94% Indian consumers willing to pay brands more for ethical products

About 94 per cent of Indian consumers are willing to pay more to do business with brands that source products in a responsible and sustainable way, according to a new survey. Of the surveyed, almost two thirds (65 per cent) are willing to pay a premium of over 25 per cent for that product while 35 per cent are happy to pay 50 per cent more.

In a new research by OpenText, a modern cloud platform; it was revealed that close to a third of Indian consumers would never buy from a brand again if it was accused of working with unethical suppliers. Instead, they would look to find an alternative brand that engages in responsible sourcing. The survey of 6,000 Indian respondents highlights the importance for brands in proactively ensuring all suppliers in their supply chain operate ethically. It considered the extent to which environmentally sustainable and socially responsible business practices matter to the Indian public and influence their purchasing behaviour.

The survey findings also revealed that an overwhelming proportion (92 per cent) of Indian consumers are even willing to compromise convenience, such as accepting a slower delivery, if they can be sure that an item has been ethically sourced or produced. A little less than half (45 per cent) agree they would only opt for this sometimes or for certain items, but almost half (47 per cent) are always willing to make this compromise, OpenText said in a press release.

About 94 per cent of Indian consumers are willing to pay more to do business with brands that source products in a responsible and sustainable way, according to a new survey. Of the surveyed, almost two thirds (65 per cent) are willing to pay a premium of over 25 per cent for that product while 35 per cent are happy to pay 50 per cent more.

“Creating an ethical supply chain requires having visibility into every supplier,” said Lou Blatt, senior vice president and CMO at OpenText. “The ethically minded consumer is exercising more control over their buying power. Brands can no longer claim they act responsibly if they have no visibility into their operations or those of their suppliers.”

When shopping online, 76 per cent of Indian consumers now make a conscious effort to purchase locally sourced or produced items to support local businesses and reduce their carbon footprint, according to the survey. Almost four fifth (79 per cent) of Indian consumers agree businesses have a responsibility to ensure their suppliers abide by an ethical code. Nearly three quarters (74 per cent) believe that businesses that cannot monitor where their goods have come from and don’t know if suppliers are sourcing goods ethically, now need to rethink their supply chain.

“To build an ethical supply chain, an organisation must have access to information that it can trust,” said George Harb, regional vice president, business ecosystems, APAC, OpenText. “Having insight into every part of the supply chain not only helps companies live up to customer expectations on ethical business processes, but also allows them to demonstrate how they are doing so. By deploying a single, unified, cloud-based integration platform, organisations can digitise the flow of data and transactions between everyone in the supply chain for complete visibility and transparency.”

“Ultimately, organisations also need to ensure that once they have visibility into their suppliers, they only work with those which can demonstrate their ethical qualifications, performance and compliance. This is vital to meeting rising customer demand for ethical and responsible sourcing strategies,” Harb concluded.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)