by Walther Ploos van Amstel
Over the past decade, the share of e-commerce has risen. It is expected that this trend will continue. Bricks and mortar (B&M) retailers have reacted to the increasing share of e-commerce retail leading to an increasing merger of both retail modes into omnichannel retail. Changes in the transport system inevitably accompany these shifts in retail …
Online shopping at large retailers in the United States is 17% more carbon-efficient than visiting traditional stores, according to Generation Investments Management. Their study finds that the integration of efficient logistics and warehousing gives e-commerce the advantage.
With e-commerce setting records during the 2020 holiday season and package deliveries forecast to grow by 80% over the next decade, a new study by the MIT Real Estate Innovation Lab reveals the tangible environmental benefits of online shopping versus bricks-and-mortar.
With e-commerce setting records last year and parcel deliveries forecast to grow by 80 percent over the next decade, a study by the MIT Real Estate Innovation Lab reveals the environmental benefits of online shopping. Using average emissions results from the MIT study, the share shift to e-commerce resulted in approximately 2,4 percent fewer emissions per parcel.
In the era of e-commerce and climate change, sustainability in last-mile delivery is an important factor. More online shopping and more fast shipping mean more vehicles on the road with lower utilization, higher frequency of deliveries, and more stops per route. These conditions have a direct impact on the environmental footprint of last mile.
The European Union wants to bring more climate-friendly cars on the road by 2030. New cars should produce 37,5 percent less CO2 than in 2021 (95 grams per Kilometer). For light commercial vehicles, the 2030 target is set at a CO2 reduction of 31 percent. The automotive industry criticized the new rules as excessive and unrealistic.
People complain on social media about light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in their neighborhood. There are too many, it’s not safe and not healthy. Is that criticism justified? Only 2 to 3 percent of the nearly 1 million LCVs in the Netherlands are involved in the delivering home shopping parcels to consumers.
City Logistics comprises of a vast variety of supply networks, each with its own service demands driven by the particular wishes of the end-customer. This heterogeneity is reflected in the wide variation in the means of transport used, from cargo bikes to 18-metre truck-trailer combinations.
Lots of attention has been given in recent years to the “massive” increase in delivery traffic in cities and residential districts. Web stores and the vans that deliver their parcels often get the blame for that. My neighbors wonder if it really can’t all just fit into one delivery van. They see PostNL, DHL, Albert …