Environmental impact of shopping via the internet

Abstract

Shopping via the internet is booming. High growth figures can still be expected in the future. More and more customers buy their goods online; the goods are then delivered to their home. Online customers especially love convenience. On the Internet, the large assortment is at a glance, the selection is independent of time and place, furthermore many products are cheaper. In this way, the customer can save money, save time and avoid ways to the city center. But is online shopping also climate-friendly? Climate-conscious behavior is an aspect that is currently being discussed a lot. The rapidly growing e-commerce is publicly criticized in many places for not being sustainable. Reference is made in particular to increase packaging waste, high return rates (and presumably destruction of returned goods) as well as longer distances that have to be covered for items in e-commerce on the way to the customer. Studies come to very different assessments of the environmental impact of ecommerce compared to traditional retail. This paper focuses on traffic-related environmental impacts when evaluating e-commerce.