popular online consignment store, ThredUp, to implement resale initiatives that allow customers to purchase and trade verified "pre-loved" products. With the secondhand market expected to reach $26 billion by 2026 in the US alone, this move is not only good for the environment, but good for the brand's bottom line. And it's not just fashion brands making this move: ethically-sourced food and meat-free alternatives have exploded in popularity over the past few years, with brands such as Impossible Foods surpassing $137 million in sales last year. In the furniture arena, IKEA recently announced an expansion of their own resale program, stating that overall U.S. operations saw both reduced waste and $5.9 billion total sales in 2022.

So, what does it all mean? Through a haze of green practices and green profits, there are two glaring truths that crystallize. First, consumer expectations are rising, both in where they discover and what they discover about brands. The internet provides more visibility and touch points into organizations than ever before. With that comes the expectation that consumers can find what they're looking for about your brand wherever they want to, from social media to retailer sites to sustainable fashion directories. Combine this unprecedented access to a company with increased online competition, and what do you get? Highly educated consumers who can conduct in-depth research and choose where to spend their money based on the issues that matter most to them. With half of all consumers saying they're willing to spend more money on a brand whose values align with their own, it's crucial for brands to tell their story across every touch point of the ever-evolving customer journey, which brings me to our second truth.

Communicating brand values, whether they're sustainability-focused or not, can sometimes be as difficult as implementing the practices themselves. Telling a cohesive brand story across every channel is no easy feat, as it requires some central repository of accurate and up-to-date product information. The social media team needs to know that the latest product releases are recyclable so they can include them in the Instagram listings, the Amazon channel team needs sustainable materials lists for product descriptions on thousands of SKUs, and the D2C team needs carbon emission data so that customers can filter products on their website by their carbon footprint. If these teams don't have visibility into this product information, the experience they can provide to customers is limited. After all, the product experience you offer on any channel is only as good as the product information that feeds it.

The bottom line is that the rise of sustainability and ethical practices in the retail landscape is not just a trend, but a movement that reflects a growing concern for the environment and social responsibility. Brands that prioritize sustainable practices and communicate them effectively to consumers are gaining a competitive advantage in a market where expectations are rising.

With the increasing visibility provided by the internet, brands must tell their story across every touch point of the customer journey and provide accurate and up-to-date product information to their teams. By doing so, they can foster loyal and long-lasting relationships with consumers who care about the impact of their purchases. As consumers continue to prioritize sustainability, brands that embrace it will continue to thrive.