Blinked and Missed it? Walmart Follows Green Push With Women Owned Brands Strategy

Walmart's sales decline is so pervasive that they are trying anything: even support for good corporate citizenship initiatives the company once derided.

Green was apparently last week? month? Who knows.

Now it's women-owned businesses.

The retailer may eventually become so desperate that it even tries paying an employees a living wage...JL

Mark Miller reports in Brand Channel:

The label doesn’t necessarily indicate the product is produced in a sustainable or environmentally friendly manner. With women making up the majority of small businesses in the US, they may be more willing to support that category over eco-friendly products.
Walmart has been on a corporate citizenship roll recently, as it tries to undo the pushback it has gotten for not using its significant strength to help its employees, the environment and visible minorities.
In February, the retailer announced that 500,000 of its workers would get a pay bump to $9 an hour, $1.75 more than the minimum wage. Last week, it launched a program to showcase environmentally friendly products. And this week marks the start of a labeling program to inform consumers about items from women-owned businesses, following on a commitment it announced last year.
In a move it hopes will promote women's economic empowerment, the world's biggest retailer will start placing a special logo to identify products (on its US website at Walmart.com/WomenOwned and select stores) that are created by women-owned businesses.

As part of its global "Empowering Women Together" initiative, Walmart has given the job of identifying which products come from women-owned businesses to the Women’s Enterprise National Council and WEConnect International.


While there is only a handful of brands at launch—including Miss Zoe by Calinana jewelry, Smart & Sexy lingerie, CLR cleaning products and Carter’s baby items—the Women-Owned Businesses selection will continue to grow, Walmart promises.
“As the world’s largest retailer, we have the opportunity to use our scale, purchasing power and local presence to help others," said Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation and senior vice president of Walmart Sustainability, in a press release.
“By sourcing more products from women-owned businesses and making it easier for customers to identify those products at the shelf and online, we are helping to empower women and their families.”
Last week, Walmart made green strides focusing on sustainability by labeling more than 3,000 of its products on its website as environmentally-friendly. Offering environmentally-friendly products is also of importance to the all-important Walmart Moms, too.
However, as Grist reports, the explanation on Walmart’s Sustainability landing page shows the label doesn’t necessarily indicate the product is produced in a sustainable or environmentally friendly manner, noting that “The Sustainability Leaders badge does not make representations about the environmental or social impact of an individual product.”
According to Grist, Walmart gives the badges to companies it considers leaders in sustainability within specific categories, and each company can then use the badge on any of its products in that categories—regardless of manufacturing process. To determine sustainability leaders, Walmart is said to evaluate its suppliers based on a survey developed by the Sustainability Consortium.

While consumers may not take time to figure out what makes each product sustainable in Walmart.com's green products boutique, it's certainly easier to understand products by women-owned businesses.
And with women making up the majority of small businesses in the US, they may be more willing to support that category over eco-friendly products. As with most purchase decisions, it will come down to need and pricing—and good intentions to support the planet and women may fall off the shopping list. At least Walmart is using its muscle and clout to try.