Market for Green Products Bigger Than Most Realize
A new survey from Deloitte and the Grocery Manufacturers’ Association finds that the number of shoppers interested in green products is larger than most realize and the value of these shoppers interested in green products is larger than most realize.
Key findings of the 2009 GMA/Deloitte Green Shopper Study, which was based on more than 6,000 shoppers in 11 major retailers:
Green shoppers are diversely spread along all income ranges, age brackets, education levels and various household sizes. On average green shoppers are a little older, tend to have higher income, and more education, but you will find substantial numbers of green shoppers can be found distributed across the consumer population.
Green shoppers are a great customer target, representing a high value segment who buy more products on each trip, visit the store more regularly, and demonstrate more brand and retailer loyalty in their purchasing behavior. They are active consumers who buy more and shop more often as opposed to the image of an austere minimalist. They are less price sensitive than the average shopper and they are generally not bargain hunters.
Sustainability considerations either drive or influence the buying decisions of more than half the shoppers interviewed in our study.
However, for most green shoppers, sustainability considerations are an important purchase driver, but secondary to other dominant purchase drivers.
For most shoppers sustainable considerations become a tie-breaker when other factors are in relative parity. Because of this effect, sustainability characteristics drive a relatively large amount of product switching.
A significant minority of committed and proactive green shoppers are willing to pay more for green products, however, the larger potential population of shoppers that lean towards green want price and performance parity for sustainable products because it is not their dominant purchase driver.
We learned that there is an unfulfilled, latent demand for green products that could be realized through increased product development, in-store communication, and product availability. We found that almost all shoppers are open to buying green products and many know what a green product is or found themselves looking for a green product during their shopping trip. Despite the openness and willingness of shoppers to buy these products, only 22 percent of people surveyed purchased a green product in their surveyed shopping experience.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
