Why it’s time for collaboration within all strands of Retail Sector Supply Chain
No one was surprised by this economic update – 2 consecutive quarters of lower national output – 0.1% in Q3 and 0.3% over Q4. We know the Retail sector has been hit hard, as Black Friday failed to deliver the gap, and Christmas and January sales were woeful. ‘Recession’ simply casts an official, largely politicized, downer on 2023.
I’ve been talking to my retail clients, to understand the impact of these brutal conditions on business and their plans to lift their organisation out of the slump. I wanted to know what we could do, from a POS industry perspective, to accelerate change.
Interestingly, instead of reactively mothballing their mid-to-long-term strategic plans in favour of securing core sales, one or two contacts outlined more ambitious, forward-looking plans, centred on driving investment in sustainable initiatives.
One conversation in particular was most enlightening, showing how lack of access to the correct data can skew decision-making. To explain, let’s compare a temporary display unit (corrugated / cardboard) versus a permanent (metal) secondary display unit. Calculating only their respective emissions, from raw material through to its manufacture, the cardboard unit has lower carbon emissions. However, when evaluated against the total lifecycle of each material, marketers are reminded that metal displays receive lots of ticks in the sustainability column. A point I will come to later.
In many small retail businesses, being more sustainable is a left-brain, cost-based exercise to reduce energy consumption in production; or lower carbon footprint for example, by streamlining transport and packaging processes. For larger organisations, acting responsibly extends to a broader Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) positioning, directly linking into their brand’s altruistic values – vital to retain consumers and communities for whom acting sustainably must be integral, authentic and provable.
Is Sustainability a False Economy for Retail?
The problem is – sustainability inertia. This exists largely because retailers, brands, and their suppliers act in isolation – either to gain an advantage in the market by leveraging or to protect a point of distinction over competitors. No one is to blame; we simply haven’t changed the game and mobilised as one team, towards aligned sustainable goals, literally sharing each other’s homework for the benefit of the end user, economy and planet. This is a numbers game. We need a large number of retailers, display manufacturers, and raw material suppliers to agree on a small number of initiatives – and together push towards sustainable growth within the sector.
I’m not the first to say this. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) highlights a report by Carbon Cloud defining the sizeable challenges around Retailer’s obligation to interrogate and declare Upstream Scope 3 data. The report opens gravely with, ‘Emissions data from the supply chain is the thorniest sustainability issue for retailers’, and goes on to explain, ‘No retailer will doubt the significance of primary data from the supply chain but every retailer joins the quest with different, legitimate motives’. SOURCE: Carbon Cloud – 4 Steps to Supply Chain Sustainability Data
But the responsibility for change can’t fall squarely on retailers’ shoulders. Our industry must demonstrate greater unity, and be open to challenge ourselves, to help retailers and brands to fully attain their sustainability objectives.
As a Point-of-Sale supplier, we complete hundreds of pages of documentation each year for different retailers and brands; setting out how we source our materials, produce and transport our goods, and recycle waste amongst other core manufacturing indicators. There must be a payoff for creating synergies in data collection/sharing within the POS industry? Collaboration surely secures all our futures, and unified data management seems like a great place to lobby for industry investment.
Metal Permanent displays – Deliver Sustainable Growth
Coming back to the point I made earlier about metal displays. As in-store display experts, we are responsible for leading marketers towards more ‘efficient use of limited resources through fostering a circular economy’ as written in the CBI Business Manifesto: Delivering Sustainable Growth published 28 November 2023.
Marketing teams could be falling short of meeting their sustainability objectives simply because of lack of clarity around all available options. Metal displays for example have numerous advantages over timber originated (cardboard) units. Here are my top ten reasons to choose metal displays to shift your sustainability dial.
1. Metal displays are now central to the circular economy agenda. Steel and aluminium are almost infinitely recyclable and can be classed as permanent materials.
2. Permanent metal displays are extremely robust, with an ability to withstand heavier loads than most cardboard alternatives.
3. Metal displays last several years, unlike card displays with an average lifecycle of 6-12 weeks.
4. Permanent metal displays can create a sense of ownership for brands because of their established permanent location in-store.
5. If listed within Capital Expenditure, costs are effectively shown on the balance sheet over numerous years, providing greater value for money over time.
6. Metal secondary displays can pass from warehouse to store, protecting stock from damage in transport.
7. Metal displays can be updated easily with POS graphics reflecting the latest campaigns and product messaging.
8. Metal displays offer a variety of premium quality powder-coated colours and finishes.
9. Metal displays are potentially able to carry a wider range of products across a brand’s portfolio due to their inherent strength – meaning brands can reduce their inventory of additional bespoke cardboard displays.
10. ‘Industry approved’ metal displays offer greater opportunity for sharing units across branded competitors and within a mix of national retail store estates. The concept demands a change mindset but, sharing development and production costs for a display used across supply chains, for agreed periods, is a very grown-up way to exploit step-change sustainable opportunities.
Got any questions about sustainable displays? Get in touch here and our In-store Metal POS & Display Experts will help you to find the best sustainable materials for your next project.
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