Sustainable Marketing

This research report focuses on sustainable marketing and its importance. It discusses key sustainability issues faced by the Singapore supermarket industry and provides recommendations for Sheng Siong Group based on the marketing mix. The report aims to enhance knowledge on sustainable practices in marketing.

RUNNING HEAD: SUSTAIANBLE MARKETING
Sustainable Marketing

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Key sustainability issues..................................................................................................................3
Triple bottom-line........................................................................................................................3
Summary......................................................................................................................................5
Recommendations for Sheng Siong Group.....................................................................................6
Marketing Mix.............................................................................................................................6
Summary......................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The research report is prepared on the ‘Sustainable marketing’. The first section emphasizes the
crucial sustainability issues faced by the Singapore supermarket industry. It also focuses on the
importance of sustainability. Moreover, it provides practical recommendations for the
supermarket company (Sheng Siong Group) based on the marketing mix. In order to develop an
effective report, it also includes summary of central sections. The key purpose of the report is to
pour light on the major aspect of given title with respect to ‘Sheng Siong Group’. Additionally, it
provides an opportunity to upgrade the knowledge based on the given title.
Meaning
‘Sustainable marketing’ is socially and environmentally responsible marketing. It aims to meet
the present need of the consumers without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own. It attains key importance for business as it assists in attracting the customers.
Adopting sustainable practices in marketing will provide multiple benefits to the brand. It will
help in gathering the attention of large customer base (Martin & Schouten , 2013). It will benefit
from gaining support from the government and the customers. It also helps in contributing to the
environmental health and thus reducing ecological issues. Additionally, it will help the brand in
building a positive image in the market. It will aid the respective brand in undercutting
competition in the industry. It will help the brand in gaining competitive advantage and
achieving a distinct position in the market. Thus, sustainable marketing is an economical practice
should be adopted by the brands in its work process (Emery , 2011).
Company overview
The report focuses on the adoption of sustainable marketing by ‘Sheng Siong Group’. It is a
Singapore based supermarket chain that offers a wide variety of grocery and fresh food items. It
has 54 stores in Singapore (Sheng Siong , 2019). Its main competitors are Dairy Farm, Fair Price
and Prime Supermarket. (Tai, 2018). In the year 2012, it was awarded the title of ‘Most
Transparent Company’ (Sheng Siong, 2012).

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Figure 1: Sheng Siong group yearly revenue
Source: (Tai, 2018)
Key sustainability issues
As per the research, Global warming, Industrial pollution, Plastic pollution and Water pollution
are significant issues rising in Singapore (Clark , 2019). These serious issues are gathering the
attention of large mass in Singapore. Individuals, as well as various industries and supermarket
stores that are operating within Singapore, are facing its negative effect. In order to minimize its
effect, should step ahead by developing essential sustainable practices in Singapore (Clark ,
2019). Thus, to minimize the harmful effect of these issues, supermarket industry should
implement the Triple Bottom Line concept.
Triple bottom-line
It is a theory that suggests that business organizations should lay attention to social and
environmental concerns. They should equally prioritize the adoption of practices for
environmental benefits. It is unpretentious that business organizations only focus on achieving
higher gains and profits. However, this framework suggests that there should be three bottom
lines for the business organization. Hence, it focuses on three factors named people, planet and

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profit. These factors are interlinked and their proper implementation will help the organization in
achieving and fulfilling its sustainability goals (Slaper, 2011).
This key goal of this framework is to emphasis business organizations to adopt sustainable
practices in business process. It aims that business organizations should develop goals besides
aiming for higher profit. It suggests that businesses should connect socially as well. As per the
theory, business organizations should simultaneously work on these bottom lines. It is suggested
that Sheng Siong Group should adopt the triple bottom line concept. This is because it will
benefit the business organization in developing sustainable practices (Fauzi, 2010).
People: This factor is responsible for measuring the degree to which an organization is socially
responsible in its work process and operations. These individuals are considered as the human
resource of an organization. Sheng Siong Group should subscribe to the Triple Bottom Line
concept, as it will help its human resources to earn better wages. It will also benefit the
associated employees to attain better working conditions. It allows the organizations to look
beyond self-interest and develop practices that favor benefits of the community and society
(Majid, 2012).
The Sheng Siong Group can fulfill the requirement of the ‘People’ element by developing
educational programs relating to the importance of Sustainability. This step will aid in generating
higher demand for sustainable products and will also contribute to enhancing the knowledge of
the Singaporeans. It will help the organization in awaking the Singaporeans to the significance of
sustainability. This, in turn, will lead to the gradual enhancement of sustainable products. Thus,
through this approach Sheng Siong Group will successfully contribute to social welfare.
Planet: It determines the degree to which an organization is environmentally responsible. It
emphasizes that business organizations should take steps in decreasing waste, spend on
renewable energy and should develop the full usage of natural resources. This is because these
practices will ultimately lead to the development of healthy eco-environment (Gimenez, 2012).
To fulfill the requirement of the second element of Triple Bottom Line, Sheng Siong Group
should enhance the usage of natural resources in the production process. This step will provide
multiple benefits to the supermarket brand. Adopting sustainable practices will help the
organization in gaining the trust of Singaporean customers with respect to quality. It enhances

