Can sustainability sell more? Stephen Spencer + Associates and Distinkt launch sector-first retail experiment
Stephen Spencer + Associates (SS+A) has partnered with sustainability platform Distinkt to launch a new, sector-first retail experiment designed to answer a pressing question for cultural and heritage organisations:
Does clear, confident sustainability communication increase retail sales, and by how much?
The three-month trial will run across a small group of participating cultural venues and attractions, measuring the sales performance of selected sustainable products before and after the introduction of clear, well-designed sustainability messaging at the point of sale.
The initiative builds on successful trials previously run by Distinkt in hospitality settings, where sustainability labelling delivered significant uplifts in sales, including:
- 24% increase for carbon-labelled beers at BrewDog
- 18% uplift using carbon menus at Greene King
- 21% increase in sales of sustainable items at Honest Burgers
SS+A and Distinkt believe the cultural sector is ideally placed to test this approach, combining strong visitor trust with values-led storytelling and growing expectations around sustainability.
Stephen Spencer, Ambience Director at SS+A, explains: “We’ve long believed that sustainability isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s good business. But belief isn’t enough. What our sector needs is credible, practical evidence that shows what works, what doesn’t, and by how much.
This experiment is about making sustainability visible, meaningful and commercially effective at the point of sale, without greenwashing or complexity. If we can help organisations sell more of the right products while strengthening trust with visitors, that’s a win for values, viability and the visitor experience.”
The experiment will involve a minimum of five participating retail operations within cultural or heritage venues. Each will select a group of sustainable products already stocked, introduce clear sustainability communication designed by Distinkt and SS+A, brief frontline teams, and share historic and live sales data for analysis.
Distinkt’s platform will support the trial with structured sustainability insights and reporting aligned to recognised standards, ensuring results are robust, comparable and useful for future decision-making.
Rob Bowey, Co-Founder of Distinkt, commented: “We’ve seen first-hand that when sustainability is communicated clearly and confidently, customers respond positively, not just emotionally, but commercially. This partnership with SS+A gives us the opportunity to test that impact in a cultural retail context, where storytelling, trust and values already play such an important role. Our aim is to move sustainability out of the abstract and into practical action that benefits organisations, teams and communities.”
SS+A will also support participating venues in identifying what sustainability means in their specific context, ensuring organisations at different stages of their journey can take part meaningfully.
The trial is expected to deliver sales uplifts of between 15% and 30%, alongside valuable insight for reporting, funding applications and long-term retail strategy.
A limited number of places are available. Cultural venues, heritage attractions and organisations interested in taking part are invited to register their interest at www.distinkt.co.uk/trial
ENDS
For further information and images please contact:
Drea Lee
07879476745
Notes to Editors
About Stephen Spencer + Associates
Now in their 11th year, Stephen Spencer + Associates is a customer experience consultancy dedicated to driving business growth in the cultural and retail sectors. They specialise in creating impactful customer experiences that enhance sustainability and profitability.
They help organisations adapt and flourish in changing markets by innovating products, services, and experiences for evolving customer demands. By putting humans at the heart of customer experience design, SS+A enable commercial success and futureproof cultural and retail landscapes by carefully designing the structure of the customer experience.
SS+A, The Ambience Architects, enhance sustainability by helping organisations to be more purposeful, people-centric, and profitable.
https://www.stephenspencerassociates.com/
About Distinkt
Distinkt is a pioneering sustainability platform designed to help businesses take meaningful environmental, cultural and social action. Through gamified progress, real-time reporting and marketing-ready assets, Distinkt makes sustainability accessible, engaging and effective.
