eCommerce Providers & Your Carbon Footprint

Short article for Irish eCommerce association.

In 2020, ecommerce sales grew by almost 30% worldwide, and with more and more people shopping online, the demand for last-mile deliveries is expected to grow by 78% by 2030.

In the past, most of us would have assumed online shopping was greener than in-person shopping: but nowadays, as the scale increases, so does the impact on our environment.

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), “there could be 36% more e-commerce delivery vehicles driving around inner cities by the end of the decade – meaning more emissions, pollution and congestion”.

Growing numbers of consumers, particularly younger consumers, are highly concerned about the visible impact their ecommerce purchases have on the environment. The most well-known of these are waste packaging, and the emissions generated delivering the package. 

As most online deliveries are “single-item deliveries”, consumers may wrack up a higher carbon footprint than if they made all their purchases on one trip into the town centre.

As well as this, there are a whole host of other factors which might add to an ecommerce provider’s carbon footprint. Identifying these is a great opportunity to take stock of our whole business and find ways we can futureproof, get ahead, and appeal to the increasingly eco-conscious online shopper.

WHAT’S ADDING TO MY CARBON FOOTPRINT?

• SUPPLY CHAIN: What’s in the products I sell, and are these parts or ingredients flown in from far-away countries? How eco-friendly are the methods people use to extract or create these? Transportation by truck or freight to the nearest airport also adds to the footprint.

Solution: We are certain many of our members are already making great strides and avoiding these problems in the first place: using local suppliers and making products locally slashes these carbon footprints. This is a great achievement and can easily be communicated in the brand’s marketing.

• PACKAGING: e-commerce uses up to 10x more packaging than brick-and-mortar stores, and producing and subsequently dumping non-recyclable packaging like bubblewrap and certain plastics can inflate our carbon footprint.

Solutions: Minimise packaging, and wherever not possible, use recycled/recyclable paper, cardboard or compostable packaging.

Fresh Cuts Clothing uses entirely compostable packaging made from corn starch.

Source: CarbonClick

• DELIVERY: Shipping orders to customers in remote locations, known as the “last mile delivery”, may be carbon intensive.

Solutions: According to a 2017 Bain Report, local emissions can fall by almost a third if consumers bundle their purchases together, and order “one box” rather than four separate ones. As ecommerce providers, we should incentivise ordering more, but less often, or giving customers the option to save money or earn points for waiting a bit longer to receive all items in one delivery, rather than immediately shipping each item when ready.

If our products are already available in stores, we could offer to allow customers to check the stock in stores near them and reserve a product already there, rather than ordering and shipping a new one.

Experts have also identified product returns as an issue here- 15 million tonnes of CO2e and 2 million tonnes of landfill waste are created every year from US returns alone. Providing high quality products and extensive information about them is a way to reduce return rates – something many of our members are already adept at.

Manno.Aero, aims to reduce carbon emissions from deliveries by replacing trucks and vans with drones.

Pointy encourages local shopping by pointing customers to local businesses where there desired products are already available – giving small local retailers an opportunity to compete with retail giants like Amazon.

• BUSINESS RELATED EMISSIONS: The electricity, heating, gas and light needed to run our business may lead to hefty bills. Business trips and construction add to this.

Solutions: Switching to renewable energy is a solid option which adds to anyone’s sutainabiltiy credentials. If it seems viable, installing solar panels may turn profitable in the long-term. Carbon offsetting programs, which allow buisnesses to plant trees or do similar positive things for the environment in exchange for every kilo of carbon they generate, are another avenue worth exploring.

More broadly, we can try to implement more circular business models – facilitating customers renting, swapping, or reselling our products through our website slashes our carbon footprint. Where possible, we can offer to buy back parts or whole used products for refurbishment or reuse somewhere else in the business.

Responsible, a Belfast-based e-commerce business that helps brands and their customers resell clothes, raised almost £5m in new investment in last year.

Beauty market leader Tanorganic prevents 1lb of plastic from reaching the earth’s oceans for every bottle it sells – helping boost sales while reducing its impact on the environment.