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the chances of attaining financial and non-monetary grants from the government. Thus, through
this activity Sheng Siong Group will contribute to the environment benefits as well as enhances
the possibility of gaining financial aid from the government.
Profit: This element measures the amount of profit and loss incurred in a year. An organization
that subscribes to the Triple Bottom Line concept perceives profit as a single aim but the only
aim (Henriques, 2013).
In order to enhance its profitability, Sheng Siong Group should recycle its waste material and
develop additional products from them. It should lay prior attention in recycling the plastic
boxes, bags, containers and other related leftover material. This will provide dual benefits to the
supermarket brand. Firstly, it will assist the Sheng Siong Group is emerging as a ‘Tree hugger’
organization in Singapore. Secondly, it will aid in achieving higher profits and cost-
effectiveness.
It is assessed that the Triple Bottom Line framework has its own benefits. However, it also
suffers from certain limitations. As mentioned above, Triple Bottom Line framework focuses on
three elements (Gray, 2013). However, only one of its elements named as ‘profit’ can be
measured properly. Thus, business organizations might face challenge in measuring the people
(social) and planet (environment) bottom lines (Willard, 2012).
Summary
The above discussion focuses on the concept of the Triple Bottom Line. It mainly relies on three
elements. It attains a significant value as it aims for the adoption of sustainable practices. Thus,
companies should adopt Triple Bottom Line concept as it helps the company in fulfilling its
corporate social responsibility. From the above discussion relating to Triple Bottom Line
concept, it is assessed that Sheng Siong Group can successfully fulfill its essentials without
laying much effort. Fulfilling the elements of Triple Bottom Line will enable the organization to
contribute effectively towards the society, nature and Singaporeans. Further, it will help in
minimizing the major issues that Singapore is facing with respect to environment.

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Recommendations for Sheng Siong Group
Marketing Mix
It is a marketing tool used by business organizations for enhancing their overall sales. It is a
marketing concept that focuses on influencing the customers for the purchase of a product. Its
main components are Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Thus, the key goal of the marketing
mix is to offer the right product, at the right place, at the right price and at the right time
(Sinapuelas, 2015).
Product: The product is a commodity offered to the customers with respect to price (Huang,
2014). As mentioned above, Sheng Siong Group offers multiple products to Singaporeans. It
provides products like vegetables, meat, household products and other merchandise. In order to
achieve sustainable practices in its product mix, a list of possible recommendations.
Suggestions
 In order to adopt sustainable practices, Sheng Siong Group should develop products
obtained from ‘sustainable agriculture’. This farming that relies on using natural
resources. It aims at improving the environmental health by improving soil fertility and
minimizing the use of chemical pesticides. To enhance sustainability in work practices,
the supermarket brand should focus on using products that are more natural in the
production process (Thurston, 2019).
 It will help the Sheng Siong Group in achieving certification in the field of ‘Eco-labels’.
This step will favor the supermarket brand in making a strong position in the supermarket
industry. Further, it will aid the Sheng Siong Group in becoming a global player as a
‘green leader’. Despite the product, its packaging should also be green. This is because
packing is the first thing that is noticed by the customers (Wezel, 2014).
 It should also lay consideration for product disposal. This is because unsustainable
disposal practices are risky for both the natural environment and individual’s health
(Townsend, 2015).
Place: It includes the various channels through which the commodity is offered to the customer.
The use of right distribution channels is essential to provide easy access to the customer (Riaz,
2012). Sheng Siong Supermarket offers its product via online as well as through physical stores

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(Goodyfeed , 2019). In order to adopt the sustainable practices in its place mix, possible
recommendations are given below.
Suggestions
 Sheng Siong Group can adopt sustainability in its place mix by reducing the carbon
emission during the transportation and distribution process. In order to minimize the
emission of carbon and other harmful gases, Sheng Siong Group can adopt the usage of
electrically run trucks, battery-operated pallet trucks or Tesla’s electric trucks. This step
will contribute to minimizing air pollution in Singapore (van Keulen, 2010).
 In orders to adopt sustainability in the distribution of its products, it should focus on
reducing transportation. Thus, it should provide the pickup service option to its
customers. This step will aid in reducing the emission of harmful gases on Sheng Siong
behalf. It will also enable cost saving by reducing the transportation cost (Davis, 2013).
Pricing: It is the amount charged from the customer in exchange for the commodity. It is the
value charged by the customers. An organization should charge its price by examining its
customer's potential to pay (Abril, 2016). As per the research, it is assessed that Sheng Siong
Group uses competitive pricing strategy to sell its products in the Singapore supermarket
industry. It also offers its products at discounted prices to suit the price-sensitive customers.
Additionally, it is analyzed that Sheng Siong is known for its low price (Charan, 2015). In order
to achieve sustainability in its price mix, practical suggestions are mentioned below.
Suggestions
 The use of sustainable practice will also benefit the Sheng Siong Group in the pricing
element. This is because adopting the recycle and renewable practices in the work
process will directly lead to reduction in overall cost. Thus, it brings an opportunity for
the supermarket brand to earn higher profit by lowering cost (Gandy, 2014).
 Sheng Siong Group should develop a rule focusing on customers for bringing the
personal bags for shopping. This practice will provide a dual benefit to the supermarket
brand. Firstly, it will assist in cutting the cost involved in production of plastic bags.
Secondly, it will result in minimizing the use of plastic bags in Singapore. Despite
discontinuing the use of plastic bags, it can initiate the production of jute bags. Altering

