Earth Month Should Help Wal-Mart Sustain Itself
Wal-Mart has declared April Earth Month as it continues to press considerations beyond the recession and establish priorities that will drive its business when the economy revives.
Consumer purchasing shifts have demonstrated that retailers who offer value-oriented food have fared relatively well in the recession, and Wal-Mart edibles operations have propelled the company to comparable store sales gains throughout. A Nielsen Co. study indicating that consumers are scrimping on everyday buying to support home entertainment and other lifestyle purchasing provides evidence that consumers are willing to trade down on food. Yet, according to the American Consumer Satisfaction Index, Wal-Mart shoppers have shown some dissatisfaction with its food business. The ACSI rating for Wal-Mart's food operation slipped two points last year to 68, a number that comes in below major supermarket chains studied. If the customers who are trading down from other food retailers are those expressing disappointment, and it seems as if they might be, then Wal-Mart could lose a significant proportion of the customers it has won in the recession when the economy improves.
The environment is an issue attractive enough to middle-class consumers that it may help Wal-Mart hang on to those who traded down as the economy stagnated. So the company is going big with another in a series of sustainability promotions, turning Earth Day into Earth Month.
Wal-Mart's premise is to make it easy AND affordable for its shoppers â€" 200 million strong â€" to have a green impact, so, in April, the company is promoting 10 under $10 products from the 500 it identifies as environmentally friendly including 100 percent organic cotton Earth Tees, priced from $4 to $6. Online, it has banner ads that spell out how Earth-friendly products â€" the kind Wal-Mart lists through a link on the web page â€" will help the environment if used by all customers and, at walmart.com/green, offers tips under the title Be Green and Save such as a suggestion to pack lunches â€" using the kind of products Wal-Mart sells in supercenters and discount store pantries â€" to cut down on restaurant takeout packaging.
While it's easy to spot how the company's campaign might be a little self-serving, the fact that Wal-Mart's Earth Month effort can help consumers have a positive environmental impact can't be overlooked. And it won't be. Wal-Mart is also sponsoring the Earth Day, Every Day School Challenge, a promotion that offers prizes based on essays about school eco-activities, which means the company is establishing itself as part of educational environmental initiatives, the kind that generate kids who bug parents to buy energy saving light bulbs, the kind that Wal-Mart sells in special displays.
So, Wal-Mart is combining motivation and the convenience of knowing where to get the right stuff to do the green thing. The emphasis on price savings certainly helps now, but it may also help a couple of years from now in a way that relates directly to environmental concerns as energy prices swell with economic growth and gasoline prices head back toward $4 a gallon. The link between being economically friendly and saving money, one Wal-Mart practically owns, should serve it well as consumers burdened with rising energy costs decide whether to resume shopping the more service oriented but costlier stores they did before the recession.