It’s nearly August, which means here at RSR, we’ve already started thinking about which retail-specific topics we’ll be taking on via benchmark reports in 2012. There are certain reports we know will be in the fold; such annuals as The Store, Merchandising, eCommerce, and Cross Channel (or EveryChannel Retailing) will undoubtedly make the list. And based on the popularity of some surveys we launched for the first time in 2011, Mobility and Social Networking will most certainly be topics we tackle again.

But what about sustainability? We released our first ever report on the subject in back in May 2008, and at that time, when green was all the buzz (mostly due to then-record oil prices), the report went viral all around the world. But as retailers grew weary of the greenwashing effect, fewer vendors seemed to find a captive audience with green messaging. In fact, only those vendors who were able to promise energy-saving offerings, particularly those which regulated energy management across distributed networks of stores, seemed to be having much success with retailers in the following years. In fact, for enterprise vendors, it seemed to something of a non-starter in their go-to-market strategy, and has all but fallen off the marketing table.

Personally, I’d like to know. As a company, we’d really like to know. We are steadfast in our dedication to providing the type of research which holds your interest most, and which stands to benefit retailers’ day-to-day operations in the most significant ways possible. We only get so many surveys a year to do this, and we are committed to making them count. So what do YOU think – is 2012 the time when we re-examine the state of sustainability initiatives in retail? We would be very interested in hearing your thoughts.