E-Commerce vs Brick-and-Mortar ccc

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E-Commerce vs Brick-and-Mortar

Even well before the pandemic and the resulting movement restrictions, online shopping made it easy for consumers to order pretty much anything from anywhere in the world from the comfort of their home and with just a few clicks. Open 24/7, with secure payment systems, speedy delivery times, and exchange policies, online shopping is extremely convenient, which is why it comes as no surprise that retail e-commerce sales have been growing tremendously worldwide for decades.

However, as with many other habits of ours, we often forget to consider the anthropogenic effects. It is often believed that online shopping is more environmentally friendly than brick-andmortar stores as the latter have overhead environmental costs from operating such as air-conditioning and electricity. Moreover, shoppers’ trips to the physical stores add to the carbon footprint of traditional shopping.

But when we consider even just some of the processes of shopping online and their corresponding greenhouse gas emissions, our perception of e-commerce as the greener alternative can change.

For example, the packaging used to deliver a product and ensure its safe transit is far greater than that used in physical stores. This is because packaging for online sales must be durable, protective, and is a marketing opportunity for a brand. As the most direct connection with a customer, brands focus on delivering a branded packaging experience to add value for the consumer. Blogs about optimising branded packaging experience suggest using tissue paper, fillers like packing peanuts, stickers, business cards, custom notes, tape, and many more [unnecessary] components. Expectedly, this results in significant waste that cannot always be recycled and consequently ends up in landfills.

Another aspect of online shopping to consider is the return policies. These are very convenient as we get to order a number of items, try them at home, and send them back if they are not to our liking. Sending an item back, however, leaves a trail of emissions through the ships, planes and trucks needed to return the package to the sender, in addition to the waste from the extra packaging.

Oftentimes, for the retailer, the most costeffective way to deal with a returned item is to dispose it. In fact, in the US alone, five billion pounds of returned goods end up in landfills each year.

Express shipping options with next day deliveries have a massive toll on the environment as air freight produces almost three times the emissions of shipping. Additionally, last-mile deliveries contribute to city congestion sand impede cities from achieving their decarbonisation targets.

Online shopping has ensured our safety during the pandemic and its convenience is almost unprecedented. But as, on average, e-commerce produces more emission per item because of the additional packaging, the fewer items per purchase, and the multiple deliveries, it is important that we rethink our shopping habits and reconsider the value of our consumption.