Experts forecast green Christmas

Christmas shoppers are expected to demand more environmentally friendly and sustainable gifts this holiday season as the green retail revolution gathers pace.

That is the conclusion of a major new US survey into Christmas shopping habits from consultancy giant Deloitte, which found that almost one in five consumers will purchase more "eco-friendly" products this year than in the past, with a similar proportion pledging that they will be shopping with "green" retailers.

The survey of over 14,000 consumers also found that 17 per cent of respondents were willing to pay more for green gifts, with their commitment largely uniform across different age, gender and income groups.

"This issue is on shoppers' minds this year and is becoming more central to consumers’ purchasing decisions," said Stacy Janiak, Deloitte's US retail leader. "Savvy retailers are taking concrete steps to become more environmentally friendly, and are incorporating this sensibility into their operations, as well as their customer communications."

Experts said that a similar trend was evident in the UK, where green credentials have already been evident in many large retailers Christmas marketing campaigns.

"Several electronics retailers are offering green gift catalogues, M&S has launched a green online store and many of the high street stores are making their green products more visible," said George MacDonald, deputy editor at Retail Week. "I'm not sure if we'll see a specific green Christmas, but the long-running green retail trend will be evident."

As well as predictions among conventional retailers that green products will perform well this year, new product lines are expecting a seasonal spike in demand. Offsetting provider The CarbonNeutral Company, for example, is branching out from its core business model and offering a range of green gifts, such as wind-up radios and solar-powered battery chargers.

Richard Dodd of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that retailers were responding to increased demand among customers for more environmentally friendly and sustainable products, something that would be particularly apparent over Christmas.

However, Dodd noted that while customer demand for such products is growing rapidly, it remains a minority of consumers who genuinely prioritise environmental concerns in purchasing decisions.

His comments were borne out by the Deloitte survey, which found that despite increased interest in green products, the top specifically named gifts this year included Apple's iPod, Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 – none of which boast specifically impressive green credentials.