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The Greening of Retail: Opportunities for Increased Retail Engagement on Energy Efficiency

Panel: Market Transformation: Taking Efficiency Mainstream

Authors:
Anna Siefken, ICF International
Jill Vohr, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Hewan Tomlinson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Lindsey Gertler, ICF International

Abstract

With growing public awareness and concern for the environment, an ever increasing number of retailers are engaging in environmental or "green" marketing. Moreover, as this environmental concern is increasingly focused on the issues of global warming and climate change, energy efficiency has become a featured component of many of these marketing activities

Retailers who are taking the lead in marketing green are industry leaders. In most cases, they are the largest in their respective product channels in terms of product sales, as well as specifically with respect to energy-using products. These retailers represent the major players for reaching billions of consumers. To this end, retailers' environmental marketing efforts represent a key opportunity for energy efficiency program sponsors to reach their customers with energy efficiency messages and product incentives. Similarly, through their expertise in communitybased energy efficiency outreach, program sponsors can help national retailers gain local traction for their green marketing programs and messages.

This paper addresses how the energy efficiency community-and in particular, energy efficiency program sponsors (EEPS)-can tap the greening of retail to meet increasingly stringent kWh reduction and consumer education goals. It provides an overview of several green marketing approaches, focusing on Wal-Mart, The Home Depot, Best Buy, and Amazon.com as key examples, and addresses how the energy efficiency community can maximize retailer engagement in local programs through best practices for energy efficiency program sponsors and retailers. Specifically, it provides:

• An overview of consumer trends with respect to the environment, and retailers' responses to those trends

• The role of energy efficiency in the greening of retail

• Four retail environmental marketing case studies

• Success strategies for leveraging the greening of retail for efficiency program adoption

Paper

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