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... Sustainability has become a crucial prerequisite for the retail sector (Carling et al., 2015). In particular, environmental issues are important for retailers and consumers, as they influence consumers' purchase decisions, increase their willingness to pay, and positively impact the image of products sold and retailer brand (e.g., Carrillo et al., 2014;Hetterich et al., 2012). ...
... In contrast, in rural areas, EC has an environmental advantage over B&M stores because of the large distances between B&M stores and consumers (Edwards et al., 2009;Huang, 2017). Carling et al. (2015) conducted a study of B&M and EC shopping behavior in Sweden and demonstrated that for electronic products, the distance of the consumer to a pick-up point for online orders is regularly shorter than the distance to the closest B&M retailer. Therefore, emissions induced by consumers' transport are 86% lower for EC than for the B&M channel if there is a well-developed network of delivery points (Carling et al., 2015). ...
... Carling et al. (2015) conducted a study of B&M and EC shopping behavior in Sweden and demonstrated that for electronic products, the distance of the consumer to a pick-up point for online orders is regularly shorter than the distance to the closest B&M retailer. Therefore, emissions induced by consumers' transport are 86% lower for EC than for the B&M channel if there is a well-developed network of delivery points (Carling et al., 2015). Furthermore, the place of residence, and thus the distance to possible pick-up points or B&M stores, varies in different countries and depends on the overall infrastructure. ...
Article
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Sustainability has become paramount in society and retail. Therefore, this study aims to compare the environmental sustainability of brick‐and‐mortar retail and e‐commerce. A literature review identifies various factors, such as buildings, shopping trips, order bundling, returns, packaging, transport and logistics, and environmentally conscious behavior, that determine the channel that is superior in terms of environmental sustainability. While these factors are context‐specific and depend on several actors (e.g., consumers, retailers, and logistics service providers), most studies consider e‐commerce to be more environmentally friendly than purchases from brick‐and‐mortar stores. However, this review demonstrates that most previous studies have focused on objective criteria (e.g., CO 2 ). Therefore, to reflect the importance of consumers' perspectives on channel choice, we conducted four empirical studies that provide insights into the perceived environmental sustainability of each channel. In contrast to experts' views, consumers perceive e‐commerce as less sustainable than brick‐and‐mortar retailing. Hence, online retailers should improve their communication strategies and highlight the potential environmental advantages of e‐commerce and omni‐channel retailing. Brick‐and‐mortar retailers are advised to reduce the environmental damage they cause and encourage their customers to act in an eco‐friendly manner.
... brick-and-mortar retailing, e-commerce, environmental sustainability 1 | INTRODUCTION Sustainability has become a crucial prerequisite for the retail sector (Carling et al., 2015). In particular, environmental issues are important for retailers and consumers, as they influence consumers' purchase decisions, increase their willingness to pay, and positively impact the image of products sold and retailer brand (e.g., Carrillo et al., 2014;Hetterich et al., 2012). ...
... In contrast, in rural areas, EC has an environmental advantage over B&M stores because of the large distances between B&M stores and consumers (Edwards et al., 2009;Huang, 2017). Carling et al. (2015) conducted a study of B&M and EC shopping behavior in Sweden and demonstrated that for electronic products, the distance of the consumer to a pick-up point for online orders is regularly shorter than the distance to the closest B&M retailer. Therefore, emissions induced by consumers' transport are 86% lower for EC than for the B&M channel if there is a well-developed network of delivery points (Carling et al., 2015). ...
... Carling et al. (2015) conducted a study of B&M and EC shopping behavior in Sweden and demonstrated that for electronic products, the distance of the consumer to a pick-up point for online orders is regularly shorter than the distance to the closest B&M retailer. Therefore, emissions induced by consumers' transport are 86% lower for EC than for the B&M channel if there is a well-developed network of delivery points (Carling et al., 2015). Furthermore, the place of residence, and thus the distance to possible pick-up points or B&M stores, varies in different countries and depends on the overall infrastructure. ...
Conference Paper
Sustainability has become paramount in society and retail. Therefore, this research aims to compare the environmental sustainability of brick-and-mortar retail and e-commerce. A literature review identifies key determinants of this comparison and shows that most previous studies focus on objective criteria. Three empirical studies provide insights into the perceived environmental sustainability of each channel to reflect the importance of the consumers' perspective for channel choice. Surprisingly, in contrast to the experts' view, consumers perceive e-commerce as less sustainable than brick-and-mortar retailing. Given the potential negative impact on online purchasing behaviour, online retailers should improve their communication strategy and highlight environmental advantages of e-commerce or omni-channel retailing. Moreover, online retailers should continue their efforts towards more sustainability and improving environmental aspects in logistics, packaging and return management.
... However, (Carling et al., 2015) noted that the average Swedish consumer travels 30 km for shopping semi durable and durables which suggested that private cars is the predominant mode of transportation. This is because of time limitation and this thesis did considered the Dalarna Region in Sweden to comprehensively provide the most efficient solution using the available timeline. ...
... Another study conducted in 2015 the research did implement a method to empirically measure the difference in carbon footprint between traditional and online retailing that requires data from the entry point to the customer residence (Carling et al., 2015). The method implemented during this study uses the location data on the brick-mortar stores, online delivery points and residences of the region population along with the goods transportation network within the region. ...
... The choice of data during this study does provides an insight and an answer to our thesis objective (a) that is which type of data are needed to build the above-mentioned DSS. From this study the results indicated that the average distance travelled from a consumer home to a brick-mortar store is 48.54 km whereas for distance to an online delivery point is 6.7 km (Carling et al., 2015). This study does inform our thesis by providing the current distance measure between a customer and a brickand-mortar store this provide the information on as how long it takes a customer to travel to a retail store within the Dalarna region. ...
Article
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Abstract: Several studies have been carryout on finding optimal locations to minimize CO2 emissions from the last mile distribution perspective. In conjunction with that, there has been no study conducted in Sweden that provides a decision support system to compute the transport consequences of the modifications in the retailer's store network. This thesis did use the following steps: requirement analysis, system design, implementation and testing to build a prototype decision support system that is to help retailers find optimal locations for a new retail store. This thesis provided a subsequent answer as to which data are needed along with the rightful user interface for a said decision support system. Subsequently, this thesis does present a decision support system prototype from which some recommendations were provided as to what skills set and tools are needed for the management and maintenance of said decision support system. The primary data used during this thesis is the Dalarna municipalities, six selected retailer stores networks, and the Dalarna Road network geo-data (Longitude and latitude). This thesis does conclude that it is possible to integrate an optimization model within the Django framework using geodata to build a decision support system. Acknowledgments:
... miles). Carling et al. [28] calculated the shortest distance between the entry point to the region and the final node with the Dijkstra algorithm. The average distance from the consumers' home to a brick-and-mortar retailer is 48.54 km and the average distance to an online delivery point is 6.7 km. ...
... In the Netherlands, for example, there is a higher proportion of consumers who walk or cycle to the stores. Carling et al. [28] concluded that if every consumer within a 2 km radius walked to pick up the product, the emissions savings for online retail would increase by 2% to 86% compared to in-store shopping. Edwards et al. [29] found in their study that 72% of all shopping trips are made by bus or car. ...
... If they include channel-switching consumer behaviour and assume that 50% of consumers seek information in-store before buying online, the break-even point shifts from 14 to 27 km. Carling et al. [28] included the mobility effects in a scenario calculation. If 71% of consumers would make a trip to test the product, the environmental benefits of online shopping would be offset. ...
Article
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In the scientific literature, there are numerous studies with different approaches and focuses on assessing the environmental impact of online shopping and shopping in the traditional retail channel. The aim of this work is to analyse scientific studies that quantitatively assess the environmental impact of transport activities in both channels and to extract the factors used for this assessment. A literature search was conducted for the period 2006 to October 2020, with 90 studies shortlisted, of which 15 studies were identified as relevant in a screening process. The analysis showed that a different number of factors is included in the selected studies. Logistics-related and behavioural factors are mostly of similar importance. Third-order effects, such as rebound or complementary effects, are rarely considered. Furthermore, it becomes clear that the results also depend on differences in study design and external factors. This work illustrates the complexity of quantitatively assessing the environmental impact of online and in-store shopping. Caution is advised when deriving recommendations for action from general statements about the environmental friendliness of a distribution channel. The 15 factors found, together with the classification method used, form a solid basis for building new models.
