Interview: Martin Stanley on championing sustainability in a consumer-oriented e-commerce business

In 2021, retail e-commerce sales amounted to approximately £4.1trn worldwide. This figure is forecast to grow by 50%, reaching about £6.1trn by 2025, according to research carried out by Statistia early in 2022.

Bdaily spoke to Martin Stanley, director and co-founder of Ground Six Ltd., about his venture into e-commerce. Newcastle-based Ground Six manages a portfolio of businesses including The Cherish Group, which Martin said was his first real look in at the world of e-commerce - like many others, eager to take advantage of the many opportunities in this fast-growing industry.

In particular, we discussed the group’s headline, homeware-focused store, Cherish Home - something of a “test” for a wider range of products to come, said Martin, including kitchenware and self-care items.

Martin explained, however, that Cherish is no experiment - rather, the venture is aimed at “testing the waters” for a specific straight-to-the-consumer model, which sells curated goods directly to customers, based upon careful observation of trends in demand. This follows on from the wholesale, business-to-business model under which Martin’s other business, Tango Group, has successfully operated for years.

Indeed, Martin emphasised that, through his early ventures in business through Ground Six and Tango, he learned the importance of new ideas being strongly rooted in measurable demand, and spoke of the need to “stress-test the plan” before moving beyond an idea.

“It’s easy to get excited about new ideas without really testing them first,” said Martin to our question of valuable lessons learned in business. “It’s important to put ideas through their paces and assess the practicality of an idea to make products successful.”

Homeware, assured Martin, is a sector with high demand: “We saw an opportunity”, he said, especially emphasising the advantages of homeware over other popular e-commerce products such as fashion or tech in the fact that branding appears less of a concern to customers.

“It’s less commoditised”, said Martin, who spoke of the importance of sustainability, affordability, and a business model centred around the curation of goods and provision of a positive, personal experience to build up customer loyalty.

One such example of curation comes in the form of Cherish’s range of gift boxes, designed to “take the thinking out of gifting”, with bundles such as the Eco Lunch & Kitchen Gift Sets, Coffee-Lovers Eco Gift Box and Clean Home Eco Set all having sold out - evidencing Martin’s claim of demand for sustainable homeware products in particular.

Martin explained: “It’s still early days for the boxes, but they’re something we’re very excited about. We’ve had a few big orders, which are an early indication of demand. It’s given us validation… a confidence boost, and there’s more to come”

The eco range seems to hold the most popularity - maybe unsurprisingly, considering Martin’s experience in the area through Tango, which specialised in eco products, and also considering the increased drive for sustainability seen in recent years, with research carried out by PWC suggesting that around 51% of consumers now consider sustainability and eco-friendliness when making purchase decisions.

Martin expressed similar sentiments: “Everybody wants to be better, and if we can offer products that people not only want, and are attractive, but are also sustainable, then that’s a win-win for everyone.”

In seeking to expand their product range, taking this early interest as a mandate, Cherish is also set to launch a corporate gifting range alongside its consumer products, in line with a recent move towards increasing corporate interest in sustainability.

Martin commented: “Businesses are also interested in sustainability, and we can help them to offer employees the chance to be more sustainable… Self-care sets and sustainable pampering products are things which would be desirable for anybody. Workers are people in the end, and businesses are looking to grow their corporate social responsibility and grow their green footprint.”

“There’s an eco-everything”, said Martin.

“There’s really something for everyone.”