Purpose: E-grocery has been growing in all of the main western markets over the last years although its penetration rates, i.e. online sales as a percentage of overall retail sales, are still low if compared with other e-commerce sectors (e.g. consumer electronics, fashion). From an environmental sustainability viewpoint, it is unclear whether the online grocery shopping has an higher or lower environmental impact if compared with the traditional offline purchase. In particular, e-grocery displays some peculiarities (i.e. large orders of multiple single-piece lines and a wide product range including dry, frozen and fresh perishable items) which differentiate it from the other retail sectors. This work aims to assess the environmental impact of the purchasing process in the grocery industry, in order to evaluate the significance of the environmental impact in such an emerging and peculiar sector. Research Approach: This work is based on an activity-based model. The traditional shopping is compared to the online purchasing in terms of CO2e emissions. The generic e-commerce process considered by the model is composed of five phases: pre-sale and sale, order picking and assembly, stock replenishment, delivery (only intended by courier) and post-sale. The offline shopping differs from the online one in several ways, e.g. the absence of the picking and assembly phases, which are performed by the customer himself at the point of sale. The model determines the environmental impact of each activity carried out in each process phase. Interviews with grocery operators and secondary sources were used to develop and feed the model. The developed model is applied to the Italian context. Findings and Originality: The environmental impact in the online purchasing process is about 15% lower if compared to the offline shopping. The replenishment phase causes most of the emissions (i.e. about 50%) in both the purchasing processes. Anyway the result is not clear in absolute terms. It is indeed affected by many parameters and by the context (e.g. urban or rural areas, densely populated areas) to which the model is applied. Above all, transport-related activities strongly influence the result. Changes in the average distance travelled by the customer in the traditional purchase, or changes in the delivery density, entail a reduction in the environmental impact of e-commerce – if compared to the traditional process – from 10% to 30%. Research Impact: From the academic viewpoint, the model represents a theoretical contribution in the definition of the online and offline grocery purchasing processes, in the quantification of the environmental impact for each process phase and in trying to solve an open debate in literature. Practical Impact: From a practical viewpoint, the model is intended to be an easy-to-use tool for grocery merchants who aim to quantify the environmental impact of their business and identify areas of action to reduce them.

A model to assess the environmental impact of B2c e-commerce in the grocery industry

R. Mangiaracina;A. Perego;C. Siragusa;A. Tumino
2019-01-01

Abstract

Purpose: E-grocery has been growing in all of the main western markets over the last years although its penetration rates, i.e. online sales as a percentage of overall retail sales, are still low if compared with other e-commerce sectors (e.g. consumer electronics, fashion). From an environmental sustainability viewpoint, it is unclear whether the online grocery shopping has an higher or lower environmental impact if compared with the traditional offline purchase. In particular, e-grocery displays some peculiarities (i.e. large orders of multiple single-piece lines and a wide product range including dry, frozen and fresh perishable items) which differentiate it from the other retail sectors. This work aims to assess the environmental impact of the purchasing process in the grocery industry, in order to evaluate the significance of the environmental impact in such an emerging and peculiar sector. Research Approach: This work is based on an activity-based model. The traditional shopping is compared to the online purchasing in terms of CO2e emissions. The generic e-commerce process considered by the model is composed of five phases: pre-sale and sale, order picking and assembly, stock replenishment, delivery (only intended by courier) and post-sale. The offline shopping differs from the online one in several ways, e.g. the absence of the picking and assembly phases, which are performed by the customer himself at the point of sale. The model determines the environmental impact of each activity carried out in each process phase. Interviews with grocery operators and secondary sources were used to develop and feed the model. The developed model is applied to the Italian context. Findings and Originality: The environmental impact in the online purchasing process is about 15% lower if compared to the offline shopping. The replenishment phase causes most of the emissions (i.e. about 50%) in both the purchasing processes. Anyway the result is not clear in absolute terms. It is indeed affected by many parameters and by the context (e.g. urban or rural areas, densely populated areas) to which the model is applied. Above all, transport-related activities strongly influence the result. Changes in the average distance travelled by the customer in the traditional purchase, or changes in the delivery density, entail a reduction in the environmental impact of e-commerce – if compared to the traditional process – from 10% to 30%. Research Impact: From the academic viewpoint, the model represents a theoretical contribution in the definition of the online and offline grocery purchasing processes, in the quantification of the environmental impact for each process phase and in trying to solve an open debate in literature. Practical Impact: From a practical viewpoint, the model is intended to be an easy-to-use tool for grocery merchants who aim to quantify the environmental impact of their business and identify areas of action to reduce them.
2019
Proceedings of the 2019 Logistics Research Network Annual Conference
9781904564560
e-grocery, environmental impact, environmental sustainability, logistics
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1122864
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