... Some studies enlarged the scope of transport activities and considered all distribution activities. As an example, Carling et al. (2015) developed a method to empirically measure the CO 2 footprints of bricks-and-mortar retailing and online retailing from the regional entry point to the consumer's residence: in bricks-and-mortar shopping, the route extends from the entry port via the store to the consumer's residence, while in online shopping, it extends from the entry port via the distribution points to the customer's residence. Moreover, Wiese, Toporowski, and Zielke (2012) compared the transport-related CO 2 emissions of online and bricks-and-mortar shopping based on supply, delivery, order and travel data for a multi-channel clothing retailer and found that online retailing produced less CO 2 emissions under many conditions. ...
... Here, authors tend to agree in stating that a delivery tour (online shopping) is generally more environmentally sustainable than the customer's trip to reach the store and return home (offline shopping) (e.g. Edwards, McKinnon, and Cullinane 2010;Wiese, Toporowski, and Zielke 2012;Carling et al. 2015). However, the results can change significantly under certain circumstances, such as when public transport is used or the customer walks (Siikavirta et al. 2002). ...
... The limited number of deliveries is due to the peculiarities of the industryspecifically, the tight time windows (Cairns 2005) and the relatively long time required for each drop off (Punakivi and Saranen 2001). As in the previous analysis, the different distances may reflect the different typologies of specific areas, either urban or rural (Carling et al. 2015). The reduction in emissionsfrom the offline to the online purchase scenariovaried from 10% (10 deliveries) to 20% (16 deliveries). ...
Article
The growth of e-commerce has been accompanied by concerns about its environmental sustainability compared to that of bricks-and-mortar offline shopping. The media often considers e-commerce to be less sustainable despite the lack of conclusive studies to support this viewpoint. There are a few quantitative studies available in the literature that demonstrate that the differences in overall emissions strongly depend on the type of industry and the boundaries considered. This study applies an activity-based approach to assess the environmental impacts (in terms of kgCO2e) of the online and offline purchasing processes in the grocery industry for all shopping phases: replenishment, pre-sale and sale, picking and assembly, delivery and post-sale. The assessment model was applied in Italy, where e-grocery has experienced significant annual growth. Overall, the results indicate that e-grocery is potentially more sustainable than bricks-and-mortar shopping, with emissions ranging from 10%–30% lower, depending on the specific context.
... We reviewed twenty-one articles reporting on the environmental impact of retailrelated transport and logistics. While the oldest study dates back to 2005 , the majority of studies was published in 2009 (Cullinane, 2009;Velásquez, Ahmad and Bliemel, 2009;Weber et al., 2009;Weltevreden and Rotem-Mindali, 2009) and 2015 (Carling et al., 2015;Laghaei, Faghri and Li, 2015;Mangiaracina et al., 2015;Van Loon et al., 2015). Apart from conceptual studies reflecting on available knowledge and literature on the topic (Cullinane, 2009;Velásquez, Ahmad and Bliemel, 2009;Edwards, McKinnon and Cullinane, 2011;Van Loon et al., 2014;Mangiaracina et al., 2015;Pålsson, Pettersson and Winslott Hiselius, 2017), the product-specific casestudy approach is common. ...
... Apart from conceptual studies reflecting on available knowledge and literature on the topic (Cullinane, 2009;Velásquez, Ahmad and Bliemel, 2009;Edwards, McKinnon and Cullinane, 2011;Van Loon et al., 2014;Mangiaracina et al., 2015;Pålsson, Pettersson and Winslott Hiselius, 2017), the product-specific casestudy approach is common. In particular, clothing Wiese, Toporowski and Zielke, 2012;Mangiaracina et al., 2016;Hischier, 2018) and electronics (Weber et al., 2009;Carling et al., 2015;Melacini and Tappia, 2018) are investigated most. Specifically analysed in these studies are greenhouse gas emissions, carbon emissions or CO 2 emissions (Velásquez, Ahmad and Bliemel, 2009;Cullinane, 2010, 2011;Wiese, Toporowski and Zielke, 2012;Kellner and Igl, 2012;Brown and Guiffrida, 2014;Van Loon et al., 2014Carling et al., 2015;Laghaei, Faghri and Li, 2015;Belavina, Girotra and Kabra, 2016;Mangiaracina et al., 2016;Melacini and Tappia, 2018) and energy consumption, energy usage or energy demand (Pålsson, Pettersson and Winslott Hiselius, 2017). ...
... In particular, clothing Wiese, Toporowski and Zielke, 2012;Mangiaracina et al., 2016;Hischier, 2018) and electronics (Weber et al., 2009;Carling et al., 2015;Melacini and Tappia, 2018) are investigated most. Specifically analysed in these studies are greenhouse gas emissions, carbon emissions or CO 2 emissions (Velásquez, Ahmad and Bliemel, 2009;Cullinane, 2010, 2011;Wiese, Toporowski and Zielke, 2012;Kellner and Igl, 2012;Brown and Guiffrida, 2014;Van Loon et al., 2014Carling et al., 2015;Laghaei, Faghri and Li, 2015;Belavina, Girotra and Kabra, 2016;Mangiaracina et al., 2016;Melacini and Tappia, 2018) and energy consumption, energy usage or energy demand (Pålsson, Pettersson and Winslott Hiselius, 2017). Some studies analysed both Weber et al., 2009;Hischier, 2018). ...
Thesis
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The retail sector has changed radically in the last years, driven by possibilities created by the internet. Consumers adapted their behaviour accordingly, purchasing online as well as in-store and combining several retail channels for a single purchase. This type of behaviour is called “omnichannel” and spurred the development of retail models accommodating this behaviour, by integrating physical stores with web-shops and mobile shops. Transport associated with retailing is investigated with great attention, particularly because it is a significant contributor to climate change and air polluting emissions, among others. An unresolved yet crucial question remains which retail model is more sustainable from an environmental point of view: online retail or retailing instore. While research has focused mostly on retail logistics to address this matter, this PhD advocates to consider the broad omnichannel retail context, explicitly including consumers’ purchase, travel and choice behaviour.
... We reviewed 21 articles reporting on the environmental impact of retail-related transport and logistics. While the oldest study dates back to 2005 [22], the majority of studies was published Sustainability 2019, 11, 2534 3 of 19 in 2009 [23][24][25][26][27] and 2015 [20,21,28,29]. Apart from conceptual studies reflecting on available knowledge and literature on the topic [20,23,27,[30][31][32], the product-specific case-study approach is common. ...
... Apart from conceptual studies reflecting on available knowledge and literature on the topic [20,23,27,[30][31][32], the product-specific case-study approach is common. In particular, clothing [22,[33][34][35] and electronics [25,28,36] are investigated most. Specifically analysed in these studies are greenhouse gas emissions, carbon emissions or CO 2 emissions [19,21,[26][27][28][29][30][31]33,34,[36][37][38][39] and energy consumption, energy usage or energy demand [32]. ...
... In particular, clothing [22,[33][34][35] and electronics [25,28,36] are investigated most. Specifically analysed in these studies are greenhouse gas emissions, carbon emissions or CO 2 emissions [19,21,[26][27][28][29][30][31]33,34,[36][37][38][39] and energy consumption, energy usage or energy demand [32]. Some studies analysed both [22,25,35]. ...
