Sustainability is a strong driver of innovation and key to business strategy for the Retail and Consumer Sector

The impact of this is wide-ranging, and a significant catalyst for disruption and innovation. As our clients adapt to meet these challenges and opportunities, they turn to us for support and guidance. So, it’s vital that we understand the issues which both enable and hamper sustainability strategies. Which is why, in close collaboration with OXYGY, our firm’s consultancy arm, we carried out a sustainability survey for the Real and Consumer sector. We asked 100 professionals across numerous international markets from the Food & Beverage, Luxury, Fashion & Retail, and Hotels, Hospitality & Leisure sectors, both with and without sustainability in their job title, how their business was responding to this key issue.

They were able to provide their perspective on a range of sustainability-related topics, including the extent to which they are involved in helping shape and implement their organisation’s sustainability strategies, and whether they view sustainability as an opportunity for innovation.

One standout finding from the survey was that more than a third of respondents said sustainability increased in importance in the last year, an outcome that was already underway but accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Another finding indicated that Retail & Consumer companies whose sustainability strategy is more advanced than their competitors are 2.4 times more likely to see sustainability as being a significant driver of innovation. They are also three times more likely to see collaboration as extremely important.

You can access the report here.