'Plan A': analysing business model innovation for sustainable consumption in mass-market clothes retailing.

Abstract

Mass-market retailers account for the majority of sales to consumers in developed markets and therefore have considerable influence on sustainable consumption. However, retailers’ approaches and business model innovation for sustainable con- sumption, as described in their own reports, have rarely been investigated. The clothing sector has been identified as having huge environmental impacts, but is under-explored in terms of innovation for sustainability. This study develops a clothing ‘Use Chain’ and analyses the clothing initiatives within a well-known corporate responsibility programme from the UK’s leading clothing retailer, Marks & Spencer’s ‘Plan A’, in order to assess evidence for business model innovation. CSR reports were analysed across seven years, using a framework that integrates elements of the busi- ness case rationale with the identification of business model innovation. It finds evidence that Marks & Spencer had no initial plan for business model innovation, but over the period, it emerged from two of the initiatives, although not at systemic scale. It finds also that several of the initiatives were built on the business’s sources of competitive advantage and therefore these would not necessarily be replicable by other firms. These findings suggest that, while leading firms may be capable of creating new sustainable business models, sector-level sustainable consumption may not necessarily follow. Nonetheless, the Use Chain has highlighted new opportunities for clothing businesses to innovate for sustainable consumption.