Sustainability: The Second Most Popular Business Trend for 2020

Although COVID-19 has changed many objectives for businesses around the world, sustainability has remained a prevalent concern. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) , who has surveyed 150 fashion, textile and retail business managers across Europe and the US, sustainability is actually the second most important priority on the list for business strategy.

BUSINESS PRIORITIES

60% of these businesses that prioritize sustainability are based in fashion and retail. Beating the goal of sustainability out of first place is the number one priority; improving customer experience. It may be interesting to note however that improving sustainability can correlate in-directly to customer experience as it will appeal to customers' who value sustainable fashion in purchasing decisions.

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION FROM START TO FINISH

Sustainability is being introduced as a critical part of supply chains for fashion companies due to the increased desire of company objectives. Levi’s, for example, recently announced their second hand store and sustainability pledge which is made possible by partnering with a new sustainable supply chain company called Trove for their jean resale program. The EIU reported that 65% of fashion companies are sourcing sustainably produced materials and 51% are using a circular economy approach while avoiding use of excessive fossil fuels.

COLLABORATION

The EIU report also found that collaboration between businesses and industries are required to meet sustainable goals, because external support and further regulation may not necessarily be the most effective and time conserving answer. Head of public policy at EIU, Jonathan Birdwell, spoke about the study and the amount of collaborative information he found between brands sharing resources and information to attain a common goal. Over half of the survey participants from businesses around the US and Europe said that they thought due to COVID-19, there would be less of a focus on sustainability as a priority for business objectives--luckily, they were wrong.