The end of shop till you drop

Ione Anderson, Board Of Directors at GRAPE ESG

Remember those days? Cut to scenes of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, leaving a Rodeo Drive store with lots of shopping bags. Emily in Paris, Carrie in Sex and the City and so many other movies and commercials.

I confess: in my teens, I romanticized those images, walking down the street carrying lots of shopping bags with my most coveted brand items (including shoes, yes). Cut to 2020, when online shopping changed habits around the world and a pandemic resulted in high levels of uncertainty, unemployment and inequality.

Are people still motivated to consume as they did before? Over the years, those film images were replaced by serious concern as I walked past mountains of empty cardboard boxes lined up along the streets in Manhattan.

The good news: we’re transitioning to a more responsible era where we have the opportunity to consume with a conscience by encouraging brands to be good, so that we can continue to buy (or dream to buy) the things that we need or want.

Just as the Marlboro man had to quit his cigarette, we can quit old habits and encourage more responsible consumption patterns that will have less impact on the environment, support inclusive attitude by brands, encourage ethical standards and transparency from companies.

Environment, Social, Governance or ESG is financially material and here to stay. A science-based approach will guide investors and companies to implement the right sustainability strategies and solutions, keep the economy moving, innovating how we all look at products, employees and consumers to help make shopping sustainable.