Xin Ou
Research expert covering Greater China
Sustainability in e-commerce - statistics & facts
With online retail sales constantly increasing, the sustainability of the e-commerce industry is becoming more relevant. The undeniable ease of having products delivered has an environmental impact: in the biggest urban areas worldwide, carbon emissions due to e-commerce logistics are forecast to hit around 25 million CO2 metric tons by 2030. E-commerce retailers will be expected to simultaneously ensure a greener supply chain and satisfy more demanding consumers wanting fast and low-cost delivery.
Enforced in 2016, the Paris Agreement treaty urged countries and companies to reduce their carbon emissions to keep global warming below 2 — preferably 1.5 — degrees Celsius. As thousands of other organizations, and retailers with e-commerce activities have intervened in their Scope 3 emissions, the ones most related to the distribution and transportation of goods. Although essential, offsetting carbon emissions is only one aspect of sustainability in e-commerce. Businesses are challenged to implement further actions to achieve full circularity; by ensuring easy recycling of products, improving manufacturing efficiency, and partnering with other sustainable suppliers.
Reducing the carbon footprint of e-commerce
Aside from transport and delivery, other aspects of online shopping are crucial for the environment. The amounts of orders purchased and returned to retailers contribute to the carbon emissions of the e-commerce industry worldwide. Additionally, a high number of these orders are not put back into the retail value chain, as returning and repacking would result in extra costs for the retailers. In 2022, it was estimated that over four billion tons of returned items ended up in landfills in the United States. Their transportation produced 24 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions that year. In the same year, a UK study estimated that half of online fashion returns that could not be resold ended up in landfills.Enforced in 2016, the Paris Agreement treaty urged countries and companies to reduce their carbon emissions to keep global warming below 2 — preferably 1.5 — degrees Celsius. As thousands of other organizations, and retailers with e-commerce activities have intervened in their Scope 3 emissions, the ones most related to the distribution and transportation of goods. Although essential, offsetting carbon emissions is only one aspect of sustainability in e-commerce. Businesses are challenged to implement further actions to achieve full circularity; by ensuring easy recycling of products, improving manufacturing efficiency, and partnering with other sustainable suppliers.
Consumers stay alert
As widely as it's used, e-commerce doesn't have the best reputation. Consumers perceive fast delivery as harmful to the environment and therefore envisage other delivery options, perhaps questioning the myth of one-day delivery. Over one-third of U.S. shoppers would not mind delaying deliveries up to five days if given an incentive to do so. A higher number of online consumers welcomed the idea of combining the online orders made over the week and having them all delivered at a scheduled time. Latin America showed that online shoppers outlined dozens of different characteristics that make a product truly sustainable — from manufacturing sources to design and functionality. Whether the time of greenwashing is over or not, environmentally conscious consumers still appear to be very attentive.
