Editor’s blog: Events, my dear boy, events…

I was privileged to chair a panel debate with two amazing sustainability leaders in retail recently, at the Richmond Retail & eCommerce Directors' Forum in April.

Angela Gaskell , group sourcing, sustainability, quality & fit director at N Brown Group , and Dana Artz , head of sustainability at Childrensalon , were my panellists for a session attended by around 30 retailers at The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield.

What struck me about our session was, despite spending time meticulously preparing questions for Angela and Dana, it didn’t take long for the audience to take over directing the proceedings. There was real enthusiasm from delegates to ask questions, share knowledge and experiences, and make the hour we had as productive as possible for progressing the green agenda in retail.

So, even though it was three of us up on stage, the whole room was involved in the conversation. And what was perhaps even more encouraging was the people who opted to join our session weren’t sustainability bosses – they were merchandising managers, heads of e-commerce, chief operating officers, trading directors, heads of customer experience, and many others.

Clearly we didn’t solve the climate crisis. But the major themes emanating from the room informed me the industry is highly engaged in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda – and all departments are involved.

Interesting talking points included what to do when you think your competitors are greenwashing. As I said on the day, the Competitions and Markets Authority and Advertising Standards Authority are getting increasingly hot on this, so if companies are greenwashing they’ll soon be held accountable.

There was a level of frustration in the room at companies saying something is ‘green’ when the truth perhaps lies elsewhere. Those with concerns in that area were encouraged to subtly address inaccuracies of others in their own messaging – but make sure they back up their own credentials with solid scientific evidence.

The opening keynote prior to our break-out panel debate set us up nicely for a colourful debate. Former The Body Shop and Pandora boss, Jeremy Schwartz , used his presentation on stage to discuss how consumers often say they want to buy sustainably but then rarely do at the point of purchase – largely because they are led by price or don’t necessarily understand what the environmental benefits of a product are.

Retailers in my session agreed consumers generally find it difficult to understand terms such as B Corp, for example. It is therefore incumbent on retailers to take responsibility and drive the change towards more responsibility sourced product materials so consumers don’t have any choice but to buy low-environmental impact goods.

Schwartz argued politicians are not going to save the planet, but businesses are. They have a powerful influence on consumer behaviour and are in a strong position to help shape a lower carbon society and more circular shopping habits.

Preparing for what’s to come

Earlier this year, supply chain mapping technology company Segura hosted its second annual Retail Supply Chain Sustainability Conference in London. I spent the whole day at the event, including hosting an in-depth panel conversation with some brilliant retail sustainability leaders:

• River Island’s sustainability lead, Rachel Franklin
• TFG Brands London head of CSR & sustainability, Francesca Mangano
• Pentland Brands’ head of positive business, Sara Brennan

Key takeaways from the day – not just the panel – included how “all roads lead to supply chain” in terms of where retailers’ should focus their attention in 2024 but also how getting to grips with data is absolutely essential.

Tony Mannix , a logistics and supply chain veteran, and ex-CEO of Clipper Logistics, kicked the day off, saying: “Without data you can’t do anything – it’s an essential tool for everything you’re doing.”

He added that the closer retailers can get to real-time data view of their supply chains the better, and he called on the fashion industry to seek partners to help move them forward as sustainability progress becomes increasingly important.

It set the tone for the day. Ex-Dune sustainability boss and now Zero Carbon Forum interim legal counsel, Clara Eisenberg , said retailers have no choice – they “are just going to have to start gathering sustainability data” to comply with the torrent of legislation coming their way.

“Knowledge is king,” she argued, adding that the better data businesses have, the more optimal their products will be, the less waste they will create, and the better their inventory management will be.

“When companies start reporting they begin to understand the problems in their supply chains,” she added, highlighting the benefits of greater scrutiny on the end-to-end value chain. And if businesses are going to reduce or remove carbon from their operations, “we just cannot ignore supply chain emissions”, she remarked.

River Island’s Franklin talked up Segura’s software as a key component in helping make supplier partnerships more productive. Having been using the tech for several years now, River Island says the data held in the system can be used to shape proactive conversations with suppliers relating to potential improvements in sourcing and manufacturing.

Franklin argued comprehensive supply chain mapping is good for the retailer and the suppliers alike. Transparency is so important.

My overriding conclusion from the event is those leading sustainability and CSR departments have the most important job in retail right now, as we look ahead to the next decade and all the changes the industry needs to navigate its way through.

Perhaps ten or 15 years ago at the dawn of digital transformation we were saying the same thing about digital directors, CIOs, and chief technology officers. Now, with retailers required to prove their ESG credentials and meet growing levels of environmental and ethical legislation, sustainability departments are tasked with ensuring compliance and shaping the path for the new world we’re entering.

I mean, as a simple example, if fashion retailers don’t introduce digital product passports (DPP) on their products in the next couple of years, they won’t be able to trade in the European Union. That’s a pretty serious sustainability-led task that has a huge commercial impact.

Retail Technology Show 2024

And that leads me on to the most recent event I attended, where retail sustainability was a hot topic: April’s Retail Technology Show.

A dedicated supply chain and sustainability stream on day two of the conference and expo at the famous old Olympia London venue – chaired by retail analyst Natalie Berg – underlined some of the aforementioned points, including the importance of collaboration in the supply chain and getting hold of reliable quality data, but also the need to act fast and act now.

Green Retail World has covered some of the key subjects raised at the event by Nobody’s Child co-founder Andrew Xeni and Harrods supply chain director Simon Finch. But some additional arguments are worth reporting.

Chris Tyas OBE , chair of GS1 UK & a non-executive director for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), suggested if the world is serious about reaching a position of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 then improving the food industry is going to be an important area to tackle – and needs immediate attention.

He said the percentage of greenhouse gases originating from food sector in the UK will rise significantly in the coming years, so businesses in this area must “work on it now”. It’s no use waiting, he argued, adding that Defra and GS1 UK are among the organisations looking to establish standards for the sector to follow during this process.

Experienced retail supply chain leader, Julian Burnett , who was interviewing Tyas on stage, called on the buy side of retail to provide suppliers with the suitable technology or method to move sustainability data and other supply chain information in a straightforward way.

Retailers are often accused of being all talk and no action when it comes to sustainability, but from participating in the above events I’m pretty confident there’s a good dose of both going on.

And it’s good to talk; the more this is on the agenda at industry events, the more the knowledge spreads, and the greater chance retail has of accelerating its decarbonisation journey.

Look out for the takeaways from Sustainability X, which takes place in London this week, and IRX 2024, running 23-24 May at NEC Birmingham, as the industry comes together to address the huge topic of sustainability and how to approach it.

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Ben Sillitoe, editor, Green Retail World?(@bsillitoe)