The Environmental Impact of B2C E-Commerce
"The Environmental Impact of E-Commerce 2021" provides insights into the B2C E-Commerce market and its environmental impact worldwide. Among other findings, the publication reveals that over 40% of European respondents were willing to pay a premium for ecological transportation of online purchases. According to research cited in the report, online shopping can have a lower carbon footprint as compared to in-store shopping. However, how much lower the impact depends on multiple factors, including whether customers drive to retail stores by car or other means of transportation and whether they return items purchased online, and if so, to which location and by which means of transportation. Among the biggest emission sources for online shopping the source lists last-mile delivery and energy consumption for IT, whereas for traditional shopping, these include energy consumption of building and consumer's trip to physical store.