Some 76% of consumers say they intend to shop more with retailers that offer environmentally friendly products and services.
According to the survey conducted by ReBound and Pollfish, 73% of consumers are willing to pay extra for their returns to be environmentally friendly, but flexibility and convenience is still the number one priority.
Some 74% of customers said they would use a postal service to donate unwanted clothing to charity if it was offered by a retailer.
However, despite the increase in consumers prepared to pay for sustainable returns (up from 47% last year), with 67% of shoppers stating they would still choose a time delay over a financial cost (41% would rather wait for the pick-up, 26% would rather wait for the refund), reflecting the tough economic conditions people are facing.
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Moreover, while many would find small payments acceptable, just 13% of shoppers would be happy to pay £2.50 or more for sustainable returns.
ReBound sustainability communications manager Emily McGill said “It comes as no surprise that consumer want to shop with more sustainable brands.
“While environmental consciousness is evidently on the rise, retailers looking to implement more green strategies must keep in mind that convenience is still the number one priority,” she added.
“As shoppers increasingly turn to these sustainable options, retailers that have already put the work and investment in will be at a huge advantage.
“The trend towards sustainability is already well under way and brands that are able to offer and demonstrate their environmental credentials will undoubtedly be in a stronger position,” McGill added.
Are retailers willing to change their ways for sustainable returns?
In the survey, 59% of retailers claimed they were prepared to slow down the return parcels if it meant they were handled more sustainably, but just 17% of those surveyed were willing to wait a week to get products back in their warehouses.
However, almost two thirds of retailers we spoke to didn’t track returns emissions as part of their environmental reporting.
With returns rates reaching as much as 70% in some product verticals, this points to a large volume of emissions being ignored.
As consumer interest in sustainability inevitably grows, this is something retailers will have to rectify sooner rather than later, ReBound suggests.
