Friday 26 August 2011

People Power

A few interesting examples this week of retailers responding to public pressure.
IGA have removed Black & Gold toilet paper from their range as Greenpeace draws a link with the paper manufacturer and de-forestation causing the death of endangered tigers in Indonesia. On a similar vein, Officeworks have removed APRIL paper products from their shelves following the Indonesian revelations.
KFC have announced that they will no longer be supplying toys with their children’s meals in an effort to remove “pester power”.
We see these examples as just more evidence of consumers becoming aware of a whole range of retailing issues. There is anecdotal evidence at our Queen Victoria Market that customers are being more upfront as they demand quality, service and best prices. How often have you heard traders say - "My customers are giving me a hard time."

We ignore them at our peril.