Sustainable product presentation – 11 tips
Commentary by Doreen Brumme
Sustainability is all well and good – but not at any price. This is the core message of a recent survey1. Sustainability still plays a minor role in most people’s purchasing decisions; price is often more important to customers than sustainable product quality. However, the easier it is to act sustainably, the more likely people are to do so. By displaying sustainable goods in an informative way in stores, you make it easier for your customers to make sustainable choices. Here are 11 tips on how to make sustainable products clearly visible on your shelves!
What your customers actually want
The survey also wanted to find out what the barriers to buying sustainable products are. After the price, respondents named these three hurdles:
- The sustainability of the product or its components is impossible or hard to make out.
- It takes too much effort to find out whether a product is sustainable or not.
- There is a lack of sustainable product alternatives on the market.
The good news is: it is easy to eliminate these three hurdles in your store. Give your customers what they need right at the shelf (point of sale): clearly visible and easy-to-understand details regarding the sustainability of your sustainable products. This information must be easy to read and clearly linked with the relevant product.
How to make sustainability (more) visible: 11 tips you can put into practice at once!
If you want to campaign for the issue of sustainability by selling more sustainable products in your bricks-and-mortar or online store, then you need to display your sustainable side in a credible way. By valuing sustainability and making this obvious with your product selection and product presentation, you make it easier for your customers to likewise appreciate sustainable products and buy them – from you!
Tip 1: Only offer sustainable products that you are PASSIONATE about
Only offer sustainable products whose quality you’re satisfied with. This means that you must have checked them out yourself. As with all products, the same applies to sustainable ones: you sell them in your store on behalf of the companies that produce them. Familiarise yourself with the topic of sustainability and the concerns of your suppliers. Clearly communicate your own beliefs! Why do you make space on the shelf for these products in particular? What is it about them that you value so much?
Tipp 2: Show what it is that you APPRECIATE about the sustainable products!
When you assemble your product range, make sure that sustainable products are in no way inferior to conventional ones when you display them next to each other on the shelf – otherwise they are less likely to be bought. Sustainability, a factor that usually justifies a higher price, must not be associated with any compromises in visible quality. On the contrary, if you offer high-quality sustainable products that look suitably upmarket, you’ll awaken your customers’ desire to own and buy them! Make it clear in and outside your shop that you set great store by sustainability. Communicate your appreciation for sustainable products on flags, posters, in shop windows and in brochures.
Tip 3: Give your customers a CHOICE!
Ten conventional products on the shelf and only one sustainable alternative? If that’s the case, then you’re denying your customers something that’s crucial when making a purchase: a choice. According to psychologists2, without such a choice, your customers will feel pressured and coerced. This is a feeling that’s tantamount to a loss of control – and has decisive purchasing consequences. In order to regain control, people are more likely to say a defiant “No!” and not buy anything at all. Incidentally, this psychological resistance is called “reactance”. For you in the retail sector, this means that you should offer more than just one sustainable alternative to conventional products. By offering a variety of products, you show your customers that you value their individuality and respect their product preferences.
Tip 4: The SMART way to present your sustainable products!
You know what makes your customers tick. Place the sustainable products where most people like to pick them up: in the high-volume locations of the shop. The rule is simple: goods placed on the upper and lower shelves are bought less often than those placed at eye and waist level. Don’t be afraid to offer sustainable products several times (so-called multiple facings), e.g. as an independent product block within a product group (block placements) or scattered throughout the entire assortment. The last option is said to be particularly good at increasing sales, since potential first-time or occasional buyers can find the sustainable alternative right next to their usual product, and existing buyers can easily compare both qualities – the conventional and the sustainable ones.
Tip 5: CLEARLY label sustainable products!
Your customers must instantly be able to see that sustainable products are sustainable products. Such goods should also stand out visually from the rest of the range. Eye-catching packaging, well-known organic seals, growers’ associations logos, price tags, floor stickers as well as stickers on the products themselves etc. can all help you achieve this.
Tip 6: Sustainability TRAINING for your staff!
Make sure that you and your team can provide customers with competent advice. Staff should be familiar with the benefits of sustainable products and be able to demonstrate how they differ from conventional ones.
Tip 7: Decide whether you want to sell sustainable products with or without service!
Depending on which sustainable products you sell, you need to decide whether they should be offered with or without service, i.e. self-service. Selling products with customer service means that you can advise interested parties in person.
Tip 8: Aaand action! – Carry out promotional campaigns!
You can use campaigns to draw particular attention to sustainable products. This way, first-time buyers are introduced to them, and occasional and existing buyers are reminded of them. This initially boosts sales figures in the short term, but, at best, it also has a lasting effect on sales. Bring allies – suppliers, brand ambassadors, influencers – into your store to help you carry out campaigns.
Tip 9: Create a HARMONIOUS atmosphere in your store!
These days, with the ability to buy everything your heart desires online, shopping in a bricks-and-mortar store is undergoing a transformation: people who shop locally now expect an immersive experience and excellent personal service. You should satisfy these emotional expectations. Create a harmonious atmosphere in your store by designing a sales area that people enjoy spending time in. Space, light, product presentation and customer service must all be perfectly coordinated to create the desired feeling of well-being among customers.
Tip 10: Be unmistakeably UNIQUE!
Reflect on your role of being a service provider: find a service that you can offer your customers to match your sustainable product range and one that sets you apart from the competition both online and offline. This is known as a “unique selling proposition”, or USP for short. Make yourself unmistakable – and indispensable.
Tip 11: Give your customers the most valuable gift of this day and age: TIME!
Your walk-in customers come to your store because they’re looking for more than just a product that they are sure to find elsewhere. Appreciate this and give them some of your valuable time. Listen when they tell you what they’re looking for. See everyone as an individual! Respond to them and show that you, too, are a fellow human being. Combine your business approach with individual attention. Remember why you opened your store in the first place. Live out your motivation for doing so!
Shaping the future with your environmentally conscious product range
There’s no getting around the issue of sustainability: it’s the recipe for making our society fit for the future. In a time of upheaval, like the one we are currently experiencing, retailers have to lead the way and set an example. Have the courage to switch over to sustainability. You already know that supply and demand are mutually dependent. Make sustainability the new normal in your business. Your customers will thank you for it.
About the author Doreen Brumme
The freelance journalist on organic issues and #motherof4 Doreen Brumme blogs on doreenbrumme.de about how to enjoy a green lifestyle at work, in school and at home.
