Retail and Sustainability
How Italian consumers view sustainability
Today, Fashion Network shared a survey released during the second edition of the “Retail & sustainability” event. A meeting arranged by Mind-Milano Innovation District.
This survey scans Italian consumers and their views towards sustainability.
The survey
According to it, Italian consumers are more conscious towards environmental issues. One out of three (32%) is more careful to waste. Also, 30% believe it is crucial to limit pollution sources. Most importantly, 58,6% think companies are important players, together with citizens and government, in order to reach UN 23 goals.
According to the people interviewed, they say there is a mismatch between the active role companies should have and what they are actually doing. Specifically, 57,8% of consumers think that fashion and clothing companies are “little or not at all committed to the issue.”
In other words, Italian consumers say brands are not doing enough for sustainability.
But on the other hand, sustainability doesn’t have a fundamental role in the purchasing decision. Indeed, 65,9% of the interviewees consider multiple factors or not at all these aspects (14,7%).
However, in general, the price of these products or services is deemed higher compared to less sustainable alternatives.
Our viewpoint retail and sustainability
On retail and sustainability we see two problems:
As a matter of fact, brands and retailers are not doing enough. Because it is difficult, it is time-consuming. Most of all, they wouldn’t make money as they did so far. Why should they make this effort? Of course, business and consciousness do not play well in a capitalistic view. But also, consumers still purchase a lot of fast fashion or poor-quality garments.
Why aren’t consumers consistent with their expectations?
As a retailer, apart from our niche customers, the only request we hear is: “how much is it?” Because people do not care about quality. No one cares about “buy less, buy better.” They only want “cheap and buy more!”
Furthermore, social media are complicit in the ongoing diffusion of misleading practices. For instance, many brands with hordes of followers sell shoes for 50€, passing them off as made in Italy! Or cheap clothing with a price tag too low to be sustainable with eco-friendly tags. Do we believe in fairy tales?
So, we really would love to hear from consumers, from you.
As consumers, Italian, European or wherever you come from – what do you expect from retailers? And you, on your side, what are you willing to do for sustainability?
Drop us an email or comment here below!
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