[mind Retail Day] Six fashion, home and B2B retailers facing circularities’ challenges

Despite the wave of bankruptcies affecting the circular economy sector, including Disruptual and Rediv, retailers attending mind Retail Day in Paris affirmed a continuous commitment to sustainability.

For the premium fashion player like SMCP (sales of €1.2 billion in 2023 up by 4% with a net margin ratio at 19.2% of sales), this shift is accelerated by European regulations. The group that owns the Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot brands will be subject to CSRD for 2025 financial reports. “This directive forces us to look ahead 5-10 years and ask ourselves what share of sales and profitability we can project for second-hand and circularity in 2030,” said Damien Pellé, the group’s CSR Director. CSRD forces CSR and financial teams to meet and cooperate. That’s virtuous, because it raises the question of overall profitability for a CSR strategy.”

For B2B retailers, the sustainable pressure is growing

An example is Amazon Business, Amazon’s entity targeting business customers that generated US$35 billion in sales in 2023, a US$10 billion uplift in 2 years. “To simplify purchasing processes for B2B companies, we’ve developed a filter and a purchasing policy headlining the “climate pledge” products,” said Julia Zapata, Sales Director for Amazon Business France. “Customers can also choose whether or not to accept a given price differential between certified sustainable products and the most competitive prices and set this policy in their catalogue. Finally, they can also give priority to local suppliers, via a supplier geolocation system, or to SMEs”. In France on average, Amazon Business’s customers who are guided by an account manager spent 29% of their purchases last year using the three criteria (Climate Pledge, local and SMEs).

Ecodesign: the first sustainable step

For three brands of the first round table, producing more sustainable products is at the heart of their initiatives.