For many people, shopping in real stores is becoming less and less interesting. Online retail has experienced a real boom in recent years, but many people’s everyday lives are also increasingly taking place in the digital space. In addition to networking on social media channels and obtaining information digitally, interest in online shopping has also been on the rise for some time.
Online shopping offers many advantages
Convenience and relaxation are at the top of the list when it comes to reasons for shopping online. After all, what could be more convenient than ordering products online via smartphone or laptop from the comfort of your own couch and having them delivered to your home? Shopping in local stores, on the other hand, is often associated with hectic, stress, long queues and searching around for the right goods. In addition, online stores often have lower prices than bricks-and-mortar stores, as the additional costs for salesrooms and the presentation of goods are completely eliminated. The digital shopping experience has also evolved and you can, for example, choose different payment methods or complete the purchase at a later date.
When it comes to environmental friendliness, online shopping can often be even better than shopping in town. However, various aspects should always be taken into account when making calculations – from parcel size and packaging types to all delivery routes, returns and the energy consumption generated by a product. According to the German Federal Environment Agency, three quarters of a product’s greenhouse gas emissions are always attributable to its manufacture and only a maximum of one tenth to trade and transportation. Whether it is better to shop online or locally also depends on the working conditions in the mail order business and the question of how we want to deal with the problem of dying stores in city centers in the future.
Waste of resources and high energy consumption
Online retail is not only booming, but is also destroying nature at the same time. What is particularly convenient for consumers when shopping online leads to additional logistical work for retailers: the parcels have to be stored, elaborately packaged and delivered in a short space of time. Returns also cause a lot of CO2 emissions. This is because the mountains of paper, cardboard and plastic used for the elaborate packaging generate large quantities of waste. In addition, it is often cheaper for many companies to destroy returned items than to store them again, repackage them or donate them to charitable organizations.
How you can make online shopping more sustainable
1. Give preference to sustainable products online too
In principle, the same applies to online retail as to local shopping. Most environmental problems arise during the manufacture and use of products. So if you also want to pay attention to sustainability when shopping online, you can choose from a wide range of environmentally friendly products and use them for as long as possible in an environmentally friendly way. You can usually find sustainable and certified products in online stores that specialize in such goods. You can also take advantage of the wide range on offer and shop sustainably at online second-hand exchanges for fashion, electronics or furniture.
2. Avoid returns
Even though transportation usually causes less environmental impact than manufacturing, care should still be taken to avoid returns. The return rate for clothing and shoes in particular is very high, as the goods cannot be tried out and tested online beforehand. Many returned goods result in a high volume of transportation and a lot of packaging waste. In the worst case, returned goods are even disposed of completely. You can avoid returns by finding out as much as possible about the product online, using existing size charts for clothing, for example, and reading product reviews from customers. If you’re not quite sure, you can also buy the same product at online second-hand markets or local retailers.
3. Prefer collective orders
If you order products in bundles when shopping online, this means less transportation costs. A group order with your friends or work colleagues is often a good way to avoid individual orders and also save on shipping costs.
4. Accept parcels on the first delivery attempt
In order to avoid transportation emissions during delivery, you should make sure that you are actually at home and can accept the parcel when attempting delivery. This is because delivery attempts are often unsuccessful and parcels have to travel additional kilometers. Many online stores also allow you to set which parcel stations the parcel should be delivered to. It is best to choose a station that you can reach on foot or by bike. You can also specify that the goods can be left with your neighbors. With a little planning, you can avoid unnecessary transportation in the future.
In addition to the tips mentioned above, you should also make sure you specify the correct shipping address and avoid express deliveries, which cause high transportation emissions. If you want to avoid waste, you can also save and reuse the packaging material.