Report outlines green benefits of online shopping

Web shopping can minimise carbon emissions

Shopping over the web generates fewer carbon emissions than buying items at a shop, according to research.

A report, published by the logistics research centre at Heriot-Watt University, claims that buying online generates “significantly less” carbon dioxide than the average trip by car to purchase items such as CDs, books, cameras and household goods.

The research focused on the final stage in the delivery process, where a typical home delivery van produced 181g of CO2, compared with 4,274g of CO2 generated by driving to the shops or taking a bus to the high street, which produced 1,265g of CO2.

While the study findings may suggest that web buying causes less impact to the environment, alternative ways of shopping such as using public transport at peak times and buying goods in bulk can match the emissions per item of home delivery, according to Professor Alan McKinnon, director of the logistics research centre at Heriot-Watt University.

“The willingness of shoppers to combine shopping with other activities and to group purchases into as few shopping trips or online transactions as possible is clearly important to minimise the environmental impact of both conventional shopping trips and home delivery,” he said.

Further research on what is efficient in online retail may help firms active in the sector to drive improvement in their own operations, said James Roper, chief executive of internet trade group IMRG.

“It has long been assumed that the overall efficiency improvements inherent in e-retailing make it more planet-friendly than going out to the shops, but this factual, wide-ranging research nails the point,” said Roper.