Aug. 11, 2008 - Wal-Mart's green products are selling so well, the retail giant is enlisting its suppliers to create more sustainable offerings - provided that customers will "get it," the [Arkansas] Morning News reports.

Wal-Mart is working with its suppliers to develop greener products that can be marketed most compellingly, according to Rand Waddoups, senior director of corporate strategy and sustainable development.

"We need to fill the pipeline with products," he says. "Not only do we need more innovative products, but we need to be able to tell a story around that product."

"In our [Earth Month campaign this past April], we found a few products where customers totally didn't get it, didn't care," Waddoups explains.

The company is looking for lessons to be learned from which green products have sold well (rubber mulch made from recovered tires, for example), and those that have fallen flat with consumers (Wal-Mart's recent reboot of the classic milk jug).

The potential payoffs from greener products are significant, according to Wal-Mart's own estimates. In April, the retailer reported that consumers' average adoption rate of five key green products jumped 66% in a single year.

Wal-Mart says it is currently focusing on developing new green products in four key areas: waste improvement and recycling, natural resources, energy, and social or community impact.

Waddoups admits, however, that the company is learning as it goes. "We're just now developing what it all means," he says.

To read more about Wal-Mart's work with suppliers, read SLM's interview with Rand Waddoups.