Hybrid Platforms Trends Series - Retail Edition: Sustainability

I had the pleasure of sitting down with several experts in the field of retail and discussing the hot topics for 2024 and 2025. I was joined by Ian Scott (Independent Retail Consultant), Peter Critchley, (UK CEO for Trison), David Dobson (Global Industry Director Retail, Intel Corporation) and Jane Liston (Retail Sales Manager, CDW).     

Over the course of a couple of hours we discussed a wide range of topics, and I thought highlighting the insights from the group would be interesting. In this article we are going to look at the topic of sustainability, and in subsequent articles security and then shrinkage.  We have now also released an audio version via our CDW OCTOpod podcast.  

Retail Sustainability   

While our discussion was taking place, we also had a film crew in the office recording some of the trends and advice for the retail sector. This meant that one of the group was not present for each discussion. In the first part David from Intel was in the film studio, so we uncovered the opinions from Ian, Peter and Jane on sustainability.   

Sustainability is an interesting topic in 2024 and one that is either top of mind or on the back burner depending on the sector or industry you are talking to. In retail, not only do the normal legislative and compliance implications apply, but we have to consider the public opinion impact. All this against a backdrop of operational cost.  

Jane said, "We're seeing a lot of the retailers having a lot of pressure and commitments around sustainability goals, which of course is key to what we all need to be doing in the world right now, but also facing that operational cost challenge."  

Ian's initial thoughts captured the sentiment in the room; great opportunity but we need to have realistic expectations. 

"I see this as one of the growing dilemmas and challenges as well as opportunities that retailers have. We're seeing now that customers are starting to expect sustainability so it has to become an agenda from a marketing and activation point of view, but also financing and funding any shifts that you have to do. It's important to then work out what your realistic expectations are as a result of that investment."  

The challenge is to avoid the pitfall of Greenwashing and make sure the changes you are implementing have a meaningful and measurable impact. Jane mentioned the work CDW is doing for customer in this space. "You've got a 10-15 year old system in there. If you refresh that now, we're going to be able to save you 30-40% of your consumption costs. That creates some great metrics, but then it comes back to that challenge of needing to make an investment to achieve those energy savings.” 

Ian shared thoughts on the balance between newer digital content versus older printed media. 

"I think what's interesting as well is where you're seeing that transition from printed analogue material to digital. You see the obvious benefit in that you can update content on a screen easily, quickly and cheaply, but then the technology and the materials used to create the screen are not as environmentally friendly." 

One topic that had everyone in healthy debate was on how consumers actually perceive this. Everyone says they want to be green, but do they actually follow through in reality?  

Ian said, "I love this topic because I always say that if you put a human into the mix, they'll ruin everything because they're fickle, inconsistent, emotionally driven creatures. So, you can design a perfect solution, but they'll love it one day and the next day they'll hate it!"  

Jane added, "I think it's a really good point, because it's almost having to weigh up what the consumer wants while meeting the sustainability challenge. So, you're seeing it really well with the likes of Vinted and some of the other online brands where people can resell clothes and they're doing fantastically well, and that's hitting those points about being sustainable; it's recycling, and it's also a cost saving." 

Peter summed it up superbly though by saying, "Let's face it, what matters here is the message. It's not the technology, the message matters. So, I'm really encouraged by things like e-paper and the opportunity to create something as a message that drives a consumer behaviour. You need to communicate it clearly, and you need to do it for long enough for people to buy into it and adjust their habits." It’s a key point about needing to give new ideas time to permeate the culture of your target consumers, and not to expect that to be a quick process.   

Peter closed out our discussion on sustainability with two key messages:  

“The really important message to all retailers is that if they're not doing something visible that's helping change consumer behaviour, it won’t have any impact if it isn’t at scale. If they're not highlighting where consumers can make a change, it's not going to make any material difference.” 

"It's also a really positive opportunity to implement meaningful change across the business and to drive cost savings, improve the wellbeing of staff, help consumers make a difference in the decisions they're making, and to also improve the whole outlook of the store environments that you're working in."  

From my perspective, this topic has to be front of mind. Our planet will recover if we give it the time and space it needs, and protecting the wonders it offers for future generations is going to be our legacy. From a technology perspective, I think there are 5 key things that you can consider to help align sustainability more strategically in your organisation.   

• Think data first: Data is expanding at an alarming rate and with proper governance will constitute a massive carbon challenge.  

• Leave no IT behind: All technology will impact your sustainability goals, ensure everything is in scope for optimisation.  

• Make it observable: You cannot make decisions without information; ensure you have all IT assets observable from a carbon impact perspective.   

• Operate at peak efficiency: Take a close look at all your compute and storage platforms and ensure you are operating a peak utilisation. Adopt cloud-like scaling in all locations to drive down usage.  
• Drive circularity: Ensure that all investments in hardware are backed by a circular outcome and that you can report on that outcome.