Source: Nivea/dm-drogerie markt
NIVEA and dm to reduce packaging volume by 75% with refill stations
Thomas Reiner | 01.09.2020
Beiersdorf and the drugstore chain dm are starting a pilot project with refill stations. The refill stations developed in-house by the German consumer goods giant for its NIVEA Creme Soft and NIVEA Creme Sensitiv shower gels are available to consumers in three dm stores in Hamburg and Karlsruhe for a period of 6 to 8 months.
Customers can independently refill the empty bottles at the stations up to three times and pay at the checkout. After the third filling, the consumers are asked to replace their refill bottles so that they can be checked for quality and hygiene standards. In return, customers receive a new refill bottle free of charge, including a free refill.
The aim of the campaign is to gather experience about the refill principle in the team of brand owners, retailers and consumers, to save packaging and at the same time to promote the circular economy.
The campaign by Beiersdorf and dm is a further example of the advance of the refill principle. A simple calculation example shows how attractive refilling is from a sustainability perspective. Even with only three refills, the packaging volume is drastically reduced by 75 percent. If only 10 percent of consumers reach for the refill bottle for the two NIVEA products, this already results in a total saving of 7.5 percent in relation to all NIVEA Creme Soft and Creme Sensitiv products sold.
But Refill can do more than just sustainability. It not only reduces the packaging effort considerably. It also functions as a bait that not only attracts customers once, but encourages them to return and thus, in both senses of the word, binds them for the long term.
