This website showcases a detailed view of the industry’s adoption of sustainability programs, including the management and implementation systems that companies are developing to reap the greatest business and environmental benefits from their programs. Along with the downloadable 2013 Retail Sustainability Report, this website was developed by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), the trade association of the world’s largest and most innovative retail companies.
INTRODUCTION TO THE RETAIL INDUSTRY'S SUSTAINABILITY JOURNEY
| RILA interviewed and surveyed its retail members to determine how they manage, invest in, and implement sustainability programs. The respondents are retail companies with more than 65,000 locations and $1 trillion in global revenue.
We learned that retail companies’ sustainability programs are following a continuous development curve. They begin by developing programs and practices, implementing strategies and technologies, and collaborating internally and externally. These activities uncover significant business benefits that fuel further investment in turn. As the retail sustainability field evolves, a class of top performers has emerged—those companies that have defined the development curve for the industry by embracing the full breadth of sustainability activities, thereby achieving an equally wide breadth of benefits.
Top performers take advantage of this development dynamic by leveraging the key ingredients for success, namely engaging executives, investing in people and systems, measuring and tracking progress, setting goals, and storytelling. These top-performing companies define their sustainability program to include the widest breadth of issues—from facilities’ environmental impact reduction to supply chain and stakeholder engagement—and recognize the broadest benefits from it.
RILA looks forward to continuing to engage retail executives on the sustainability journey and sharing as the industry evolves its programs. |
 |