Environmental benefits of electronic commerce over the conventional retail trade? A case study in Shenzhen, China

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2019-08, Vol.679, p.378-386
• Main Authors: Zhao, Yi-Bo, Wu, Guang-Zhou, Gong, Yong-Xi, Yang, Ming-Zheng, Ni, Hong-Gang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon emission; Conventional retail; Electronic commerce; Retail industry
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.081

Electronic commerce has been becoming the new driver of the retail industry. The large-scale expansion of electronic commerce with additional packaging certainly increases stress on the environment. However, a comparative analysis of environmental impacts of electronic commerce and conventional retail trade channels is unavailable. In this study, an Average Package Difference Model (APDM) was developed to evaluate CO2 emissions difference via the two retail channels in Shenzhen, China based on a life-cycle perspective. In the meanwhile, the national emission was estimated by the above results. Our results suggest that conventional retail has a higher environmental cost than that of electronic commerce, especially during shopping trips. Specifically, average CO2 emission difference per package in terms of product returns, packaging, buildings and transportation were 0.14 ± 0.03, 0.84 ± 0.08, 0.67 ± 0.04, 1.3 ± 0.26 kg, respectively. CO2 is mainly emitted from buildings and consumer trips in conventional retail trade, whereas packaging is mainly responsible for CO2 emission in e-commerce. In China, the total CO2 emission difference between conventional retail and electronic commerce was 124 million tons in 2016. Growth of the proportion of electronic commerce will contribute to lower CO2 emissions induced by the entire retail industry. Actually, carbon emissions can be reduced in both conventional retail and electronic commerce, such as the reusable packaging, opening shopping centers in dense population zones and promoting the usage of public transportation. [Display omitted] •City-level CO2 emission from retail trade was estimated using average package unit.•Environmental cost of conventional retail is higher than that of electronic commerce.•Packaging is responsible for CO2 emission in electronic commerce.•CO2 is mainly emitted from buildings and consumer trips in conventional retail trade.•The CO2 emission difference between the two channels in China was 124 Mt in 2016.