An Innovative Approach to Peer Benchmarking

That's why we developed the RILA Retail Advisor: Environmental Compliance. The Advisor is a web-based platform that lays out the framework for a retail-specific environmental compliance program and offers guidance on advancing your program, informed by your company's specific needs and goals. The Advisor now includes peer benchmarking so that companies can evaluate their program across the industry.

The Compliance Advisor maps a retail environmental compliance program across four levels, each reflecting an increasingly centralized and optimized program. In viewing the framework on its own, companies can see what elements differentiate the program levels, for example programs focused purely on compliance from those focused on environmental performance and moving towards sustainability. When companies input their specific company data, they can design an optimum program based on their compliance obligations, operations, level of risk, and corporate culture. With the peer benchmarking feature, they can compare their program to companies with a similar profile. For example, based on the level of regulations that would typically apply, a stand-alone store with grocery or gas would have more regulatory requirements than a small store located in a mall.

In short, the Retail Advisor offers an innovative approach to evaluating a company's environmental compliance program, comparing it with other retail programs, gaining a holistic view of the industry at large, and identifying specific opportunities to advance your program and optimize resources.
 

Implementing the right program can reduce the risk of non-compliance, which can be both monetary and reputational, and help companies set goals to reduce risks and improve company performance. Conversely, implementing an overly comprehensive program can waste resources without improving performance. Using the Retail Advisor helps you start the discussion of where your program should be.

The Retail Advisor is free and open to all retailers. To get started, fill in the registration form to create your account and get access to the Retail Advisor. For more information, visit the RILA Retail Advisor: Environmental Compliance page. If you have questions, contact Tiffin Shewmake at tiffin.shewmake@rila.org.