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As paradoxical as it may sound: you don’t need a full-fledged CSR strategy to reap the benefits of it. So many companies wait until they’ve got it all figured out. They wait for the perfect approach. And they wait… and wait...

That’s such a shame! After all, the results of your first (perhaps less streamlined) initiatives often act as a catalyzer for the strategic integration of sustainability.

WHERE TO START?

• here are plenty of opportunities at the office. Think of sorting waste, printing on recycled paper and collecting empty cartridges.
• You could switch to renewable energy.
• Plastic is an absolute no-go. Do more than banning plastic cups and disposable cutlery, and go completely plastic-free.

Make a habit of distinguishing between long-term and short-term goals. Transportation is a case in point:

• Consider these quick and easy ways to improve your transportation operations:
  • teaming up with Lean and Green shipping companies (like these frontrunners and ‘stars’), who make a conscious effort to cut back on CO₂ emissions.
  • compensating for your CO₂ emissions by investing in climate projects. Read more about it on this website.
• Installing ‘short chains’, combining deliveries and rethinking your overall logistical flow are important long-term strategies.
  • Reflect on the amount of transport involved in your chain. How do your fabrics and accessories get to the manufacturer? Does your prototyping phase involve any transportation operations? How do your items get from the factory to your head office? Do they go to retailers from there? Can you optimize your planning process and use more eco-friendly transportation methods? And how about your online sales? 

NEED MORE INSPIRATION?

• Use these checklists (in Dutch) to make sure you don’t overlook any sustainability actions at the office and in your stores (in Dutch).
• Maybe the cases featured on the website of CSR Flanders (in Dutch) or the ‘Sustainability in the cultural sector’ report by MVO Vlaanderen (also in Dutch) will get your sustainability juices flowing.
• Reusing materials, reducing waste, communicating transparently … There are many paths you can take. Want to know which benefits are associated with which strategy? Where you can cut costs and/or make a profit? Check out the overview in “Benefits of adopting a circular business model in the textile and footwear industry” (“Voordelen van de adoptie van een circulair business model in de textiel- en schoenensector” (in Dutch), starting from p. 28).

1.3 Conduct the right analyses
In the past few years, the INFINITEX Living Lab has focused on the business side of circular fashion. The project was an initiative of Thomas More, in collaboration with partners such as HERW!N and Quifactum, and supported by VLAIO. The researchers defined three checks for those who want to work more sustainably by introducing resale, rental or repair services.

1.3.1 TARGET AUDIENCE RESEARCH
Knowing your target audience is the first step. Do you want to attract new customers or expand your offer for current customers? How old is your ideal customer? The Sustainable Fashion Monitor 2023 (Duurzame Modemonitor 2023) highlighted some key generational differences. Secondhand clothing is particularly popular among Gen Z and millennials, with the latter preferring digital platforms. Millennials are also more interested in clothing rental. They have a slightly bigger budget than Gen Z, but less time. Repair services appeal to slightly older shoppers, who use them to make their more expensive, high-quality items last longer.

The INFINITEX team recommends mapping your target audience’s behavior and communication preferences through broad surveys and/or in-depth interviews. Data from loyalty cards and website visits are also valuable. If you have multiple stores, it’s best to take regional differences into account. Some branches may have higher sales; others may collect more clothing, and so on.

1.3.2 BUSINESS CASE ANALYSIS
Finding a solid revenue model is crucial. You want to reach at least break-even with your sustainability initiatives, and ensure that extending product lifespan contributes positively to your results in the long term. The INFINITEX researchers discovered that companies that already have strong in-house logistics processes are more inclined to introduce a circular business model. They can save costs by relying on existing (transport) systems. Other companies choose to build their activities from the ground up, for example to stay close to their customers. The INFINITEX team gathered the following tips.

1.3.2.1 Optimize your process
You can reduce the startup costs of a circular model by leveraging existing processes (e.g. having shop assistants sort through collected clothing when the store is less busy) and by automating or digitizing operations. For example, a digital product database makes take-back significantly easier and more cost-effective, as it eliminates a very labor-intensive process.

