Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are becoming an increasingly powerful tool for retailers, with businesses including Waitrose working hard to improve their image.

Waitrose has a strong track record on CSR

They’re a useful tool to help increase loyalty amongst customers but they can also help drive sales and customer insight.

Recent research from charitable shopping platform Give as you Live revealed that despite this, the retail sector is not perceived to be charitable, with 87% of Britons believing their favourite retailers are failing to support good causes.

Food and drink retailers perform the best, with 41% of consumers able to recall their charitable activities.

But no other type of retailer ranks higher than 16% awareness of any charitable initiatives.

Polly Gowers, chief executive and founder of Give As You Live, believes retailers should be doing more to communicate CSR to consumers. “Clearly the CSR activities of retailers aren’t penetrating the mindset of the British public.

“Retailers need to address this to reap the rewards of increased sales and better customer loyalty,” she says.

Simple CSR initiatives can make a big difference to the consumer perception of retailers in the long term. Gowers says: “Retailers need to think about how they can promote CSR in a way that isn’t just a hyperlink on their website.”

She adds retailers need to engage with their customers – either in-store, online or via social media – to tell them about all the great schemes they’ve implemented and the difference they’re making in the community and nationwide.