April 27, 2012
A Great Time to Go Shwopping
What’s better than shopping? Why shwopping, of course.
The U.K. retail chain Marks & Spencer has announced a sustainable fashion initiative through which it is asking consumers to trade-in an unwanted piece of clothing every time they purchase a new item — shwopping. All clothing collected will be reused, resold or recycled through Oxfam, the international human rights and anti-poverty organization.
"We’re leading a change in the way we all shop for clothing, forever," said Marc Bolland, CEO of Marks & Spencer in a press release. "This is the right, responsible move for the U.K.’s biggest clothing retailer and the ultimate goal is simple — to put a complete stop to clothes ending up in landfill."
Marks & Spencer estimates that it sells 350 million clothing items a year. Getting consumers to buy-in to the shwopping initiative could substantially reduce clothing that makes its way into landfills.
![[Image: M&S Shwopping]](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCAxIDEiIHdpZHRoPSIxIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEiIGRhdGEtdT0iJTJGcHVibGljJTJGaW1hZ2VzJTJGZGlzY3Vzc2lvbnMlMkYxNTk4MiUyRnNod29wcGluZy1zdGlsbC5qcGciIGRhdGEtdz0iMSIgZGF0YS1oPSIxIiBkYXRhLWJpcD0iIj48L3N2Zz4=)
An unidentified spokesperson for the Charity Retail Association told The Guardian, "We are encouraged to see a large commercial retailer making a concerted effort to reuse clothing through charity shops, and would like to see more of these partnerships taking place, with both small and large charity shop chains."
Marks & Spencer is launching an integrated campaign around the shwopping initiative, including TV, print, online, social and in-store merchandising, with actress Joanna Lumley, known to U.S. audiences for her work in various film roles in the Pink Panther series, Shirley Valentine and the British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, as the campaign’s spokespeople.
"We’re asking people to open their hearts, their minds and their wardrobes. Remember, we used to just throw away plastic bottles. Now, we recycle them without even thinking about it. We need to do the same with clothing," said Ms. Lumley.
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Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions: Would Marks & Spencer’s “shwopping” campaign work in the U.S.? Are there U.S. clothing retailers that you think are ideally positioned to pull off a similar type of program?
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This could easily work in the US. Maybe not everywhere; it could turn out to be a “blue state” (coastal) phenomenon. It would be on-brand for several retailers including American Apparel and Patagonia. A larger department store chain could experiment with a pilot at selected stores before rolling out chain-wide.
This is already (apparently) working in the US – though possibly more localized/smaller scale, with retailers like Herbergers’ and their Goodwill Sale. I think as economic recovery continues, this concept capitalizes on consumers’ desire to reward themselves a bit (let go of a bit of the austerity of the past few years) while still feeling “good” about doing something for others who may still be struggling.
A bit of caution, as the “Road to Perdition is paved with good intentions.” For all of us who have generously taken items to charitable shops for donations, we can relate to the mounds of clothing that can accumulate, or be dumped, at the back door. Most retailers are adept at unpacking big boxes in the back room and getting the goods placed effectively on the rack.
If a retailer chooses to step into this arena, it’s probably best that they partner with a local charitable house, and let them handle the goods.
PR…PR…PR…PR…PR…PR — cynic alert — I am a loyal supporter of Oxfam and an occasional shopper at M&S BUT for those of you who do not live here, let me point out that most of us are frequently offered doorstep collections of old clothes for charity and/or have a large repository nearby and/or have a range of charity shops nearby. Why would we take old clothes to M&S? They tried this once before and gave customers a voucher or discount or some sort of incentive which does not appear to be part of the new promotion. As for Joanna Lumley, she is the sort of celebrity who manages to stay in the limelight by finding campaigns to front. Very worthy of her, of course.
Because the program is innovative and has a green/feel-good component it’s likely to garner positive press. As such I expect that something like this will be a good PR play for an early adopter or two in the US.
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This could easily work in the US. Maybe not everywhere; it could turn out to be a “blue state” (coastal) phenomenon. It would be on-brand for several retailers including American Apparel and Patagonia. A larger department store chain could experiment with a pilot at selected stores before rolling out chain-wide.
This is already (apparently) working in the US – though possibly more localized/smaller scale, with retailers like Herbergers’ and their Goodwill Sale. I think as economic recovery continues, this concept capitalizes on consumers’ desire to reward themselves a bit (let go of a bit of the austerity of the past few years) while still feeling “good” about doing something for others who may still be struggling.
A bit of caution, as the “Road to Perdition is paved with good intentions.” For all of us who have generously taken items to charitable shops for donations, we can relate to the mounds of clothing that can accumulate, or be dumped, at the back door. Most retailers are adept at unpacking big boxes in the back room and getting the goods placed effectively on the rack.
If a retailer chooses to step into this arena, it’s probably best that they partner with a local charitable house, and let them handle the goods.
PR…PR…PR…PR…PR…PR — cynic alert — I am a loyal supporter of Oxfam and an occasional shopper at M&S BUT for those of you who do not live here, let me point out that most of us are frequently offered doorstep collections of old clothes for charity and/or have a large repository nearby and/or have a range of charity shops nearby. Why would we take old clothes to M&S? They tried this once before and gave customers a voucher or discount or some sort of incentive which does not appear to be part of the new promotion. As for Joanna Lumley, she is the sort of celebrity who manages to stay in the limelight by finding campaigns to front. Very worthy of her, of course.
Because the program is innovative and has a green/feel-good component it’s likely to garner positive press. As such I expect that something like this will be a good PR play for an early adopter or two in the US.