Symbol group retailers are increasing their range of eco-friendly and sustainable products through a new partnership with online wholesale start-up LocoSoco.

The company, which partnered with its first store last month, helps retailers set up their own website to sell more environmentally friendly products such as dishwasher powder, snack bars and toiletries, which are supplied by the wholesaler.

Each retailer site is branded under the store name and the LocoSoco ‘My Eco Site’ brand and customers place their order for collection in two-week cycles.

According to LocoSoco CEO and founder James Perry, the company has partnered with 200 independent retailers.

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Store owners who are partnered with LocoSoco include Budgens retailer Sid Sidhu, Best-one owner Kay Patel alongside Raj Aggarwal, of Spar Wigston in Leicester, and Aman Uppal of One Stop Mount Nod.

Perry told Better Retailing the company is in discussions with symbol groups to expand its distribution further.

“There are no fees for retailers to join and we split the profits 50/50 with them,” he said. “It’s still early days, but the projected sales for retailers we work with are between £1,000 and £2,000 on average per month.

“We have a pool of eco-friendly products which retailers can order from one central platform and they can improve their local reputation because sustainability is a major topic now.”

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Aggarwal rolled out the service in his Leicester and Sheffield Spar stores last week. “It’s a new service which I started offering last week from the recommendation of other retailers,” he said.

“Sustainability is a major focus for me as an independent retailer and having these products in my store can help us inform our customers of that.

“We’re doing all we can to reverse the damage we’ve done to the environment. I can’t get any of these products from any other wholesaler.”

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