Article
Full-text available
Retailers and consumers are increasingly “omnichannel”. This means that retailers offer multiple integrated offline and online channels to their customers, while consumers use multiple offline and online channels throughout their shopping journeys. In these shopping journeys, consumers can travel for researching, testing, receiving and returning activities related to a purchase, next to the purchasing itself. It is unclear how such omnichannel consumer behaviour materialises in practice. This information is important for practitioners from retail as well as for society, not in the least because of the environmental impact that shopping trips generate. Existing environmental assessments of retail-related transport and logistics do not account for consumers’ omnichannel shopping and travel behaviour. To fill this gap in research, we set up a case-study collaboration with an omnichannel footwear retailer in Belgium. We collected data on logistics and consumer flows and analysed this data to determine the CO2 footprint. Our research results in six profiles, of which “the online shopper” that shops online and receives its purchase at home or at a collection point generates the lowest impact. However, when online shoppers travel to stores prior to their e-purchase and become “showroomers”, the external CO2 costs double compared to “traditional shoppers” that carry out all shopping activities in-store and are more than eight times higher compared to “online shoppers”. Although the case-study context should be taken into account (e.g., in terms of product type, retailer type and geography), a sensitivity analysis demonstrates the robustness of our results.
... A case study of the purchase of electronic goods (such as a desktop computer or small stereo) by consumers in the Dalecarlia region in central Sweden (a region chosen for its representativeness of the country as a whole, containing mountains that limit road transport routes in and out, and with rural locations resulting in some people living far from electronics shops), showed that, on average, consumer buying online (and collecting from a local postal collection point) consume only 14% of the transport CO2 emissions of those buying at a store (Carling et al., 2015). This assumes that consumers do not visit a store to view the item, instead doing all their research and order placement online. ...
... In the base case, the goods vehicle delivering the online order to the collection point was assumed to be 60% full. Further analysis showed that if the vehicle is only loaded to 30% of its capacity, this only modestly worsens the CO 2 emissions produced by shopping online compared with buying in a store, and the CO 2 benefits of buying online remained large (Carling et al., 2015). ...
Technical Report
Policy commitments to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) in the UK and many other countries require the road freight industry to achieve major change in relation to this aspect of vehicle activity. In the UK, the road freight industry has pledged support to the government’s voluntary commitment to reduce GHG emissions from heavy goods vehicles by 15% by 2025 (from 2015 levels) and will also play its part in the government’s commitment to bring all GHG emissions to net zero by 2050. As an ever-increasing proportion of retailing shifts online in the UK, the last-mile deliveries associated with this trend are a growing source of GHG emissions in the road freight industry. This briefing report provides a review of the shift towards online retailing in the UK and the last mile delivery it results in, and the transport intensity, GHG emissions and other impacts associated with this phenomenon. It considers the logistics operations, consumer purchasing, technological, land-related and policy measures that could be taken by various stakeholders to help mitigate these impacts.
... Similarly, Wiese et al. (2012) find that online retail causes less CO 2 emissions under many conditions, but short distance store visits, use of public transport, product returns and 'browsing-only' shopping trips have positive effects on the sustainability impact associated with conventional retail. Carling et al. (2015) develop a method to compare emissions along the entire supply chain, from regional entry point to the delivery destination (i.e. consumers' homes). ...
... consumers' homes). They compare a store-shopping scenario with a scenario in which online purchases are delivered to collection points and find that, although online retail increases the average distance travelled, it still brings about a 84% CO 2 decrease because of consolidated deliveries to collection points (Carling et al., 2015). Van Loon et al. (2015) build on lifecycle analysis to compare store visits, home delivery and local collection. ...
Article
E-commerce is a rapidly growing and evolving sector. The sector is however struggling with organising its last mile deliveries in order to meet the sustainability requirements, both economically and environmentally. Multiple studies have compared deliveries to collection points with deliveries to residential home addresses in sustainability terms. The variety in results indicates that these studies are bound to local parameters (such as regulations, drop densities, collection point networks). Consequently, their results cannot be generalised or transferred to other contexts. In this research, we compare deliveries to stores serving as collection points and homes for online ordered non-food products in Belgium. The solutions are simulated with agent-based transport model TRABAM. The results are evaluated based on their generated external costs and differentiated according to three area types: urban, urbanised and rural areas. Considering the case-specific density of the collection points, the results indicate that home deliveries are preferred in rural and urbanised areas when considering the sustainability impact solely. In urban areas, collection point deliveries are more sustainable.
... The growing interest in online shopping has made last-mile delivery one of the most expensive and polluting-yet least efficient-stages of the e-commerce supply chain (Zhou et al., 2016). This is contradicted by the fact that e-commerce shopping itself can be less emissions intensive, given the right mode of transport (Carling et al., 2015). Operating models have a major impact on the carbon emissions of the e-commerce industry, with emissions as high as 70% (Cairns, 2005; Chun and Zhang, 2011). ...
Article
Full-text available
In this research, we employed multivariate statistical methods to investigate the perspectives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) concerning the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulation and their apprehensions related to EPR compliance. The EPR regulation, which places the responsibility of waste management on producers, has significant financial and administrative implications, particularly for SMEs. A sample of 114 businesses was randomly selected, and the collected data underwent comprehensive analysis. Our findings highlight that a notable proportion of businesses (44.7%) possess knowledge of the EPR regulation’s provisions, whereas only a marginal fraction (1.8%) lacks sufficient familiarity. We also explored the interplay between opinions on the EPR regulation and concerns regarding its financial and administrative implications. Our results establish a significant correlation between EPR regulation opinions and concerns, with adverse opinions prominently influencing concerns, particularly regarding financial burdens and administrative workloads. These outcomes, derived from the application of multivariate statistical techniques, provide valuable insights for enhancing the synergy between environmental regulations and business practices. EPR regulation significantly affects SMEs in terms of financial, administrative, and legal obligations, thus our study highlights that policymakers may need to consider additional support mechanisms to alleviate the regulatory burden on SMEs, fostering a more effective and sustainable implementation of the EPR regulation.
... The key supply chain partners include warehouses, distribution centers, and consumers. The environmental impacts are measured in terms of cost, energy use, and carbon emissions, as documented by various studies (Scott Matthews et al., 2001;Siikavirta et al., 2002;Williams & Tagami, 2002;Edwards et al., 2009;Mckinnon & Cullinane, 2010;Tiwari & Singh, 2011;Weideli, 2013;Carling et al., 2015;Zhang et al., 2016;Cheris et al., 2017;Guo et al., 2017;Hidayatno et al., 2019). However, previous research has not comprehensively examined all dimensions of activities and supply chain partners, nor specifically focused on the environmental impact of e-commerce activities in Thailand. ...
... Thus, sustainable deliveries are chosen by 25% of online shoppers, while 35% are willing to pay for climate-friendly deliveries (Postnord 2020). Consumers tend to purchase different products from separate online platforms, creating the need for independent distribution (Carling et al. 2015). Even when these items are purchased from the same retailer, they may be shipped from different warehouses, unlike offline purchases, which are made in a single transaction. ...
Article
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The main objective of the study is to highlight the impact that the use of electronic commerce (e-commerce), electronic banking (e-banking) services have on climate change in European Union (EU) countries. Thus, we built a panel model to evaluate the correlations between e-commerce, e–banking, electronic sales channels, and climate change mitigation during 2011–2022 period for the EU countries. Furthermore, we applied the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) method including three independent variables that evaluate the use of digital commerce applications and the dependent variable for climate change. A significant revelation of the study is the positive contribution of e-commerce activities to climate change mitigation. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the role of e-banking in decreasing the consequences of climate change. However, the study also uncovers a more complex aspect regarding electronic sales channels. It finds that not all forms of electronic sales are effective in reducing climate change impacts. Thus, the study highlights the potential benefits of e-commerce and e-banking in the context of climate change mitigation, while also warning against a one-size-fits-all approach to the adoption of digital commerce models. These findings have important implications for policymakers, businesses, and researchers aiming to align digital transformation with sustainable development goals.
... Many scholars have studied the effects of different shopping channels of consumers on carbon emissions mainly from an empirical perspective. For example, some studies have analyzed the variation in carbon emissions associated with online versus offline shopping through questionnaires and data statistics [17,18] and have found that online shopping can considerably lower carbon emissions. Rai et al. [19] compiled a collection of data records of over 200 purchases to compare the carbon footprints of online and offline shopping and found that, in some specific scenarios, online shopping tends to have lower carbon emissions than offline. ...
