Purpose: B2C e-commerce has been growing in all of the main western markets over the last years, both in terms of market value and penetration rate, i.e. online sales as a percentage of overall retail sales. From an environmental sustainability viewpoint, it is unclear whether the online shopping has an higher or lower environmental impact if compared to the traditional offline purchase. Among the various retail sectors, the consumer electronics industry is the most developed one with the largest online penetration rate (i.e. from 24% up in the most advanced markets such as USA, UK, China, Germany, France and Italy) and a consequent significant number of sold – and then home-delivered – products. This work aims to assess the environmental impact of the purchasing process in the consumer electronics industry, in order to evaluate the significance of the environmental impact in a sector that has achieved a relevant level of development and, more generally, to understand what to expect from e- commerce growth in the coming years. Design/methodology/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, including the main ones such as 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 logistics operators and secondary sources were used to develop and feed the model. The developed model is applied to the Italian context. Findings: The environmental impact in the online purchasing process is about 30% lower if compared to the offline shopping. In particular, emissions in the online and offline processes are respectively 3.03 and 4.31 kg CO2e per order, which is generally made of few pieces (i.e. about 1.2). The impact of logistics is generally high in both the purchasing processes. In particular, logistics-related activities cause almost all the emissions in the online shopping (i.e. 98%) and about the 75% in the traditional purchasing. The results are affected by several parameters, in particular by transport-related activities (e.g. the average distance travelled by the customer in the traditional purchase, or by the van in the online shopping). Value: The model presented in this work has both academic and practical implications. From the academic viewpoint, the model represents a theoretical contribution in the definition of the online and offline purchasing processes, in the quantification of the environmental impact for each process phase and in trying to solve an open debate in literature. From a practical perspective, the model is intended to be an easy-to-use tool for merchants who aim to quantify the environmental impacts of their business and identify areas of action to reduce them
A model to assess the environmental impact of B2c e-commerce in the consumer electronics industry
R. Mangiaracina;A. Perego;C. Siragusa;A. Tumino
2019-01-01
Abstract
Purpose: B2C e-commerce has been growing in all of the main western markets over the last years, both in terms of market value and penetration rate, i.e. online sales as a percentage of overall retail sales. From an environmental sustainability viewpoint, it is unclear whether the online shopping has an higher or lower environmental impact if compared to the traditional offline purchase. Among the various retail sectors, the consumer electronics industry is the most developed one with the largest online penetration rate (i.e. from 24% up in the most advanced markets such as USA, UK, China, Germany, France and Italy) and a consequent significant number of sold – and then home-delivered – products. This work aims to assess the environmental impact of the purchasing process in the consumer electronics industry, in order to evaluate the significance of the environmental impact in a sector that has achieved a relevant level of development and, more generally, to understand what to expect from e- commerce growth in the coming years. Design/methodology/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, including the main ones such as 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 logistics operators and secondary sources were used to develop and feed the model. The developed model is applied to the Italian context. Findings: The environmental impact in the online purchasing process is about 30% lower if compared to the offline shopping. In particular, emissions in the online and offline processes are respectively 3.03 and 4.31 kg CO2e per order, which is generally made of few pieces (i.e. about 1.2). The impact of logistics is generally high in both the purchasing processes. In particular, logistics-related activities cause almost all the emissions in the online shopping (i.e. 98%) and about the 75% in the traditional purchasing. The results are affected by several parameters, in particular by transport-related activities (e.g. the average distance travelled by the customer in the traditional purchase, or by the van in the online shopping). Value: The model presented in this work has both academic and practical implications. From the academic viewpoint, the model represents a theoretical contribution in the definition of the online and offline purchasing processes, in the quantification of the environmental impact for each process phase and in trying to solve an open debate in literature. From a practical perspective, the model is intended to be an easy-to-use tool for merchants who aim to quantify the environmental impacts of their business and identify areas of action to reduce themI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
