Consumers Driving Sustainable Change in the Market

Over the last 10 years, there has been a dramatic increase in eco awareness, with a significant shift in the knowledge of the general public and the corresponding response of business. Evidence of this shift can be easily seen in the shear number of alternative products and services available to consumers today.

Alternative product introductions to the marketplace continue to stay strong in 2009. At the current rate, 2009 new product introductions will be triple those of 2008, which itself was twice 2007.

•    Natural-food stores, such as Whole Foods, are seeing the largest grown in consumption, with an overall increase of 10.9 percent over 2008.

•    Big retailers are also helping lead the charge. Overall sales at retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Costco, have seen sales growth increases up to 7 percent.

Access to information has put the consumer preferences for alternative products on the leading edge of business sustainability. In comparison to previous generations, sustainable products and services are not being brought to the consumer; so much as, the consumer is defining the products and services they want available in the market.

According to Datamonitor's Product Launch Analytics, 458 new products have been launched so far this year with claims of “sustainable,” “environmentally friendly” or “eco friendly”. With consumer preferences shifting, the business world is responding:

•    Many major brands like Clorox, SC Johnson and Arm & Hammer have put out greener versions of their products, changing their product formulation, packaging, or both.

•    Newer product lines are gaining market share. Seventh Generation has seen sales go up 50 percent last year.

•    In addition, the big retailers, such as Wal-Mart, are evaluating mainstream products and imposing stricter standards on their suppliers.

This massive surge in alternative products has expanded the general public’s eco awareness and created a mind shift towards alternative options.

It must also be noted that this new market has created an opportunity for companies to capture sales through misleading claims. However, one perspective is that green washing accelerates the education and refining of consumer preferences resulting in increased transparency in sustainable businesses.

As a sustainability consultant, I believe that growing eco awareness and resulting pressure on business sustainability will dictate that best of the best products and services will continuously rise to the top.