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the production of plastic bags with jute bags will directly help the environment in
reducing plastic wastage in Singapore. Thus, Sheng Siong Group should initiate the use
of jute bags, as it is an economical process (Rosen, 2012).
 However, it is not necessary that enhancing the use of natural products and green
practices will lower the production cost of the Sheng Siong Group. In this case, Sheng
Siong Group should not stop the sustainable practice but rather switch to ‘Premium
price’. It will be best suitable if the supermarket brand will generate affordable pricing
for its green products. Thus, it is recommended that Sheng Siong Group should not step
backward as an approach to adopt sustainability. This is because certain customers
prioritize products developed from sustainable practices (Griggs, 2013).
Promotion: It includes the various marketing and promotional activities performed by the brand
for enhancing the sale of the product. It is a significant marketing concept as it helps in gathering
the attention of the customers. It is a non-economical practice. The use of right platform and
right marketing activities is very essential for gaining the benefits of promotion (Shahhosseini,
2011). Sheng Siong promotes its products by offering various discounts, gift vouchers, promo
and coupon codes. It also provides weekly vouchers (SBR, 2019). In order to implement
sustainable practices in its promotion mix, the following suggestion is given.
Suggestions
 In order to promote its products, Sheng Siong Group should target and align with groups
like ‘environmental association’ and ‘Non-government organization’. It will help the
Sheng Siong Group is easily promoting its products to right section of customer. This is
because the followers of environmental association can act as potential customers for the
supermarket brand. It can also collaborate with groups that prioritize sustainability. These
groups will help the brand to promote its green practices and products developed from
such green practices (Hannigan, 2014).
 It should perform the same activity on digital channels as well. This is because it is easy
the gather the attention of individuals via digital channels. This is because these channels
have high customer engagement rate. Sheng Siong Group can develop posters featuring
green practices in its work process. On channels like Facebook and Instagram, it should

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post profiles relating the benefits of environmentally friendly products. This step will
assist in creating awareness on social networking sites (Ryan, 2016).
 Sheng Siong Group focuses on developing a campaign for marketing. In such campaign,
the supermarket brand should lay prior attention in advising customers towards adopting
healthy alternatives (Carless, 2011).
Despite the above suggestion based on the marketing mix, it is analyzed that adopting
sustainable practices for the production and work process automatically offers competitive
advantage to the respective brand. It will Moreover, it will help the supermarket brand to gain the
attention of large strength of customers. It will help the Sheng Siong Group in the promotion
process. Moreover, it will assist in enhancing the goodwill of the brand in the supermarket
industry in Singapore. It might develop the possibility of getting aid of tax reduction from the
government. Thus, Sheng Siong Group should lay prior attention in adopting sustainable
practices. Similar to companies Nike, Air Jordan and Ice Breaker, it should also contribute to
green marketing (Blackman, 2011).
Summary
From the analysis of ‘Sheng Siong Group’, marketing mix, it is analyzed that the supermarket
brand is adopting various practices to attract its customer base. However, to develop sustainable
practices in its marketing mix, various recommendations are given. It includes enhancing the use
of natural resources, product disposal, electrically run truck, green practices reduction of carbon
emission, recycle and renewable practices, use of jute bags, digital media, green practices and
initiating the pickup service in Singapore. The suggestions also poured light on minimizing
plastic usage, reduction of carbon emission. Thus, the above section summarizes the several
sustainable practices that Sheng Siong Group should implement in its business process.
Conclusion
The report summarizes the title ‘Sustainable marketing’. It is assessed that Sustainable marketing
is a modern practice that assists in lowering the environmental and other related issues. It is
analyzed that Sheng Siong Group is a recognized supermarket brand in Singapore. After
analyzing the concept of Triple Bottom Line, it is explored that it is of significant importance for
the business organization. It is assessed that by fulfilling the essentials of its elements, Sheng

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Siong Group can contribute effectively in lowering the various environmental issues in
Singapore. Thus, it is concluded that by relying on this concept, Sheng Siong Group can
acknowledge enormous benefits in the supermarket industry. From the given suggestions with
respect to marketing mix, it is analyzed that adopting sustainable practices is not a rigid task for
Sheng Siong Group. This is because suggestions are given with respect to practices that are
economical in nature. It is estimated that if Sheng Siong Group prioritizes sustainability, it will
be able to gain Singaporeans customers participation as well.
The above discussion concludes that developing sustainable practices is not a hard task. Hence, it
is suggested that Sheng Siong Group should adopt sustainable practices, as it will provide
multiple opportunities for the supermarket brand in Singapore.

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