Retail Therapy: increasing the sales of CFLs

Panel: Panel 4: Sustainable Energy Use in Buildings

Author:
Tina Fawcett, Environmental Change Institute

Abstract

The average price paid for a brand name CFL in the UK has halved in the past two years, and industry sources expect the price of CFLs to continue to drop. Thus the price barrier to purchase of CFLs is lowering dramatically, but this alone may not lead to a correspondingly dramatic increase in sales.

Several studies have shown that price is far from the only barrier preventing more sales of CFLs. This paper gathers new and existing evidence on continuing reasons for non purchase of CFLs. These barriers include physical, technical and availability constraints as well as social and cultural factors.

From this analysis, the retail sector is identified as an important arena for removing barriers to purchase. The availability and range of CFLs in most UK retail outlets continues to be poor. For example, the supermarket / grocery multiple sector, which sells more incandescent lamps than any other sector, rarely stocks any CFLs. Information and advice on CFLs is also lacking. New retail initiatives in the UK to increase availability and promotion of CFLs are described. Further policy suggestions to address the non-price barriers are also given.

Emphasis in policy terms is (or should be) moving away from price reduction, and towards the other issues involved in the culturally complex field of lighting. This paper provides analysis to inform future policy directions, particularly with regard to the retail environment for both CFLs and suitable luminaires.