Familiar retail concepts...
Buying BULK - purchase of much larger quantities than the usual, for a unit price that is lower than the usual
Buying REFILL - purchasing loose foods and liquid without packaging using pre-used containers
Buying PRE-USED - purchasing something that has been possessed and used by someone already
No - nothing new, but in a time of growing awareness of sustainability, these retail concepts offer opportunities to retail more responsibly (tackling the the impact of our consumption and moving our linear economy towards a more circular one)
The ‘new’ old ideas...
BULK retail: unpackaged bulk food not so accessible for individuals due to high minimum order £ and practicalities of storage - however, buying clubs are one way to make this feasible. Whilst not package-free, Food Clubs allows you to shop with local friends and neighbours to buy organic and ethical products direct from wholesalers at 30% to 50% less (foodclubs.co)
REFILL retail: 2018 was the year of the zero-waste shop boom - last count 134+ zero waste shops in UK (that’s 2+ opening / week!)(ref:@zerowastenearme)
Will 2019 see a boom in branded good refill? Loop, a zero-waste platform from a coalition of major consumer product companies is being set up to send you name-brand products & when you’re done, you ship the empty container back, where it gets cleaned and reused for the next customer (@loopstore_us)
PRE-USED retail: there are 7 second-hand supermarkets (reuse centres) in Helsinki, Finland - surely this is more the ‘store of the future’ than any experiential tech-led format the big brands are pouring money into?! (@kierratyskeskus)
