Bag backlash reveals battle lines
It’s time for the supply of plastic bags to shoppers to be regulated, to take the question out of retailers’ hands, one marketing expert says.
It was reported yesterday that Woolworths in Australia had backtracked on its plastic bag ban because customers refused to pay A15 cents (NZ16 cents) for plastic bags at the checkout.
The supermarket giant will hand out free reusable plastic bags for 10 days. Stores were inundated with complaints from customers who refused to pay for bags or did not have enough of their own stored up.
But in New Zealand, Countdown said feedback had been positive at the 10 of its stores that had already made the change.
‘‘About 60 per cent of customers in these stores are already bringing their own bags when they shop with us and the next most popular option is our $1 reusable Bag for Good, which we’ll replace for free when it wears out,’’ said Kiri Hannifin, the company’s general manager of corporate affairs.
‘‘We’d expect to see these numbers increase as people start to get in the habit and also as other retailers come on board to help make reusable bags the norm.’’
But Mike Lee, a senior lecturer of marketing at the University of Auckland, said retailers were in a difficult position.
‘‘If giving plastic bags helps maintain their market share they will do so; if banning plastic bags wins them a larger portion of the population they will also do so.
‘‘Right now they are not sure which side of the fence to hop on.’’
Lee said, if stores were made to stop giving out bags, customers would have to deal with it.
‘‘The problem arises when other competing retailers continue to offer more convenient options in the form of single-use plastic bags,’’ he said.
‘‘This reduces the incentive for customers to form new habits . . . The only viable solution is to regulate the situation and take the decision out of the retailers’ hands. Then, when everyone is on the same page, there won’t be a choice but to comply.’’
Foodstuffs spokeswoman Antoinette Laird said New Zealand would not have the same difficulty as Australia.
‘‘We’ve always charged for plastic bags in Pak’n Save so our customers are already most of the way there – they are used to using their own bags, boxes and the boot of their car to save money.’’