Following on from the recent launch of ShopViva, NZME is continuing down the online retail path by announcing the 2015 launch of ShopGreen, an online shopping hub for ethical products.
NZME’s director of e-commerce and new ventures, Richard Harrison, says ShopGreen has been developed to provide eco-businesses overcome the limitations set by “limited marketing resources and narrow advertising opportunities”.
“Consumers have been calling out for this for a very long time,” says Harrison. “It will make it really easy for them to discover a world of sustainable products and services that satisfy their ethical standards and then at the click of a finger they can access them.”
Kiwi concern over the provenance of food and products is driving the demand for ethical products, and Harrison believes that this trend will continue in the coming years.
“Ethical consumerism is seeing massive growth per annum. According to Colmar Brunton, the main growth has come from Gen X who have seen a 34 percent increase in sustainable consumption in the last 12 months. According to Organics Aotearoa New Zealand, the organic market is increasing approximately 8 percent globally per annum, making it the fastest growing food sector in the world. [And] the solar industry has experienced 330 percent growth in the last 24 months. The only way is up for ethical products.”
While this market is already quite well serviced by specialty stores and ethical sections in mainstream grocery stores, Harrison believes that the scale offered by NZME will encourage eco companies to use the service.
“With its enormous reach NZME will make ethical consumerism mainstream and create an immediate ROI for clients,” he says. “The combined power of The Radio Network, NZ Herald and GrabOne will change the consumer landscape in New Zealand.”
As was is the case with ShopViva, ShopGreen will be powered by the well-established GrabOne e-commerce platform, which currently has 1.4 million users in its database.
As part of its efforts to drive sales, NZME will give advertisers additional exposure through the New Zealand Herald and Element magazine.
The ShopGreen concept was developed by the editorial team working on Element, and editor James Russell described the latest addition to the NZME portfolio as “game-changing”.
“ShopGreen will bring these amazing businesses to a much wider market. New Zealand and the world needs these companies to go big, to be hugely successful so they can replace the alternatives which are damaging to the environment,” he says. “This demonstrates the way business can and must be done in future.”
To pull in early clients, ShopGreen is currently offering advertisers an introductory package, which includes 12 months’ commission free e-commerce promotion, a full page in Element, and inclusion in GrabOne eDMs, for $3900.
Harrision says that after this initial deal, the commission will be determined on a case-by-case basis—meaning that it is likely to follow a similar structure as that used on GrabOne.
