Marketing eco products
Across the Group we have a number of high-profile marketing drives to boost sales of eco products, including B&Q UK's One Planet Home® and Castorama France's La Maison Éco campaigns. In 2009/10, sales of eco products totalled £1.07 billion – accounting for 10% of total retail sales across the Group (up from 7% the previous year).
We are developing a Group own-label range of eco products which will be progressively rolled out. By using the Group's buying strength, we are driving innovation and reducing prices for customers.
B&Q UK is introducing eco shops within stores in 2010 to promote its extensive range of One Planet Home® products. These will provide a one-stop shop for customers looking for eco products, information and advice. In the first phase, B&Q’s flagship stores in New Malden and Sutton are piloting the full eco shop concept. In a further 44 stores, B&Q is pulling together all its key energy-saving products into one zone at the front of the store so customers can easily find everything they need to start slashing their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint. In addition the company has launched a new eco section on its website (www.diy.com/eco) which allows customers to view and shop for One Planet Home® products. The company is also introducing qualified eco advisers in stores (see employee engagement).
Castorama France is rolling out the Maison Éco campaign to promote its extensive range of eco products to customers. Information is provided throughout the store – including a special merchandising display at the store entrance, posters in aisles and labels on individual eco products. The company's website includes a Maison Éco section where customers can purchase the full range of eco products online. In order to help motivate employees, Castorama France has introduced an eco champion award for the best eco product sales team.
Brico Dépôt Spain has launched the Eco Brico logo to identify eco products in-store and worked with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Spain on a poster campaign to promote certified timber.
Brico Dépôt France and Koçtaş have developed their own energy-saving logos to enable customers to identify energy-efficient products easily. Koçtaş in Turkey has run its first TV commercials to promote energy-saving light bulbs.
B&Q China has promoted its own brand range of energy-saving light bulbs by offering a free bulb to customers bringing back their old traditional light bulb.
A range of effective price promotions have been run during 2009. For example:
- Brico Dépôt France's offer on energy-saving spiral light bulbs led to a 30% increase in sales
- B&Q UK ran a three-month price promotion on insulation – leading to a five-fold increase in sales, with 1 million rolls sold at £1. It has sold enough materials to insulate 577,000 homes in the past year.
Information and advice
A key focus for us is to provide information and advice to customers on simple, low-cost solutions that help them reduce the environmental impact of their homes and save money. Some eco products, e.g. energy-saving light bulbs, do cost more but can in fact help consumers save money in the long term. Therefore providing information and guidance is a priority to help change consumer habits.
B&Q UK is introducing City & Guilds qualified 'eco advisers' and 'eco experts' across stores and plans to have over 1,700 qualified eco advisers in place by September 2010 (see employee engagement). An eco-action calculator is also available on the B&Q UK website (www.diy.com/eco) as well as specific calculators to work out savings from energy-saving lighting and water-efficient products.
Castorama France continues to run a series of workshops for customers on how to save energy in the home. These workshops are part of the weekly 'Casto-stages' training courses held for customers in stores every Saturday morning. Around 1,500 people have attended the sessions over the past two years (2008-2009). In addition, an energy efficiency CD-rom is given to customers, enabling them to calculate energy consumption in their homes and find alternative products to reduce their impact. The Maison Éco section of the website contains an interactive eco house with ideas and information on eco solutions.
Brico Dépôt France has produced a guide on the different types of eco-labels found on products, which is available in stores.
Ian Cheshire, Kingfisher's Group Chief Executive, is leading the 'We Will If You Will' initiative (together with Fiona Reynolds, Director General of the National Trust). This is a UK programme aimed at encouraging the mass mobilisation of individuals towards more sustainable lifestyles. It brings together businesses, NGOs and government to deliver change across five themes – the food I eat, the way I run my home, the stuff I throw away, the things I buy and how I get around. See http://www.wewillifyouwill.org/.
Eco services
Our businesses can also help customers create more sustainable homes by providing eco services such as home eco audits, eco installation services and eco finance packages.
As part of its trial of eco shops within stores, B&Q UK is offering some new eco-installation services including boiler and solar thermal water heating installations. The company is also trialling ‘home eco audits’ to help homeowners understand the measures they can implement to cut their home’s environmental impact and running costs.
The B&Q UK store in Sutton has been selected as a partner by the UK government in a trial of a new financing scheme for home energy efficiency improvements, known as Home Pay As You Save (PAYS). The government is providing a combination of grants and interest-free loans to 100 households in Sutton to help finance home energy makeovers and B&Q UK is working in partnership with Sutton Borough Council and BioRegional to deliver the energy efficiency improvements. B&Q will carry out a full energy assessment of the Sutton homes involved in the trial, to understand where the owners might be best able to reduce their energy consumption e.g. by improving levels of insulation, increasing draught proofing and introducing solar hot water systems. B&Q will also provide the eco installation services to deliver the improvements.
Market research
We have set a target to research customer attitudes on the environmental / social impacts of retail in all the markets we operate in by 31 January 2011 (in line with the timescales in our Steps programme). Six of our nine businesses (B&Q UK, B&Q China, Brico Dépôt France, Castorama France, Castorama Poland and Castorama Russia) have conducted customer surveys on environmental and social issues. Kingfisher also includes a CR questionnaire on its website.
The research shows there are market opportunities for extending our range of eco products. For example, B&Q commissioned three major pieces of qualitative market research in 2009 to explore customers' changing attitudes to the environment and their homes. The research included in-store interviews, in-home interviews and focus groups in New Malden and Nottingham. It found that customers are becoming more aware of environmental issues and the research has shaped B&Q UK's approach to communicating and developing its eco marketing strategy. A new market research survey in France is underway and will be completed later in 2010. A survey conducted in Russia in August 2009 also found high levels of customer awareness, with over half of the respondents considering the environment when purchasing appliances or home improvement products.
In early 2009, The Future Foundation – a consumer and business trends think-tank – was commissioned by B&Q UK to examine what the future holds for the home improvement industry over the next 40 years. One of the key findings was that increasing numbers of people are turning gardens into functional areas rather than ornamental spaces, with over a quarter of British people growing their own fruit and vegetables, and 36% planning to do so in the next few years. In early 2010, B&Q UK launched a new campaign to promote gardening and its Grow Your Own products, in partnership with the gardening celebrity Alan Titchmarsh. Throughout the growing season, regular expert tips and advice from Alan will appear in a range of in-store leaflets, materials and online at www.diy.com/eco.
Responsible marketing
We need to ensure that the claims our businesses make about the environmental or social benefits of a product are accurate and honest. We have a CR Responsible Marketing Policy Standard and Guidelines for our businesses.
Customer satisfaction
Our businesses conduct regular customer satisfaction surveys and have procedures in place to respond to customer enquiries, suggestions and complaints.
Store accessibility
Our Steps programme requires our businesses to include criteria on accessibility for disabled customers and employees within their store design specification.
A range of specific products are also available to help meet the needs of disabled or vulnerable customers (see product design).
Safe use and disposal of products
Our businesses include safety labels on products such as solvents and paints to provide guidance on and encourage safe use and disposal.
Our European businesses also provide guidance for customers on how to return waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) for recycling. For example, Screwfix provides detailed information on such recycling procedures in its catalogue and on its website.
