Malaysian use up to 9 billion bags per year. Even wehn shoppers are to be taxed a RM 0.20 cents for every plastic bag following the government policy implemented for almost 10 years, still only 5% of Tesco shoppers reuse their bag when they shop. Over decades of shopping has turned shoppers addicted to the simple convenience of picking up a new bag every time.

Since 2019, all retailers are further pressured by the government to replace all plastic bags to biodegradable bags, but biodegradable plastic is not a truly sustainable solution for our ocean waste problem. Tesco Malaysia key goal was to find an effective way to accelerate

With only 10,000USD (MYR 40,000) budget at hand, we needed a highly effective solution to effect significant behavioral changes on a mass scale to convince Tesco customers to regularly reuse their bags.

We make plastic bag “Unforgettable” by turning something the world sees as rubbish into something worth keeping, creating a new life-saving habit for shoppers.

This is about creating behavioral change on a mass scale. Instead of trying to change behavior by making shoppers feel guilty for forgetting their bags, we worked within the set of established ‘deal hunting’ behaviors of Malaysian shoppers, their love of rewards.

And since the routine of using plastic bags rooted deeply in every Malaysian and it's still the most viable and friendly option compared to paper bag and cotton tote bag, we used plastic bag itself as our very key vehicle to drive a behavioral shift.

We re-designed the existing Tesco reusable bag by adding a simple change, a barcode, we transform the bag into an ongoing discount, an incentive that ALL shoppers will chase after. Creating a rewards that actively changes behavior.

Following the government’s policy, Tesco has been charging customers RM0.20 for every bag for a decade, but the overall re-use is still at 5%.

INSIGHT:

The moral argument and the negative reinforcement such as punishing with taxes weren’t getting traction. If we were challenging a decade of plastic convenience, we needed a strong positive reinforcement that ALL shoppers could relate to.

One universal truth of Malaysian shoppers (of all shoppers) is that they love a bargain and hunt for rewards no matter how small the benefit is. 8 out of 10 (82%) are actively looking for bargain, additional reward or saving .

STRATEGY:

So, instead of trying to make shoppers feel guilty for forgetting their bags, we work within a more powerful and established set of behaviors and routine of chasing for rewards.

By adding a simple barcode to an existing bag design, we transform the bag into an ongoing discount that ALL shoppers will keep, continue to use regularly, and be rewarded for it. Our aim was to transform the humble carrier bag into a regular, habit transforming, rewarded utility.

By adding a simple change to the design, a barcode, we transform the bag into an ongoing discount, an incentive with wide appeal to Malaysian shoppers. Sold for 50cents, the bag has an unlimited rebate of 20 cents. Simply scan the bag (just like a coupon) at the checkout every time you reuse it and get a discount whenever you shop. So users only have to re-use three times to be actually making a profit for their positive behavior.

The barcode are integrated into the form of the animals most at risk from plastics in the ocean, forming an attractive and very distinctive pattern. The design style is simple and cute - to appeal to the widest spectrum of customers from young to old.

Currently Tesco has over 30 re-usable bag designs, all useful but mostly ignored. We simply redesign an existing reusable bag for sale with minimal time and logistic cost.

The greatest reduction in single-use bags in Tesco Malaysia history:

• A reduction of 20 million single use plastic bags YOY = An overall 26% reduction in the total single-use bags.

• A massive increase in re-usage rates, from 5% before the campaign to 68% post campaign.

Commercial Savings & ROMI:

• RM 138K YOY bag production cost saving with reduced consumption and the simple cost-effective implementation.

• RM 1.1 million operation cost saving from mitigating the implementation of the Government’s mandate for all retailers to replace all plastic bags to Bio-Degradable bags had Tesco been unable to demonstrate an effective bag reduction.

• With a MYR 40,000.00 total cost, the campaign generated a saving of over MYR 1.1m in operational costs, which gives an impressive ROMI of 275% or for every RM 1 spent on the campaign, a return of RM 27.5.