One of the country's biggest retailers recently announced that, for certain products, more customers are choosing "green" options.

After tracking consumer purchase decisions in five product categories — light bulbs, baby food, milk, paper products and laundry detergent — for about a year, Wal-Mart found that, when given the choice, more customers will choose environmentally friendly options.

In fact, the company recently reported a 66 percent increase in its sustainability Live Better Index, which tracks the shopping decisions of the chain's annual 200 million customers by comparing eco-friendly products to other products in the same category.

The Index data for April 2008 shows a 47 percent increase in the adoption of compact florescent light bulbs and that the average adoption rate of extended life paper products (such as bathroom tissue) is 67.5 percent, up from 50.77-percent adoption rate in April of last year.

"This is a surprising statistic," says Lane DeVries, CEO of The Sun Valley Group, which prides itself on practicing sustainable floriculture. "We hear among customers a desire to look at sustainability, but these are dramatic numbers. It's very surprising."

To read more about how green customers shop online check out this story in the May 14 issue of E-Brief.

--Kori Kamradt
kkamradt@safnow.org

 

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