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4 min read

Unlocking business value with data-driven sustainability for retail and consumer goods

Retail and consumer goods (CG) companies depend on informed agility to stay competitive amid market and supply-chain fluctuations. Increasingly, they need to extend this agility to their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data estate: in the CG sector alone, 57% of startups prioritize sustainability,1 and across retail more than 70% of consumers are open to paying a premium for demonstrably sustainable products.2  

By holistically tracking, analyzing, and sharing information for each facet of their value chain, retail and CG companies can meet this moment while also addressing regulatory requirements—by turning challenges around ESG data infrastructure and organizational culture into an opportunity to build business resilience.  

Starting by understanding your current ESG data management can be a helpful first step: Assess your ESG data readiness.  

New opportunities require holistic, accessible ESG data  

Taking ESG data out of silos and into a unified, accessible system can help retail and CG companies identify and act on opportunities to advance sustainability goals. Eckes-Granini, Europe’s largest fruit juice producer, embraces this strategy by using Microsoft solutions to increase supply chain transparency. By adopting this objective, data-driven supplier management technology, now almost 70% of Eckes-Granini’s juice ingredients come from sustainable sources—putting the company on track to achieving their goal of using 100% sustainable ingredients by 2030.  

Key emerging areas where ESG data insights can help retail and CG companies drive sustainability and efficiencies include: 

  • Circularity: Recycling, recommerce, and reusing or repurposing materials help companies reduce reliance on net-new or single-use materials, to help reduce waste and carbon emissions.
  • Sustainable material sourcing: Integrating recycled and low carbon materials into operations and final packaged products helps companies minimize overall environmental impact.
  • Increased transparency: Companies can improve brand recognition and loyalty by providing greater ESG transparency—which can also help identify new products or lines of business.
  • Evolved supply chain: Data and AI-powered technologies can help streamline supply chain, reduce emissions, and minimize waste, while pinpointing ways to boost efficiency and decarbonization.

Today’s roadblocks and tomorrow’s benefits  

As discussed in Driving Business Value with ESG Data Readiness, creating a robust ESG data estate can strengthen business resilience, by enabling teams to make informed decisions as markets shift and opportunities evolve.  

For retail and CG companies, this capability supports decision-making as they explore sustainability improvements, from upgrading equipment to increase energy efficiency, to investing in new low-carbon or recycled materials. It can also help companies advance ESG data tracking in supplier regions where nascent reporting standards can impede transparency, consistency, or granularity of ESG information. 

Retail and CG companies can also collaborate across the value chain to share ESG data that helps unlock shared efficiencies, innovation, and greater trust. For example, by using Microsoft solutions to leverage integrated data analysis, sustainability-driven Radish—a food-delivery startup in Montreal—shares data insights with its restaurant partners to offset supply challenges, reduce food waste, and even access government assistance grants.   

Data that delivers more than reporting compliance  

Leveraging ESG data can also help retail and CG companies explore options such as AI-powered waste reduction, product recommerce services, or innovative, eco-friendly packaging and products. German cosmetics company Beiersdorf took this approach by using Microsoft solutions to build a simulation tool to assess scope 3 emissions for products and packaging, transitioning the company from emissions guesswork to objective insights.  

The power of ESG data insights is also boosting sustainability and improving decision-making for global bakery giant Gruppo Bimbo. The company adopted Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability to centralize emissions data across its operations—helping the company advance toward its sustainability targets for 2025, 2030, and 2050. And the Netherlands’ leading supermarket chain, Albert Hejin, developed an AI-powered solution in partnership with Microsoft to reduce food waste by dynamically adjusting prices on near-expiration items.  

Make ESG data work for you

To help unlock the value of ESG data, retailers and CG companies can benefit from setting up strong data collection and management systems:  

  • Bridge the data gap: By investing in technologies that integrate ESG data across operations, companies can collect accurate and actionable information from all aspects of the value chain.
  • Build trust through governance: Ensuring data accuracy is essential for both regulatory compliance and strategic decision-making, requiring strong governance and control practices around ESG data.
  • Embed ESG into the company culture: Training and engagement programs can help integrate sustainability into a company’s daily operations—from executive leadership to frontline workers. And by enriching data with value-added insights from other departments, combined with natural language querying, more teams are empowered to make sustainability-informed business decisions.  

Following these steps—and the framework in the Leader’s Guide to Sustainable Business Transformation—can help you use ESG data to drive long-term success beyond reporting requirements, according to your unique business priorities. For example, industry-leading businesses like electronics retailer Kotsovolos-Dixons used Microsoft Solutions to create digital twins of its stores, reducing waste and boosting operational efficiency by 50%. Additionally, one of the United Kingdom’s largest food sellers, Co-op Group, adopted our hybrid cloud services to reduce its datacenter footprint to save £400,000 annually. 

Sustainability creates success

Person working in a flower show on a tablet.

Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability

Data and AI capabilities to help you transform for the future using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data intelligence

To stay competitive and in compliance, sustainability has become a necessity for the retail and CG industries. But starting with small steps works: ESG data can serve as the foundation for transformation, and help you advance no matter where you are in your sustainability journey.  

We’re ready to partner with you, to help you use AI-powered data technology and Internet of Things (IoT) to begin to accelerate your progress. The growing set of capabilities in Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability are designed to help companies leverage ESG insights to report on and reduce environmental impacts while driving growth well into the future.  

To gain a view of your ESG data across key areas, as well as personalized guidance on how to drive sustainability progress and add business value, complete our readiness assessment.


1 McKinsey & Company, How to prepare for a sustainable future along the value chain, January 20, 2022.

2 PWC, Integrated ESG Data in Retail: Why and How.