Volume 3 Issue 4
When consumers purchase products, it is based on a few factors: purchasing price, word of mouth/trends and product quality. These 3 factors have been reflected from the well-known brands of IKEA, Forever 21 and Seventh Generation. With these companies, their names have made it through the history books and shown the world why participating in sustainability is at its utmost importance in this day and age, with consumers searching to support only companies who build quality products through sustainable practices. Those who are currently participating in environmental sustainability have not only understood consumer demands, but they have taken it to the next level, utilizing this advantage into reducing their overall cost in the long run.
IKEA, the world’s most renowned furniture empire is famous for not only their quality of participation in sustainability, but their cheaper prices being offered to consumers. IKEA has defeated the stereotype of incurring higher cost from the participation of sustainability and turned it into their favour. With the combination of producing their products while practicing environmental sustainability and being able to provide consumers with market price furniture, this has enabled and expanded their market size. Hence, being able to achieve the success they have inherited.
Seventh Generation is also the largest US eco-friendly cleaning supplies, recently acquired by Unilever. Its appeal is their background and commitment to protecting the population's health through their impeccable industry leadership and consumer goodwill. They are the company who takes the initiative to further improve their environmental standing in the world. This is through their Social Mission Board, with its purpose of ensuring that their CSR goals are always being met and that the business remains sustainable. This has captured the market’s attention, putting themselves in the limelight of consumers' way, further reflecting the hand-in-hand combination of environmental and financial success (Forbes, 2019).
Samsung, one of the multiple tech-giants in the world, also took a turn in its business process, using a more sustainable approach to ensure the reduction of environmental pollution. Samsung has not only been ensuring sustainability through its Green Supply Chain, of only working with suppliers who meet the sustainability standards of the company, but also through investing in eco-design principles. Its main purpose of ensuring customers purchase energy-efficient, durable, and recyclable products, allows customers to further participate in sustainability through something they use daily. Through this, Samsung has made a grand achievement of successfully reducing 50% of energy consumption.
Another tech-giant from China, Baidu, is very commonly used within Asia, has also publicly announced their commitment to achieving carbon neutrality in a decade through the purchase of carbon credit. Investments made by Baidu has shown their efforts and clear intentions, further defining their commitment to the world. They have achieved this through the construction of their own solar power plants and further developing their own AI-powered solutions to further tackle the issue of sustainability in real time. Through this AI-powered technology, they are able to build a conversation starter to even bigger ideas with their team.
Consumer demands have changed drastically, with consumers supporting companies who practice or support environmentally sustainable products. With that being said, Lexngo has all three components of quality, word of mouth and purchasing price. Their vision of producing sustainable products for the physical and mental health of the future generation, rings true to their customers and the market. With their durable and environmentally friendly products, consumers have started to identify why reusable household items are a big hit. Even with Lexngo’s mass production to meet consumer demands, just like IKEA, their business practice is just as environmentally friendly. Hence, catering to consumer demands.
Lexngo with its unmistakable success within the Hong Kong market, winning the title of Hong Kong’s Emerging Market. Furthermore, to name a few of their many successes, Lexngo were widely recognized as a “Sustainable Product Supplier” by the Business Environment Council, and “Hong Kong Awards for Industries Consumer Product Design” by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries in 2019. This has boosted their confidence in their capabilities but the market potential and the demand of the market in sustainable products. Hence, they decided to share their eco-friendly products into Singapore from 2019 to 2022. With Singapore gradually transitioning into a plastic-friendly country, Lexngo has started to conquer the Singapore market by contributing to their sustainability approach. Lexngo was awarded the Excellence in Best Sustainability Award by HKDA Brand Design Awards 2023.
Overall, it has been very well proven that companies who participate in environmental sustainability movements are soaring alongside the market’s approval. However, companies who further endangers the environment, despite its low prices, will soon cease in this world. It is time for businesses who have yet to embark on this journey to invest in this long-term practice of healthy practice, not just for the future generation, but for the sustainability of the company, earning higher profits and reaching an even larger market yet to be tapped into. It might seem unnecessary, but why start only when your company realizes the complete shift in the market, when you could start now.
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