A Year in Review: Laying Foundations for Sustainable Growth in 2025

As we near the end of a challenging and transformative 2024, it’s a good time to reflect on the peaks and troughs of the year. For vvast, this has been a time of transition, progress, and ultimately, laying the groundwork for accelerating purpose led growth.

 The retail sector, and indeed the world, has been grappling with uncertainty, and yet, moments like these provide an opportunity to reset, take stock, and strengthen. Our very essence is founded on leveraging all that Creative Destruction and its huge opportunity offers.

The retail paradox: Black Friday and conscious ecommerce

One of the most defining moments for ecommerce is, of course, Black Friday. It’s the epitome of turbo-charged consumerism. A peak trading moment that has become synonymous with endless discounts, landfill-filling purchases, and over-targeted ads. But, for purpose-led brands and indeed enablers such are ourselves, it’s a tricky needle to thread. How do you stay true to your values while managing the demands of an industry that’s still so reliant on these intense sales periods?

This year, we saw more brands opting out of Black Friday, aligning with their missions to slow consumption and champion sustainability. We applaud this. It’s brave. It’s smart, investing to build long-term brand equity; rather than opting for a short, sharp hit. Furthermore, it demonstrates that businesses can align their commercial drivers with their core purpose.

But the reality is complex. Many of those same brands will recoup revenue on Cyber Monday or elsewhere, often running promotions that blur the lines of the purpose they seek to protect.

At vvast, we find ourselves fortunate to work with brands that leverage their hard-earned brand equity to drive sales without leaning heavily on discounting. This approach ties beautifully into our B Corp mission: to build sustainable, purpose-driven businesses that are aligned with long-term growth, not those short-term spikes. 

The long game is far more planet friendly.

Purpose and Profit: A delicate balance

The tension between staying purposeful and meeting aggressive top-line targets remains a widespread challenge across the industry. 2024 has been a year that has tested this balance. The retail sector continues to evolve at an accelerated pace, forcing businesses to adapt quickly. For us at vvast, it has meant taking a hard look at how we support our brands in navigating these dual priorities.

While Black Friday may highlight these challenges in a concentrated form, the bigger issue is how we ensure that purpose doesn’t become performative. Are we seeing brands live their values consistently throughout the year? Or is the gap between purpose-led messaging and revenue-driven execution still too wide? For many, there’s work to be done, and that’s where we see vvast making an impact.

vvast’s 2024 journey: peaks, troughs, and progress

This year, we’ve faced our fair share of success and experience to learn from. We’re super proud of the strengthening relationships with some incredible brands like Stance, and Jansport and we’re still stoked that we received our B Corp certification. We’ve embedded purpose into our business model, and our relentless R&D ethos has continued to push us toward innovation, as we’ve worked to align our ecommerce expertise with sustainability at its core.

But it hasn’t been without challenges. Like many, we’ve felt the strain of an unpredictable economic landscape, shifting consumer priorities, and the immense pressure on brands to perform in Q4. We also struggle with the terminal dilemma of commerce vs conscious behaviour – working in partnership with our brands to balance the line. These experiences have only reinforced our belief in building for the long term.

Foundations for 2025

As we look to 2025, our focus is clear: to continue pioneering sustainable ecommerce solutions that create real value for both brands and consumers. We’re doubling down on:

• Alignment to ensure that purpose and profit can coexist meaningfully within retail strategies.
• Education to support brands move away from short-termism and understand the benefits of sustainable growth.
• Innovation building on our mission for relentless R&D to deliver tools and strategies that empower our brands to reduce their carbon impact, strengthen their equity, and thrive in a turbulent and competitive ecommerce landscape.

We’ve always believed in progress over perfection, and that belief has driven us throughout 2024. This year has been a lesson in resilience, in asking the tough questions, and in holding ourselves accountable to our purpose. Working with intention.

Closing Thoughts

As we prepare for 2025, we are reminded that the retail sector isn’t just about transaction; it’s about transformation. It’s about empowering consumers to make conscious choices, enabling brands to align their values with their actions, and creating an ecosystem where sustainability and growth go hand in hand.

So here’s to 2025, a year we hope will see a more aligned, conscious, and purpose-driven retail sector. Thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey this year. Your partnership, belief, and collaboration are what make vvast’s mission possible.

What do you think about the tension between purpose and profit in retail? Are we moving in the right direction? We’d love to hear your thoughts as we look ahead to a brighter, more sustainable future.