Retail and consumer goods companies face increasing demands regarding quality and/or price and, at the same time, growing social expectations for sourcing goods in a transparent and ethical manner. Brand and reputation are key drivers of sustainability efforts in this industry.
Issues
- Brand/reputation management
- Product stewardship, extended producer responsibility and traceability, and product safety
- Responsible supply chain (human rights, environmental performance of suppliers and so on)
- Environmental footprint of facilities
- Packaging/other life-cycle aspects, such as disposal
Client examples
Global consumer goods company
A global consumer goods company wanted to assess the risk of a new product launch, and the effectiveness of its marketing and communication strategy. We profiled stakeholders involved with the product launch and identified issues that could influence their support for, and attitude towards, the product. We formulated a strategy to mitigate the risks that could have the greatest impact on product sales. As a result of this project, the client elected not to launch the product, and has initiated a review of its processes to integrate similar assessments and procedures into the development of new brands.
Global home furnishing retailer
We carried out a risk evaluation of a global home furnishing retailer’s social-compliance system, including 1,600 first-tier suppliers. We assessed the appropriateness of its policies and systems for managing social-compliance risks in the supply-chain, including third-party monitoring of randomly selected suppliers, and made recommendations for improving the management of those risks.
International industrial products federation
PwC developed Life Cycle Inventories (LCI) for some of the products manufactured by this federation’s members to help them respond to their own customers’ needs. By analysing the LCI results, one of the companies discovered that for one kind of emission, it was above the average and close to the maximum range value, whereas for most others, it was on the low-emission side. A detailed analysis revealed that one process step was causing most of the emissions and the company decided to invest in reducing emissions in this process.
High-end US retailer
We assessed and benchmarked the environmental impact of a US retailer’s footwear and apparel products, working with the company to develop an environmental strategy. This effort will enable the retailer to prioritise its environmental efforts, given limited resources. Implementation of the proposed initiatives is expected to reduce risk to the retailer’s reputation and operating costs.
