Sustainability tops retail agenda - Talking Retail
Sustainability tops retail agenda
Green issues, “multi-channel” retailing and changing consumer demands will top the agenda at next year’s World Retail Congress in Barcelona.
The topics were decided upon after a meeting of the congress advisory board in Paris.
The board includes Greg Sage, international corporate affairs director for Tesco, David Shriver, strategic advisor at Carrefour, and B&Q chief executive Ian Cheshire.
During the meeting, much emphasis was placed on the importance of the sustainability debate, especially energy policies, ethical sourcing and sustainable materials.
This will now form a key theme of the congress.
The advisory board recommended that the congress seeks to identify a number of “sustainability pledges” during the debate, which would be endorsed by delegates and so form a set of global benchmarks for best practice.
Said Cheshire: “Sustainability has become a serious business issue for retailers because the consumer has come to place far greater value on it than ever before.”
Multi-channel retailing - selling through the web, catalogues, and call centres as well as stores - had also grown in importance over the last year, the advisory board decided.
Next year’s World Retail Congress takes place from 9-11 April 2008.