Article
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Addressing climate change necessitates reducing carbon emissions, with green behavior adoption being crucial. This study examines how green consumption awareness (GCA) and carbon emission disclosures influence consumer shopping channel choices, offering a practical approach to converting awareness into actionable behavior. Using stated preference (SP) data, we investigate the impact of green awareness and information disclosure on consumers’ choices between online and offline shopping channels. The key findings include the following: (1) GCA affects shopping channel choices in certain scenarios, though not always significantly. (2) Detailed carbon information disclosure steers consumers towards lower-emission channels, especially when specific carbon data are provided. (3) The type of goods significantly influences shopping channel decisions, serving as a variable across scenarios. (4) Effective scenarios, such as a 3 km shopping trip for categories like tissue and trash bags, where the difference in channel choice under varying levels of information disclosure is statistically significant, have been identified. These insights inform recommendations for information disclosure strategies that not only enhance GCA but also drive behavioral change, thereby fostering environmentally friendly consumption behaviors that contribute to a reduction in consumers’ carbon footprint.
... E-commerce presents an avenue for MSMEs to participate in commerce competitively, thereby fostering social and economic sustainability (Cao et al., 2020). Research examining the environmental impact of e-commerce and traditional in-store shopping has demonstrated that brick-and-mortar retailing can lead to significant reductions in CO2 emissions, ranging from 70% to even 84% in some cases (Liyi & Chun, 2011;Van Loon et al., 2015;Carling et al., 2015). Various sustainability aspects in e-commerce have garnered scholarly attention, including investigations into packaging waste, cross-border e-commerce sustainability, cyber-security, and the holistic examination of environmental, social, and economic dimensions (Escursell et al., 2021;Xiao et al., 2019;D'Adamo et al., 2021;Oláh et al., 2019). ...
Article
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This research aims to investigate how e-commerce and digital marketing impact the performance and sustainability of businesses. To test our hypotheses, we collected data from 144 participants employed in small and medium-sized enterprises in Iran. We analyzed this data using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Our findings indicate that both e-commerce and digital marketing have a positive and significant influence on firm performance. Additionally, they also have a positive and significant impact on sustainability. Moreover, our results reveal that there is a positive and significant correlation between firm performance and sustainability. This suggests that adopting e-commerce and digital marketing strategies can lead to sustainability, benefiting not only the company's economic growth but also its environmental and social contributions.
... With the development of e-commerce, carbon emissions from the whole supply chain, including packaging and "last-mile" delivery, become a major concern (Abbasi & Erdebilli, 2023;Kang et al., 2021;van Loon et al., 2015). However, numerous quantitative studies comparing carbon emissions from e-commerce and traditional offline retailing have found that, in certain scenarios such as logistics with fuel upgrade and reduced packaging, the e-commerce channel has lower carbon emissions per purchase than traditional offline retailing (Buldeo Rai et al., 2023;Carling et al., 2015;Shahmohammadi et al., 2020). Moreover, customer behavior patterns and preferences have a significant impact on the life-cycle carbon emissions of purchasing behavior (Buldeo Rai et al., 2023). ...
Article
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E-commerce is regarded as a sustainable purchasing method with a large carbon emission reduction potential. Therefore, comparing the influencing factors of consumers’ decision-making in traditional and online channels is helpful to understand consumers’ purchasing behaviors in different channels and guide consumers to shift to green consumption. This study aims to investigate the differences in the factors impacting the fresh food purchase behavior of online and offline consumers and provide implications for relevant stakeholders based on the study results. The data from 402 questionnaires were analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method within the theoretical framework of the theory of consumption values. The results show that two groups are significantly different in emotional value and conditional value, with the offline group focusing more on shopping immediacy and a pleasant shopping experience, and the online group focusing more on convenience and trust in well-known channels and brands. The insignificance of green labels and green product information suggests that consumers have not acquired the habit of referring to green product information to help them make green purchasing decisions in terms of fresh food. Relevant companies should differentiate their marketing strategy to attract target consumers, and the role of product green information should be emphasized in future.
... exceptions (see for example Shahmohammadi, 2020 28 ), most studies find that eCommerce is 31 more environmentally benign than traditional shopping, as it can lower impacts associated with 32 the 'last mile' (i.e. from seller to consumer door) and reduce the need for energy and material 33 intensive store fronts )see Rai, 2023 3 for a comprehensive review). 34 Notably however, many prominent studies on the environmental impacts of eCommerce leave 35 returns beyond the system boundaries and consider only impacts incurred between factory gate 36 and 1 st consumer (i.e., forward logistics, see Figure of analysis, and ) [22][23][24]28 . Moreover, the 37 studies which do consider returns generally assume that all returned products are directly 38 reintegrated into the regular sales funnel and therefore only include impacts associated with 39 shipping items back to sellers 3,[25][26][27] . ...
Preprint
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Each year, consumers return billions of new products to sellers. Despite reports that once returned products are often discarded without ever being used, surprisingly little research has examined the environmental impacts of returns from a full lifecycle perspective. Building on a unique dataset covering over 630k returned apparel items, we map the flow of returned products under best and conventional management practices, and illustrate the full lifecycle impacts associated with returns using two case studies. Our results suggest that 23%-46% of new products returned never reach another consumer. Moreover, we find that the GHG emissions associated with the production and distribution of returned products that ultimately go unused can be 16 times higher than all post-return transport, packaging, and processing emissions combined. Our findings suggest that the environmental performance eCommerce, where return rates are exceptionally high, may be systematically underestimated, and highlight the urgent need to promote circular returns management practices.
... Online grocery shopping is growing rapidly [18]. While online shopping is convenient, accessible, fast, and generally more sustainable than in-person shopping due to lower transportation emissions [6], there is still room to improve it. The advantage of conducting research in online environments is that supermarket websites can be easily and flexibly modified (e.g. through web browser extensions [53]). ...
Preprint
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Food consumption is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. However, online grocery shoppers often lack the time, motivation, or knowledge to contemplate a food's environmental impact. At the same time, they are concerned with their own well-being. To empower grocery shoppers in making nutritionally and environmentally informed decisions, we investigate the efficacy of the Scale-Score, a label combining nutritional and environmental information to highlight a product's benefit to both the consumer's and the planet's health, without obscuring either information. We conducted an online survey to understand user needs and requirements regarding a joint food label, we developed an open-source mock online grocery environment, and assessed label efficacy. We find that the Scale-Score supports nutritious purchases, yet needs improving regarding sustainability support. Our research shows first insights into design considerations and performance of a combined yet disjoint food label, potentially altering the label design space.
... Bertram and Chi's (2017) study results show that transportation, packaging, returns and disposal are the key factors that most influence GHG emissions in e-retailing. Various studies such as Carling et al. (2015), Wiese et al. (2012) and Jaller and Pahwa (2020) prove that E-commerce delivery is more environmentally friendly in terms of GHG emissions than traditional car shopping at B&M. The most influential factor in reducing emissions in lastmile delivery is the use of trucks/vans with consolidated parcel delivery instead of separate Figure 6. ...
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Purpose The purpose of this study is to systematically review available state-of-the-art literature on comparative studies on Quick Commerce (Q-commerce) and E-commerce and their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Design/methodology/approach The literature survey methodology is based on the funneling approach of Kitchenham (2004), where results are obtained according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. The literature review methodology used for this study covers the period from 2016 to 2022. The areas considered for the survey are operations, logistics and supply chain network design for the distribution of goods in e-business. After deciding on the criteria, a total of 140 articles were extracted from 9 journal articles that study e-commerce and environmental emissions. Findings The result of this study reveals that GHG emissions from both modes of shopping depend on various parameters such as speed of delivery, last-mile depot locations, logistics and vehicle efficiency, customers’ order patterns and average basket size. Furthermore, the findings also highlight the difference between Q-commerce and E-commerce supply chain networks. Research limitations/implications This study only accounts for GHG emissions from logistics activities, but there are other sources of GHG emissions in the overall supply chain that are not taken into consideration. Supply chain/business analysts in Q-commerce companies might refer the findings from this study to measure GHG emissions from their operations. Originality/value This is the first study in the Q-commerce field that uses a structured approach to find relevant literature from the years 2016 to 2022 and focuses on GHG emission measurement.