1.3.2.3 Base your pricing on data
To determine the right price for your circular service or product, you can start by comparing prices. For secondhand items, for instance, the original price, prices for new collections and prices on platforms like Vinted all play a role. And market research is not the end point. Adjust your price to keep supply and demand in balance. Ideally, the number of items collected and the number of items sold should remain more or less the same.
We probably don’t need to tell you this, but pricing is really crucial. The Recare About Shoes researchers consider price, along with trust, to be the two main factors that convince customers to choose a sustainable product or service. Take secondhand, for instance. This gives younger consumers access to brands they otherwise couldn’t afford. And it offers older consumers a practical solution for their children’s clothes, which often have a relatively short use phase.
Unfortunately, but maybe unsurprisingly, the Recare About Shoes team noticed a low willingness to pay among most consumers. However, it does see opportunities in in-house or brand-specific services, such as repairs or resale through brand platforms. They allow you to stand out and create a unique value proposition. That’s how you increase convenience and build customer trust, which in turn boosts willingness to pay. And last but not least? You stay in control of quality and service, while also generating additional revenue.

1.3.2.4 Talk to your manufacturers
It’s important to collaborate closely with manufacturers and suppliers. For example, can they adapt to your business model (whether it involves repairs or rentals) by providing spare parts?

1.3.3 CUSTOMER JOURNEY
“It’s sustainable” isn’t a strong enough argument for every customer. So, identify the problem you’re solving, match your value proposition to it, and clearly communicate about it.

A take-back service caters to customers who don’t want to spend time or energy selling items on online platforms. With secondhand sales, you’re pleasing consumers who are looking for quality clothing but don’t want to pay too much for it. Thanks to rental services, customers don’t have to invest in a one-time special outfit, while a subscription allows them to switch things up all the time.

No matter which system you choose, don’t just highlight its benefits, but also explain the process. How are you cleaning and inspecting the items, for example? Explain on your website and in your store(s) what customers can expect in terms of product quality.

And finally: where will you offer your circular service? In physical store(s), you can get up and running quickly, but scaling up is more difficult and costs are higher because retail space is so expensive. With an online offering, you can reach a broader and younger audience and expand more quickly, but you’ll face higher variable logistics costs, and – in the case of secondhand clothing – you’ll need to convince customers to buy something that they can’t try on first.

1.5 Focus on transparency and communication

As we’ve already emphasized, the price of your products or services has a major impact on the success of your sustainable business model, and hence on the behavior of your customers. But the Recare About Shoes researchers discovered another key factor: trust. According to them, a sense of trust is primarily based on transparent communication, sufficient information and a strong brand identity. The latter matters because most consumers don’t (like to) actively look for sustainability information and quickly fall back on brands they already know and consider reliable.

That realization immediately leads to an overarching recommendation: your communication has to be clear and recognizable. After all, as the researchers discovered, consumers value transparency, but in reality they’re primarily after convenience and familiarity. Answers to questions like “What exactly do you offer?”, “How does it work?”, “Where can I find it?” and “How can I be sure of the quality of this product/service?” have to be easy to find.

The Recare About Shoes team also formulated some very specific recommendations:

• Communicate clearly about the environmental and economic benefits of services such as reuse and repair, both online and offline.
• Make sustainability tangible with specific examples of its impact, limitations and benefits (e.g., estimated CO2 emissions per item).
• Use visual storytelling on your social media and packaging, as well as in your store(s), to bring the story behind your product to life.
• Emphasize quality as a measure of sustainability through clear labeling on your products, such as certification information.
• Distinguish yourself from fast fashion and highlight features like craftsmanship or local production to reinforce your unique value proposition.

The yearly Green Week, the occasional Fair Trade breakfast, a day of volunteering at local nursing homes, … Though these initiatives deserve praise, you have to do more to really make CSR a part of the DNA of your organization.

It takes only five steps to evolve from individual, ad hoc initiatives to a fully developed sustainability policy.

