M&S Plan A pledge could slow down retailer
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Marks & Spencer’s extension of its Plan A sustainability commitments is set to save the company millions of pounds but could have major implications for its supply chain.
While retail analysts broadly welcome the initiative, they question whether the strict commitments will make the retailer less nimble and put more pressure on its suppliers.
M&S aims to be “the world’s most sustainable retailer by 2015” and has launched a raft of new ethical and environmental commitments to achieve it.
For example, all 36,000 M&S product lines will carry at least one sustainable or ethical quality, such as being Fairtrade or organic.
Observers say the plans could prove extremely challenging, as could achieving full traceability of all supplier raw materials.
Verdict senior retail analyst Sarah Peters says: “M&S is relying on its sourcing and suppliers, a lot of which are on the other side of the world, making it difficult to keep track of them. There is a risk that M&S could be slowed down by having to put all these [sustainability] procedures in place.”
However, M&S head of sustainable business Mike Barry says there have been no such problems to date. He adds that it is likely that Plan A will become more consumer-facing and of more help to brand perception, as so far only 15% of the 100 commitments have offered good stories to tell to the consumer.
Steve Kelsey, sustainability expert and strategic innovations director at Pi Global, questions the approach and says, “From a brand perspective, M&S could be over-associating itself with sustainability. Does it make sense from a long-term brand perspective to associate with something that has no differentiation - everyone is ’doing’ sustainability?”
However, brands such as Coca-Cola believe consumers want to hear about their sustainable initiatives.
So far, M&S has met 46 of its original 100 commitments, announced in January 2007.
Readers' comments (3)
Rob Sellers | Wed, 3 Mar 2010 10:36 am
This is a strategic commitment which is far more than simply embracing sustainability because consumers 'want to hear' about it. Sustainability is the only real source of competitive advantage, allowing M&S to become a more efficient and future-proofed company. The consumer could ignore this entirely and they would still get the same quality products delivered with the same convenience and consistency. However, some of those consumers will make an active choice to support the responsible products, giving M&S an ever deeper relationship with their customer-base. I think this is an outstanding move from a truly innovative company.
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Fabian Pattberg | Wed, 3 Mar 2010 12:16 pm
You are making an interesting point but I guess the question M&S is asking itself at the moment is: Growth or Sustainability? What is more important and is it possible to combine these two?
For me M&S is one of the few companies that are actually in a good position to combine these two aspects.
Fabian Pattberg
http://www.fabianpattberg.com
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Daianna Rincones | Wed, 3 Mar 2010 6:04 pm
To Kelsey's comment, what makes M&S different from everyone else 'doing' sustainability is that it is the only retailer who can use this as a competitive advantage. Unlike its competitors, it has the consumer trust, the leadership, the staff buy-in, the first-mover advantage and the operational capability to back up the talk. Keeping its focus on this during the recession has given it a further lead. It is all these factors together that differentiate M&S. If it can now add more value to its customers through sustainability in a way that leverages its core competencies, I think we'll see greater growth, not a slow down.
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