Green Retail World is back after a festive break. To kick off the year, here’s five news-in-brief items to round up the first week of 2023 in greener retailing.
SuperValu retailers benefit from Musgrave Sustainability Fund
SuperValu has announced that €7.9 million has been invested in sustainability initiatives across its stores over the past six months.
Some €4.1 million was drawn down from a major sustainability fund announced by Musgrave in June 2022, The Musgrave Sustainability Fund, which runs until the end of 2023. The fund provides a share of €25 million investment in SuperValu stores across the island of Ireland.
An additional €3.8 million spend in sustainability initiatives has been matched by independent SuperValu retailers.
The fund
Musgrave said that 77 SuperValu stores in the Republic of Ireland have availed of the fund so far, while “many other” SuperValu retailers are planning to use the fund to introduce their own sustainability measures this year.
Drawn funds can go towards LED lighting, refrigeration and freezer upgrades, electronic shelf edge labels (eSELs), solar panels, and electric delivery vans.
According to Musgrave, over the past six months SuperValu retailers have installed 5,322 solar panels and saved 182,000 sheets of paper in 2022 via the installation of eSELs.
More details about the Musgrave and SuperValu sustainability work can be found here.
Daniel Murphy, programme manager for the Musgrave Sustainability Fund, said: “Our retailers have been very enthusiastic about the fund, and many have big plans for 2023.
“SuperValu’s sustainability strategy sets out the company’s ambition of working with retail partners, suppliers, and customers to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. This is made possible by taking real sustainable action in areas like energy efficiency, lighting, and packaging to name a few.”
He added: “SuperValu have an exceptional network of retail partners, made up of SMEs and local entrepreneurs who are passionate about their communities and sustainability. As a business with a presence in every community across the island of Ireland, we have a responsibility to act, while putting in place genuine and meaningful sustainability policies.”
Aldi extends Company Shop Group partnership
Aldi has said that excess stock from its regional distribution centre network is to be made available to UK Community Shop stores thanks to an extended partnership with food redistributor, Company Shop Group.
Items that find their way to the Community Shop stores will be sold at discounted prices as a way to help those in need.
Company Shop Group has helped Aldi prevent over 14,700 tonnes of food going to waste, according to the supermarket chain, which first forged a store partnership with the group in 2015.
Liz Fox, corporate responsibility director at Aldi UK, said: “Reducing food waste is incredibly important to us, and we know that by rolling this scheme out nationally, it will make a huge difference to communities across the UK.
“The work that Community Shop does is vital to so many people and, sadly, the demand it is seeing for surplus food is currently higher than ever. By extending our partnership with them, we can make a positive difference together.”
Gary Stott, executive chairman at Community Shop, added: “The surplus stock that we redistribute through Community Shop is a lifeline for so many people, and by rolling out the partnership nationally, we can deliver positive impacts for people and communities on a much greater scale.”
My Wardrobe HQ launches new luxury subscription service
The luxury rental and resale platform chaired by former Topshop brand director and Whistles boss Jane Shepherdson – My Wardrobe HQ – has this week launched a monthly multi-label rental subscription service.
Consumers can pay monthly and receive a rotating edit worth thousands of pounds.
Scurri and Hived offer ‘emission free’ delivery in London
Delivery management software provider Scurri has announced an integration with green-thinking delivery service, Hived.
Retailers using the Scurri platform can now, as a result of the partnership, deliver online orders emission-free. Hived, which currently operates in the Greater London area but is looking to expand throughout the UK in 2023, says it achieves emission-free output by only using electric vehicles and bikes for its deliveries.
Through this integration, Scurri will offer same-day, next-day and two-day delivery services for retailers with Hived.
Rory O’Connor, CEO & founder of Scurri, said: “Both retailers and consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the impact delivery can have on our environment, and are beginning to tackle this issue.
“Hived is a brilliant carrier for us to add to our network, as it does just that. Customer service is another area we are seeing discussed more and more, and the ability for consumers to receive their packages within the same day of ordering creates huge satisfaction.”
Jack Follett, growth lead at Hived, said his company’s vision is “to shift standards and expectations in the delivery sector, across reliability, customer service and environmental impact”.
“Our approach of paying drivers fairly, owning the whole parcel journey and using only emission-free electric vehicles is dramatically improving customer experiences and we look forward to providing this service to a new group of retailers using the Scurri platform,” he explained.
Love Island back together with eBay in pre-loved push
Online marketplace eBay has announced it is officially in partnership with reality TV show Love Island again.
The e-commerce behemoth first sponsored the ITV show in 2022, as part of efforts to drive conversations and encourage shoppers to think pre-loved fashion first. The move was a shift away from the programme’s previous marketing relationships with fast fashion players.
New research from ITV reveals 53% of Love Island viewers aware of the eBay partnership said they’d bought pre-loved in the past three months, which the study said was more than double the amount for those who hadn’t watched or been aware of the partnership.
The eBay pre-loved fashion stylist, Amy Bannerman, will once again be sourcing fashion from eBay to style Love Island’s ninth series contestants in second-hand clothing.
Alongside pre-loved clothes, a selection of second-hand authenticated sneakers and items from eBay’s Imperfects range will also be appearing as part of the programme contestants’ wardrobe.
Mike Spencer, creative director of Love Island at Lifted Entertainment, said: “We are excited to keep working with eBay and to keep highlighting more conscious ways of shopping on screen.”
[Image credit: Clare Keogh for Musgrave Group]