... Some scholars hold that online shopping would have a substitution effect on trips for offline shopping. For example, Carling et al. compared the carbon emissions generated by online and offline shopping using the data from Dalecarlia region in Sweden, and found that online shopping would reduce the carbon emissions by 84% compared with offline shopping [39]. Shi et al. explored the relationship between online shopping for four types of commodities (clothes and shoes, electronics, food and drink, and cosmetics) and offline shopping trips, using data from structured interviews with 710 respondents in Chengdu, China. ...
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In order to enhance consumers’ experience of online shopping and to reduce their unnecessary car trips for offline shopping, a new mode, namely, establishing the virtual-shopping-experience store, is proposed in this paper. A bi-level programming model is then built with the aim of optimizing the location of the virtual-shopping-experience stores. The upper-level submodel is utilized to optimize the location of the experience stores, as well as the selection of virtual-reality (VR) devices purchased by the stores, by maximizing the social welfare generated from reducing the car trips for offline shopping after the establishment of the virtual-shopping-experience stores. The lower-level submodel is a binary Logit model, one which calculates the probability of consumers’ choices between online and offline shopping according to the locations of the experience stores output by the upper-level submodel. A genetic algorithm is adopted to solve the model. To validate the accuracy of the model, as well as that of the algorithm, case studies are carried out based on the real data collected in Dalian and Ningbo (two cities in China). The case study result demonstrates that the establishment of virtual-shopping-experience stores would contribute to reducing the frequency of car trips for offline shopping, as well as the distance of car trips for offline shopping and the time spent in car trips for offline shopping.
... Hence, the integration of supply chain management and logistics enables the transportation of goods through the reliable flow of information, reducing the shortened delivery lead time which results in the increased efficiency rate of the flow of goods in the entire supply chain (Yoo & Rhee, 2002). Additionally, it deals par with environmental guidelines to protect the environment by giving special importance to intermodal rail transportation to reduce CO 2 emissions (Lammgård, 2012), by utilizing proper distribution centers to reduce pollution (Moutaoukil et al., 2015), the usage of e-tailing increased the efficiency when compared with the traditional transportation (Carling et al., 2015), infrastructure facility, such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), and Global Positioning System (GPS) is required to identifying the trucks and truck drivers, real-time monitoring the hazardous goods (Jinshan, 2017), alarm notifications (Oliveira et al., 2015), determining the location to safely deliver the goods (Galkin et al., 2019), safe shipment of dangerous goods (Laarabi et al., 2014). ...
Article
In our study, we applied bibliometric analysis techniques to explore the research trends in goods transportation. The Scopus database is selected for our research works. Since the extracted datasets from the Scopus database are effectively useful for bibliometric and descriptive analysis using VOSVIEWER software and MS-EXCEL. This study used six research contributions to find out descriptive statistics such as year—wise publications trend, document type, publisher contribution summary, percentage of articles vs subject category, the contribution of authors and their countries based on the total number of publications and their corresponding total citations, the reputation of documents and journals according to the total citations that occurred over the period by performing citation analysis, the intellectual structures of goods transportation by performing co-citation analysis with co-cited authors, to identify the trends involving goods transportation by performing keywords co-occurrence analysis, and to know the research gaps and further research directions on goods transportation. This research study has found gradual results of goods transportation from 2000 to 2021 and performed network analysis to get the intellectual structure and emergent themes in goods transportation, such as dangerous goods transportation, railway goods transportation, technology enhancement in goods transportation, and sustainability perspectives. This study was limited to documents that were retrieved from the largest database Scopus. Those which are not incorporated here are not part of the study, which may or may not affect our research findings. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt at the evolution of documents about goods transportation by using bibliometric tools.
... Palsson et al. (2017) found that e-commerce activities increase the energy consumption of packaging materials, electricity, and other materials, especially the waste and returns of related products and their materials, which ultimately increased carbon emissions. Carling et al. (2015) showed that e-commerce increases consumer shopping channels, combined with the fact that goods may come from different warehouses. E-commerce led to an increase in the volume of freight vehicles and deliveries, which in turn generated significant CO 2 emissions. ...
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The existing studies ignore the potential impact of e-commerce on CO2 emissions. Based on panel data of 284 cities at the prefecture level and above in China from 2003 to 2019, we regard National E-commerce Demonstration Cities (NEDC) policy as a quasi-natural experiment and empirically examine the impact and mechanism of NEDC policy on urban CO2 emissions by using multi-period difference-in-difference (DID) model and mediating effect model. The results show that, under the premise of satisfying parallel trends, the NEDC policy significantly reduces urban CO2 emissions. Compared with the non-pilot cities, the NEDC policy leads to decreases in urban CO2 emissions by 0.83%. The result still holds after a series of robustness tests, which include placebo test, propensity score matching (PSM) DID estimation, and instrumental variable estimation. The NEDC policy reduces urban CO2 emissions through promoting industrial structure upgrading, green technology innovation, and economic agglomeration. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the reduction effect of NEDC policy on urban CO2 emissions is stronger in non-western cities, larger scale cities, and resource-based cities.
... Browsing-only shopping trips are considered in two cases. 3,35 Their occurrence represents one of the parameters constituting the consumer profiles in two other studies. 36,37 In 4% of carbon footprint calculations for online purchases, store travel is implied for accessing the purchase (i.e., "click and collect"), while a delivery is implied after the purchase in 1% of carbon footprint calculations for store purchases. ...
Article
Although it has been studied extensively throughout the past 20 years, the environmental impact of e-commerce can still be considered a controversial subject. Particularly for those wondering whether online shopping constitutes a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional store-based shopping, evidence can be found that quantitatively supports affirmative as well as opposing claims. Findings differ widely because the contexts and assumptions of the studies from which they are drawn differ widely as well. To advance our understanding of this question and inform actions that can actually reduce the environmental impact of shopping, we carried out a systematic quantitative review of environmental impact assessments that compares the carbon footprint of online and store purchases. Based on over twenty scientific studies, we compiled a dataset of 244 purchases, their estimated carbon footprint and information on the contextual, distribution, behavioral, and geographical conditions on which the calculations are based. We conclude from the reviewed studies that online purchases generally generate a lower carbon footprint than store purchases, but only in the case of car-dependent lifestyles, and possibly only because the studies largely overlook transformations in consumer behavior and in the consumption landscape.
... By studying the behavioral characteristics of e-commerce users, we can provide users with high-quality services and greatly improve the success rate of e-commerce transactions. erefore, analyzing the characteristics of e-commerce users' behavioral data is a key lesson in the current field of E-commerce [1]. E-commerce is a form of business with information network technology as the means to achieve the exchange of goods as the purpose [2]. ...
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In order to reduce the time for customers to select commodities they are interested in, improve the purchase efficiency, improve the success rate of sales of merchants, and create greater economic benefits for enterprises and merchants, this project collects information and data of e-commerce users, using neural network model to analyze and mine data characteristics and shopping records of e-commerce users. According to the analysis results, a user commodity recommendation system based on e-commerce is implemented by using data mining technology. Through the combination of database technology, the transaction and browsing data generated in the process of e-commerce transactions are collected. The collected data is preformatted and used as the input of data mining. Then, it uses data mining technology to mine and analyze the commodities that users are interested in, makes matching according to the types of commodities, and recommends the commodities that users are interested in under a given scene according to the established prediction model. By combining fuzzy clustering with collaborative filtering algorithm, this paper recommends the products that users are interested in, which are mined from historical data and commodity information.
... Executing business through digital means, referred as E-commerce, is reported to reduce carbon emissions to an extent of 209 mt of CO 2, and online procurement of standard electronic goods was found to reduce carbon footprint to an extent of 84% in comparison with purchase through conventional e-retailing (Carling et al., 2015). A study conducted to comparatively evaluate the CO 2 emission from conventional retail mode of business and e-commerce in Shenzhen, China, revealed that environmental cost implications were less in E-commerce and the total CO 2 emission difference between the two modes was estimated to be 124 million tonnes in 2016. ...
