When most of your potential customers are willing go green, but don’t buy your product, what’s the problem? What’s the disconnect?

Most of the answer boils down to awareness and education.

That’s the upshot of a new report by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the consulting firm Deloitte that offers invaluable insights into what it takes to make a sale of a green product or service.

The biggest problem for marketing, sales and design teams boils down to customer awareness.  GMA/Deloitte found that although 47% of shoppers surveyed look for and found green products, only 22% actually purchased the product. Reason: Buyers weren’t convinced that the product would deliver on the green or sustainability promise.

The report also notes that although 63% of buyers looked for an eco-friendly product or service, only 47% found them.

Once product marketers get over these and other hurdles detailed in the GMA/Deloitte study, then they can regroup to find a way to fire up their green sales results. Payoff: Green buyers tend to be more loyal customers and less price sensitive.

A summary of the report is here. To download the full GMA report, Finding the Green in Today’s Shoppers: Sustainability Trends and New Shopper Insights, click here.

Most of this consumer analysis also applies to companies selling business-to-business, especially if you want to sell products and services to federal agencies. The General Services Administration has mandated that federal purchasing agencies buy environmentally preferred products whenever possible.

For more detail on selling green products to the government, click here.

Tags: eco-friendly, green products, greenmarking, sustainability