supermarket
Analysis
Practical Selling Solutions for a "Green" Christmas
12/10/2007
As the holiday season is now in full swing, retailers, consumers by the throngs will be knocking on your collective door(s) more than usual, probably during advertised sale dates and extended business hours. With consumers in 2007 steadily becoming more ecology-minded in their buying decisions, don’t be surprised if some begin asking questions geared both toward saving money ("Where can I get the lowest price on xxx items?") and saving the planet ("What items should I buy to most effectively have a green Christmas?").
From a secular position, the first thing most consumers think of when they begin planning their respective Christmas celebrations is "O Tannenbaum," a.k.a., the tree. Certainly supermarket chains like your own during the holiday season make extra revenue by selling either or sometimes both variety of decorative holiday tree, real and artificial. The quandary, then, is whether to drag home the fresh-scented fir with shedding needles that has to be watered regularly or invest in the everlasting-yet-plastic evergreen that can be used again and again over successive years.
Although artificial trees that can be used from year to year might be easier on the pocketbook, pundits at TreeHugger.com and Grist.com contend that it's actually better to buy a farm-grown, "real" Christmas tree than an artificial one. The primary reason is that although real trees disposed of after the holiday can be converted into mulch, the plastic (polyvinyl chloride/PVC) of most commercial artificial trees is not easily biodegradable and can become a future landfill nightmare. Worrisome still is the fact that PVC contains lead, a highly toxic substance that consumers don’t want their pets nonchalantly gnawing or small children huddling around in playtime.
Once your customer has purchased his choice of tree, his next step is to invest in ornaments in the event he doesn’t have any of Great-grandma’s homemade keepsakes from "Christmases long, long ago." In the spirit of the famed towering White House and Rockefeller Center Christmas trees, SMGN suggests that you feature for sale light-emitting diodes — or LEDs — rather than the traditional bulbs of incandescent lights.
Traditional incandescent lights glow when electricity passes through a filament in a glass bulb. Their colors come from the tint in the glass bulb itself. LEDs, on the other hand, are semiconductor chips; diodes that glow with the movement of electrons when activated by electricity. Unlike their frustrating forerunners, they don't burn out, break or pose a fire hazard from heating (they stay cool). If one LED light in a string goes out, the rest of the string will stay lit. Traditional lights, on the other hand, generally all go dark and need to be disposed of and replaced from year to year.
Your fellow retailers from high-end gift shops to mega-chains like Home Depot and Target are reporting that LEDs are continuing to sell steadily. This year, customers have more vivid-colored LED varieties to select from, and the public seems willing to pay the extra cost in exchange for their energy efficiencies and longer lifespan. The cost does, indeed factor in LED sales: At Home Depot, a string of 100 clear mini-lights in traditional bulbs sells for $2, while 50 LED lights were recently sale-priced at $7.99.
Lastly, SMGN recommends that whether your grocery store specializes in natural foods or not, you stock an array of healthful alternatives to traditional fare, which is often caloric, high in sodium and preservative-laden. Whole Foods and Publix Greenwise Market have been heavily touting antibiotic-free turkeys since just before Thanksgiving along with healthier red meats, fish and poultry. "Green chocolate," as unappetizing as that initially sounds, is also becoming quite the marketing mania, as evidenced from SMGN’S feature story dated 12/1/07.
Inasmuch as Elvis Presley back in the 1950’s warbled, "I’ll have a blue Christmas without you," retailer, remember that your establishment(s) is/are key to providing your local community with a green Christmas. Therefore, go forth, sell sustainably and have a successful shopping season.
Lisa Carvin , Freelance Reporter