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Natural resources are under constant exploitation due to industrialization and urbanization. Ecological disturbance caused by over exploitation of resources is one of the possible reasons for the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the highly infectious nature of this disease, countries across the world have taken self-imposed isolation measures such as lockdown, quarantine, curfew, etc., to limit human-to-human spread. Though this pandemic has shaken the world and left millions suffering, it has also caused surprising positive effects to environment. Due to reduced human pressure on ecosystems during the lockdown, betterment of air, water quality and biodiversity along with reduced consumption of natural resources have been reported. It is necessary to maintain this improvement in order to avoid the environmental benefits slipping away once the world limbs back to normalcy. The benefits acquired in terms of resource conservation prompt us to avoid unnecessary human interference and adopt sustainable life styles. Wide usage of information and communication technologies (viz. work from home, teleconferencing, e-learning and e-commerce) during the pandemic revealed their potential in meeting the needs of human livelihood and played a significant role in improvement in air quality and reduced resource consumption. Implementing them should be a policy measure during an environmental crisis. Active government involvement is necessary for coordinating institutional and policy aspects of resource conservation. Smooth transitioning to more sustainable post-COVID world thus requires coordinated action at individual, local, national and international levels. Restoring environmental resources is essential to prevent future pandemics.
... E-commerce is antimonic to sustainability. Research into the environmental impact compared to traditional in-store shopping revealed, that GHG emissions can be up by the factor of 3 -6 [Carling et al., 2015;Escursell et al., 2021;van Loon et al., 2015]. ...
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Background: Germany is the largest plastic consumer in Europe. On average some 400g of plastics are used by its citizens. Despite promoting circular economy (CE) systems almost 60% of plastics are burned, recovering the thermal energy, however leaving an additional CO2-Footprint. This increased emission does not only negatively contribute to climate change but also translates to poor sustainability metrics, lacking behind industry trends. The objective of this article is to review and provide an overview of the current trends of the German packaging industry with a focus on sustainability. This is important to understand the future opportunities and risks concerning the industries' economic development. Methods: This review article is based on a primary literature review of key authors within the respective field. As an additional criterion, only articles published not before 2013 have been included. Result: The German packaging industry is experiencing decreasing production rates and prices between 2018 and 2021. While general trends are shifting towards sustainability and responsible consumption, the majority of plastics are used for energy recovery. Following that the German packaging industry is driven by three key trends, (i) Packaging Materials, (ii) Packaging Design and (iii) Smart Packaging. Improving sustainability can be identified as the leading driver in all the mentioned trends. The industry is rapidly shifting towards circular systems giving high importance to social value and well-being. Conclusion: This study analyses and contributes to our understanding of the German packaging industry. It provides a deeper insight into the current market, its challenges and discusses overall key trends.
... They are all significant factors of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in e-commerce. Additionally, consumers are inclined to purchase separate items from different websites, which requires independent deliveries (Carling et al. 2015). Even buying various items from one retailer can result in separate deliveries due to items being dispatched from different warehouses (distinct from the offline channel, which is a one-time purchase of goods). ...
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This paper made the first attempt to summarize the rules from a regional perspective and use panel data to explore the carbon Kuznets curve (CKC) between e-commerce and carbon dioxide emissions. The impact of online shopping on carbon emission has mixed conclusions. No CKC tests set mainly focuses on the e-commerce sector, which can help this research determine the relationship between e-commerce and carbon emissions. From a macro point of view, we examine both developed and developing regions by testing the CKC hypothesis. We try to explain it by exploring the econometric relationship between e-commerce and CO2 emissions. At first, we attempt to accurately measure the CO2 emissions by carefully distinguishing the carbon emission increments caused by the primary energy resulting from the secondary energy. Then, we use panel data collected from different Chinese cities during 2001–2017. The analyzed variables are stationary at their first differences with the LLC test, IPS test, Fisher-ADF test, Fisher-PP test, CADF, and CIPS unit root tests. The analyzed variables are cointegrated by employing the Pedroni panel cointegration test, the Kao panel cointegration test, and the Westerlund panel cointegration test. Using the DOLS, we also find that increases in trade openness decrease carbon emissions while increases in foreign direct investment (FDI) and market size contribute to the level of emissions. The quadratic-shape CKC hypothesis is supported for China, Eastern China, and Western China, and it is an inverted “U” shape. The cubic-form CKC is supported for Central China, and it is an “N” shape. Our study provides important insights for enacting regional and country-level e-commerce regulations and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
... 13 Locating stores closer to consumers might reduce last-mile distances for shoppers while increasing upstream travel distance, though the efficiency of freight could compensate for this trade-off. 56 Closer stores would also push freight activities closer to consumers, exacerbating congestion in some areas. The location of stores relative to consumers might have a larger impact on households without cars who use alternative transportation modes and are thus distance-limited in their store options. ...
Article
Our food system is experiencing dramatic changes as the expansion of e-commerce, introduction of new products, and innovations in supply chain structures all pose to transform how we buy, sell, and distribute food. However, the environmental impacts of these transformations remain unclear. This feature reviews existing literature on environmental implications of e-commerce, discusses relevant trade-offs, and identifies pressing gaps in research. Some trade-offs discussed are those between centralized and decentralized delivery service types, those unique to a rural landscape, and those within the interplay of transportation and consumer behavior. The impacts of fulfillment centers, of refrigerated logistics, of e-commerce on consumer shopping and food waste habits, and of e-commerce services in rural regions are identified as pressing knowledge gaps.
... Research into the environmental impact of e-commerce and traditional in-store shopping have revealed that, for example, brick and mortar retailing (i.e., buying at physical stores) can reduce CO 2 emissions by up to 70% (Cairns, 2005;Liyi, 2011;Van Loon et al., 2015;Wiese, 2012) or even 84% in some cases (Carling, 2015). Based on available data, e-commerce is an effective choice for nonurban delivery over long distances (Morganti et al., 2014;Moroz, 2016;Wang and Zhou, 2015) as it avoids using private means of transport to reach urban areas, which is where malls are usually located. ...
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Online purchasing, and hence e-commerce packaging production and use, have grown steadily in recent years, and so has their environmental impact as a result. This paper reviews the evolution of packaging over the last century through a compilation of scientific literature on e-commerce packaging focusing on its environmental side. The primary aims were to identify research gaps in e-commerce packaging and to propose new research lines aimed at reducing its environmental impact. A systematic search of abstracts was conducted to identify articles dealing with sustainability in e-commerce packaging in order to better understand changes in materials and formats, identify problems such as oversizing and allow prospective readers to become acquainted with the latest innovations in materials, sustainability and logistics. Based on existing research, packaging materials and technology evolved rapidly until the 1990s. Later, however, it has become increasingly difficult to further reduce their cost and environmental impact. Also, some packaging products continue to be made from non-renewable materials and thus restrict growth of e-commerce. Further research is needed with a view to producing new packages from renewable sources such as cellulose-containing materials, which are widely available in nature, or from recycled cellulose-based materials such as cartonboard. Improving distribution processes with new, more effective tools could additionally help alleviate the environmental impact of packaging. Similarly, new production processes such as additive manufacturing and 3D printing might help optimize package volume and shape, thereby facilitating more sustainable production through, for example, reduced CO2 emissions. Currently available technology can be useful to rethink the whole e-commerce packaging paradigm, which has changed very little over the past few decades.
... Several studies analyzing the impact of e-commerce on transport and the environment use survey data to predict and, in some cases, simulate resulting transport. Focusing on passenger transport and products such as clothing, books, or electronics and other small non-food items, research by Carling et al. (2015), Edwards et al. (2010), Laghaei et al. (2015), and Wiese et al. (2012) mostly found a reduction in CO2 emissions resulting from the replacement of private shopping trips by home deliveries. For e-groceries, a meta-study by Rotem-Mindali and Weltevreden (2013) report different trip length reduction rates, ranging as high as 93 %, when home delivery replaces personal shopping trips. ...