1. Rally support for your sustainability plans by getting the most important stakeholders involved. That’s your employees, at the very least. Have them take part in a work group, for instance.
2. Include sustainability in the mission and vision of your company.
3. Draw up an action plan.
4. Execute that plan.
5. Use the results you achieve to improve and/or further develop your plan.

Steps 1, 2, 4 and 5 are probably easy to grasp. Is step 3 less self-evident? Let us help you draw up an action plan in five steps.

1. Map the themes that matter most to your organization. To make sure that nothing gets overlooked, we developed a ‘Close The Loop Planner’. The Planner walks you through every step of the chain, feeding you questions to make you reflect on the most important topics for your organization. Would you like to do a final check? The ISO 26000 standard lends a helping hand.
2. Break the goals that emerge from the Planner down into specific actions and make them SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.
3. To determine your starting point, a baseline measurement comes in handy for some aspects of your business. There are several scans and tools available to help you with that. Cultuurzaam, an organization that wants to put sustainability center stage in the youth and cultural sectors, as well as in the media industry, has composed a practical list (in Dutch).
4. Establish your priorities. A few tips:
   • You have identified your quick wins. Put that information to use! It takes little time to write these actions down in a sustainability report, and the latter is the perfect starting point for your communication. Make sure to back up your accomplishments with measurable data.
   • Move actions that require little effort yet have a big impact to the top of your to-do list. 
5. Increase the likelihood that your action plan will come to fruition by providing answers to the following questions:
   • What’s the timeframe for achieving your targets?
   • Who is responsible?
   • Do you need a budget and, if so, do you have one?
   • Who will you review the progress of the action plan and when?

The Planner results in an action plan that helps you answer these questions!

You have no doubt thought long and hard about the sustainability issues that are crucial to your organization. Yet sustainability is not a one-man or one-woman show. The success of your project will depend on the support of your colleagues and the level of engagement of all the members of the organization. So don’t forget to ...

INVEST IN INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

Get your employees and/or colleagues involved in your sustainability story. The sooner they are on board, the more ideas and actions they will support and come up with. Don’t neglect the management either, because the first steps towards a more sustainable organization often require some change management skills.

ENGAGE YOUR STORE STAFF AND CUSTOMER SERVICE

Both these teams are crucial to get your message across. Imagine a well thought-out CSR strategy that goes completely unnoticed because your employees fail to adequately answer your customers’ questions… Heartbreaking, right? Make sure your store staff and customer service team are able to provide customers with the right information or refer them to the right person.

IMPROVE YOUR AFTER-SALES SUPPORT

Your store staff can also play a part at the end of the chain, when your item is already hanging in your customer’s closet. Giving advice on how to mend and maintain the clothes you sell, as well as on what to do with clothes that are no longer wanted, are part and parcel of a circular approach.

CSR is all about transparency. The importance of keeping your employees informed should be clear by now, but your stakeholders and customers should be kept up to speed on your approach, your plans and your results as well.

It goes without saying that your information should be 100% correct at all times. Greenwashing, or misleading customers about your sustainability efforts or the environmental benefits of your product, is deadly for your business in these times of quick tweets and snappy posts.

Don’t wait for perfection, but communicate about the bumps in the road as well. Sustainability is never ‘done’: there are always things you can improve on.

How you communicate your sustainability efforts is completely up to you. Here are a few beautiful stories to inspire you:

• Reformation  
• Stella McCartney  
• O My Bag  
• Studio JUX
• Filippa K

Want to do everything by the CSR book? Then a sustainability report is a good idea. You can create one using the Global Reporting Initiative standard (and a little outside assistance if it’s your first time). This allows you to turn your communication strategy into a measurement and management tool. A few examples to get you going:

• C&A  
• Marylise & Rembo styling fashion group
• JBC
• Van de Velde

Thinking of working with sustainability labels, but no idea where to start? Have a look at the Labelinfo website (in Dutch) or use the Clean Clothes Campaign to learn the ins and outs of labels, trademarks and management systems. Which certification system you ultimately use depends on what exactly you want prove. This guide on apparel and textile verification systems give you an overview and can help you decide (in Dutch).