Unwrapping packaging-free stores

Given all the hype… no hype is not strong enough… the movement (this word was used by one of our thinkers) around reducing the use of plastic, we decided to explore the small but evolving world of packaging-free stores.

We had a bunch of shoppers (those who frequent packaging-free stores and those who don’t but are up for it) step through the doors of their local packaging-free store, give it a whirl and take us along for the ride via the magic of their smartphone-captured video.

What did we find out?

• People don’t trust their household recycling schemes and feel guilty when their recycling bins are full
• The staff in these stores are lovely… very lovely
• Spillages do happen, but that’s ok
• Shopping in this way is cool and it makes people feel good (we rarely hear this about shopping in mainstream stores)
• Freedom to buy exactly the amount you need brings new benefits – it’s good for singles/older people, it wastes less product, is good for portion control, and people are likely to trial a small amount

Overall, people enjoy shopping in this way and they want to do more of it but it is a hassle – they need to prep for their trip and go outside of their usual shopping routine to visit these stores. People need time and motivation to shop in this way – two things that are not in abundance.

One thing that struck us during the project was that people who visit these stores are not die-hard packaging-free or nothing kind of people. They just want to make small steps towards shopping more mindfully

They get that the whole world can not go plastic-free overnight, but would like the opportunity to shop in this way during their usual mainstream shopping trip and with the slickness of a mainstream store. They are waiting for the concept to be introduced by more of the big retailers.

To unwrap this area a little more and explore how you could get a slice of this unpackaged pie get in touch. We’d love to share the project with you.