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Die großen Städte Deutschlands wachsen derzeit besonders stark. So wird für Berlin eine Zunahme der Bevölkerung von 2015 bis 2030 um über 250.000 Einwohner erwartet. Bei gleichzeitiger Veränderung von Konsumgewohnheiten und Angebotsstrukturen ist davon auszugehen, dass die Auswirkungen auf die Verkehrsnachfrage und das Verkehrsaufkommen signifikant sein werden. Dabei sind schon jetzt die verkehrsbedingten Emissionen gerade in Städten beträchtlich und beeinflussen die Lebensqualität. Aktuelle Forschung geht davon aus, dass Lebensmittel-Lieferservices zu einer Reduktion der Fahrleistung und der Emissionen beitragen können, indem sie weniger effiziente private Einkaufsfahrten ersetzen (ROTEM-MINDALI / WELTEVREDEN 2013: 879). Dabei berück-sichtigen die uns bekannten Studien in der Emissionsberechnung allerdings nicht die Kühlung von Lebensmitteln. Führen vor diesem Hintergrund solche Services tatsächlich zu einem Rückgang von Emissionen und wie wirkt sich dies räumlich aus? Der vorliegende Beitrag schlägt eine Kombination von Modellen für die Simulation von Verkehrs-nachfrage im Personen- und Güterverkehr vor und analysiert am Beispiel der Stadt Berlin die potentiellen Auswirkungen der zunehmenden Nutzung von Lebensmittel-Heimbelieferung auf Verkehrsleistung und CO2-Emissionen im Jahr 2030. Wir zeigen, dass vor allem die notwendige Lebensmittelkühlung einen negativen Effekt auf die Emissionsbilanz aus Einkaufsverkehr und Lieferverkehr hat. Kühlbedingte Emissionen betragen in unserem Fallbeispiel mehr als das Dreifache des Kraftstoffverbrauchs für Fahrten allein und wirken somit nicht emissionsreduzierend, sondern erhöhen sogar den CO2-Gesamtausstoß. Deutlich stärker sind von diesem Effekt die schon verkehrsbelasteten Innenstadtregionen Berlins betroffen, während in weniger nachfragestarken Stadtrandregionen die Emissionen zurückgehen. Um die Lebensqualität in Städten sicherzustellen sind somit energieeffiziente und umweltschonende Technologien nicht nur für den Antrieb, sondern auch die Kühlung der Fahrzeuge erforderlich.
... Insbesondere fehlt es an Simulationsstudien, die entsprechende Wirkungen berechnen, vor allem für den Lebensmittelhandel. Empirische erhebungsbasierte Analysen gibt es dagegen zahlreiche, insbesondere für die Branchen Bekleidung, Elektronikartikel und andere Non-Food-Produkte (CARLING et al. 2015;EDWARDS et al. 2010;LAGHAEI et al. 2015;WIESE et al. 2012). Die meisten der genannten Studien identifizieren ein hohes Potential für CO 2 -Reduktionen, wenn Belieferung private Einkaufsfahrten ersetzt. ...
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Das Kapitel ist hier veröffentlicht: https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/files/18196/978-3-95826-113-6_Neiberger_GHF28_OPUS_18196.pdf Abstract: Die großen Städte Deutschlands wachsen derzeit besonders stark. So wird für Berlin eine Zunahme der Bevölkerung von 2015 bis 2030 um über 250.000 Einwohner erwartet. Bei gleichzeitiger Veränderung von Konsumgewohnheiten und Angebotsstrukturen ist davon auszugehen, dass die Auswirkungen auf die Verkehrsnachfrage und das Verkehrsaufkommen signifikant sein werden. Dabei sind schon jetzt die verkehrsbedingten Emissionen gerade in Städten beträchtlich und beeinflussen die Lebensqualität. Aktuelle Forschung geht davon aus, dass Lebensmittel-Lieferservices zu einer Reduktion der Fahrleistung und der Emissionen beitragen können, indem sie weniger effiziente private Einkaufsfahrten ersetzen (ROTEM-MINDALI und WELTEVREDEN 2013, S. 879). Dabei berücksichtigen die uns bekannten Studien in der Emissionsberechnung allerdings nicht die Kühlung von Lebensmitteln. Führen vor diesem Hintergrund solche Services tatsächlich zu einem Rückgang von Emissionen und wie wirkt sich dies räumlich aus? Der vorliegende Beitrag schlägt eine Kombination von Modellen für die Simulation von Verkehrsnachfrage im Personen-und Güterverkehr vor und analysiert am Beispiel der Stadt Berlin die potentiellen Auswirkungen der zunehmenden Nutzung von Lebensmittel-Heimbelieferung auf Verkehrsleistung und CO 2-Emissionen im Jahr 2030. Wir zeigen, dass vor allem die notwendige Lebensmittelkühlung einen negativen Effekt auf die Emissionsbilanz aus Einkaufsverkehr und Lieferverkehr hat. Kühlbedingte Emissionen betragen in unserem Fallbeispiel mehr als das Dreifache des Kraftstoffverbrauchs für Fahrten allein und wirken somit nicht emissionsreduzierend, sondern erhöhen sogar den CO 2-Gesamtausstoß. Deutlich stärker sind von diesem Effekt die schon verkehrsbelasteten Innenstadtregionen Berlins betroffen, während in weniger nachfragestarken Stadtrandregionen die Emissionen zurückgehen. Um die Lebensqualität in Städten sicherzustellen sind somit energieeffiziente und umweltschonende Technologien nicht nur für den Antrieb, sondern auch die Kühlung der Fahrzeuge erforderlich.
... Many studies analyzing the impact of e-commerce on transport and the environment focus on survey data which are used for predictions and in some cases also simulations of resulting transport, mostly of passenger transport, and for products such as clothing, books, or electronics and other small nonfood items (Carling et al., 2015;Edwards et al., 2010;Laghaei et al., 2015;Wiese et al., 2012). These studies mostly find a reduction in CO 2 -emissions that result from the replacement of private shopping trips by home deliveries. ...
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Note: this is the submitted version before review (preprint): Online grocery shopping grows tremendously in urban areas triggering the discussion on its environmental impacts. Recent studies assume that in the case of home deliveries, consumers’ private shopping trips are replaced by home delivery trips thereby decreasing total vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) and CO2 emissions. To our knowledge none of these studies considered emissions caused by food cooling. We introduce a framework consisting of location and disaggregation of grocery stores, passenger travel demand, and delivery tour generation thereby considering both passenger and freight transport. In the travel demand model, trips to be substituted by home delivery are deleted from trip chains and tour distances recalculated. Applying the method to the city of Berlin, Germany, we derive resulting emissions comparing scenarios for the year 2030 with and without home-delivery assuming two different market shares of e-food. Results show that total VKT decrease, but CO2 emissions in home delivery scenarios are much higher in total due to food cooling. Refrigerator units increase fuel consumption and thus freight transport emissions by more than factor three as compared to driving. This finding calls for the use of more energy-efficient and less polluting technology in delivery vehicles not only for driving, but also for chilling.
... Furthermore, environmental issues are a priority also for institutions as they are often at the top of the agenda of politicians in several countries, and much research is conducted to face the challenges of climate change and sustainability. In this setting, the environmental impact of retailing on greenhouse gases emissions (GHG) should not be underestimated (Carling et al., 2015). In particular, logistics is commonly considered as one of the most polluting processes and the question whether the adoption of digital technologies can help reduce the environmental impact of logistics does not seem to have a clear answer yet. ...
... Furthermore, environmental issues are a priority also for institutions as they are often at the top of the agenda of politicians in several countries, and much research is conducted to face the challenges of climate change and sustainability. In this setting, the environmental impact of retailing on greenhouse gases emissions (GHG) should not be underestimated (Carling et al., 2015). In particular, logistics is commonly considered as one of the most polluting processes and the question whether the adoption of digital technologies can help reduce the environmental impact of logistics does not seem to have a clear answer yet. ...
