Retailers and Sustainability: Navigating by the Star of Sustainable Retailing

This chapter attempts to highlight the relationship between retailing and sustainability. The analysis has a twofold aim. Firstly, it attempts to illustrate the contribution of retailing to sustainable development, and secondly, it maps out the pathway that retailers could take toward a sustainable transformation at the European level. It stresses the close association between retailing and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and shows how retailers contribute to implementing the United Nations sustainability agenda. It illustrates the critical role of a sustainable supply chain and a circular economy in promoting the sustainable transformation of European retailing. Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) and circular economy operations are critically important in promoting sustainable business models. In this vein, the chapter presents how the European Union (EU) is attempting to shape the pathway for European retailers in the era of sustainable development.