Article
This paper addresses an identified need of quantitative models in the rising field of omni-channel (OC) purchasing sustainability. It contributes with a detailed assessment of the environmental impact of two processes, click and collect (C&C) and mobile shopping in store (MSiS), highlighting the weight of logistics activities. An activity-based model is developed and applied to a base case, that best represents the average purchasing process in the apparel industry, considering both the retailer’s and the customer’s perspectives. Sensitivity analyses are performed as well. Results show that MSiS is less sustainable than C&C, mainly due to the heavier impact of transport. For both configurations, the most critical parameter is the distance between the customer house and the store, whereas the customer profile and the location of the customer house (urban vs. extra-urban area) are additional significant factors for MSiS. The results of this study are also compared to previous research in the field of e-commerce environmental sustainability.
... Non-work trips tend to release less CO 2 than work-related trips (Ma et al., 2015), which indicates that the shortest routes for shopping, most frequently non-work trips, assumed in our study were rational. In general, goods transportation is more efficient than consumer driving, resulting in reductions of fuel consumption and CO 2 emissions (Carling et al., 2015;Xu et al., 2009). Interestingly, we determined that the delivery distances of packages via electronic commerce were eight times longer and that 429% of CO 2 was released during within city delivery (Table S6). ...
Article
If online retail markets are integrated, in that cost shocks in one country also affect pricing in other countries, asymmetric shocks to any one country in the region will spill over to neighboring countries as well. Using web‐scraped product‐level prices from a group of retail firms selling identical products in at least two of the four Nordic markets under study, we investigate if national markets are segmented at the borders. Contrary to previous studies, we use differences in product characteristics to divide the data into products that are easily transported across borders and those that are not. At the extreme end of the transportability spectrum, we investigate market integration for four types of games for computers or game consoles that are delivered via downloads, where the cross‐border transaction costs should be close to zero. Our results show that markets for product categories where cross‐border transaction costs are high are also segmented at the border, while markets for product categories that can easily be traded and transported between countries are not. As such, cross‐border transaction costs still matter for market segmentation, but only for the subset of products where such costs are high.
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The growing food demand, the tendency for organic food, and the adaptation of the e-commerce business model require new food supply chain management approaches. On the one hand, 30% of the world’s produced food is wasted, and CO2 emissions are rapidly growing due to transport. On the other hand, the increasingly complex and dynamic environment is decreasing the effectiveness of food supply chains. Because of these trends, sustainability and resilience are becoming more relevant to food supply chains. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to propose a strategy based on information exchange to improve food quality and decrease the level of CO2 emission in last-mile deliveries of food products. To achieve this goal, an agent-based model of last-mile deliveries was developed. The model simulated traffic flow and traffic accidents as disturbances in the system while measuring the level of CO2 emission and food quality of the network. The simulation compares information sharing between all vehicles in the urban area and without information sharing in four scenarios of the food industry. In practice, information sharing is achieved by using connected vehicle technology. The use of information sharing between vehicles in last-mile delivery processes allows the development of a self-organizing system, which would adapt to disturbances and lead to the development of sustainability in the long run.
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The growth of the e-commerce industry brings considerable waste. The Chinese government has begun to pay attention to the development of green e-commerce. We first analyze the nexus between China’s e-commerce industry and solid waste and hope to provide some insights into the development of green e-commerce. Considering the cross-sectional dependence of panel data, we adopt the second-generation panel unit root and cointegration tests. Furthermore, the empirical results from the DOLS show that the EKC quadratic curve exists in Whole & Eastern & Central & Western China. In Whole & Central & Western China, FDI will increase solid-waste emissions. In Central China, the market can significantly increase solid-waste emissions, and trade openness can reduce solid-waste emissions. The proportion of Eastern China’s secondary industry will substantially increase solid-waste emissions. Most of the eight major economic zones conform to the quadratic EKC curve except for three economic zones. The situation is as follows, In the Middle Reaches of the Yellow River, the development of e-commerce brings monotonically increasing solid-waste discharge. The EKC relationship does not exist in the Yangtze River’s middle reaches and Northwest Economic Zones. Research findings provide a perspective and basis for China to make regional green regulations to reduce the discharge of solid waste from e-commerce and open the pathway of green development of e-commerce.
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At present, corporate social responsibility has been widely mentioned by the international society, especially platform enterprises. For a platform that assumes social responsibilities, consumer surplus is a rather critical aspect, and product quality is one of the most important factors directly related to consumers. This paper studies a supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailing platform, in which the retailing platform procures products from the manufacturer. The manufacturer produces the products and decides the product quality. We consider two channel structures of the manufacturer and the retailing platform in the reseller mode and marketplace mode. Based on the model analysis and discussions, we obtain some managerial insights that are helpful in commercial practice. For the retailing platform, it has to suffer a loss in economic profit to care more about consumer surplus and become a social responsibility platform. In addition, its social responsibility plays different roles in different channel structures. In the marketplace mode, a social responsibility retailing platform helps to improve product quality. In the reseller mode, the retailing platform’s social responsibility does not make a change in product quality. Furthermore, the product quality in the reseller mode is always higher than that in the marketplace mode. From the perspective of economic profits, the manufacturer obtains higher profits in the reseller mode than the marketplace mode. The retailing platform obtains higher profits in the marketplace mode than the reseller mode.
Article
Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the optimization of the scheduling of production and transportation systems while considering delay time (DT) and environmental pollution (EP) concurrently. To this, an integrated multi-site manufacturing process using a cumulative transportation system is investigated. Additionally, a novel multi-society genetic algorithm is developed to reach the best answers. Design/methodology/approach A bi-objective model is proposed to optimize the production and transportation process with the objectives of minimizing DT and EP. This is solved by a social dynamic genetic algorithm (SDGA), which is a novel multi-society genetic algorithm, in scenarios of equal and unequal impacts of each objective. The impacts of each objective are calculated by the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) using experts’ opinions. Results are compared by dynamic genetic algorithm and optimum solution results. Findings Results clearly depict the efficiency of the proposed algorithm and model in the scheduling of production and transportation systems with the objectives of minimizing DT and EP concurrently. Although SDGA’s performance is acceptable in all cases, in comparison to other genetic algorithms, it needs more process time which is the cost of reaching better answers. Additionally, SDGA had better performance in variable weights of objectives in comparison to itself and other genetic algorithms. Research limitations/implications This research is an improvement which allows both society and industry to elevate the levels of their satisfaction while their social responsibilities have been glorified through assuaging the concerns of customers on distribution networks’ emission, competing more efficient and effective in the global market and having the ability to make deliberate decisions far from bias. Additionally, implications of the developed genetic algorithm help directly to the organizations engaged with intelligent production and/or transportation planning which society will be merited indirectly from their outcomes. It also could be utilitarian for organizations that are engaged with small, medium and big data analysis in their processes and want to use more effective and more efficient tools. Originality/value Optimization of EP and DT are considered simultaneously in both model and algorithm in this study. Besides, a novel genetic algorithm, SDGA, is proposed. In this multi-society algorithm, each society is focused on a particular objective; however, in one society all the feasible answers will have been integrated and optimization will have been continued.
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Mobile fuel delivery (MFD) uses a fueling truck to fill up personal and commercial fleet vehicles while they are parked overnight. This study used a sample data set provided by a San Francisco Bay Area company to explore the potential impacts on vehicle miles traveled (VMT), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, and traffic congestion. An analysis of vehicle travel associated with gas station trips was conducted to establish a basis for comparison. Future scenarios comparing the potential impacts of scaled-up MFD services in 2030 were also developed. The study concluded that MFD services compared favorably to gas stations in relation to environmental and traffic benefits in the longer term, even though personal fueling trips tended to generate low VMT. Benefits stemmed from efficiencies achieved by fueling multiple vehicles per delivery trip, replacing car share vehicle fueling trips, and removing trips from the network during peak hours. This analysis estimated that total annual CO 2 emissions associated with fuel delivery operations in the Bay Area were 76 metric tons, which is less than a typical gas station with 97 metric tons. Under assumptions of declining demand for gasoline and significantly fewer gas stations, and with highly efficient optimized operations, mobile delivery could gain up to 5% market share for gas and not add additional VMT over the business as usual scenario.
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Solutions to combinatorial optimization problems, such as problems of locating facilities, frequently rely on heuristics to minimize the objective function. The optimum is sought iteratively and a criterion is needed to decide when the procedure (almost) attains it. Pre-setting the number of iterations dominates in OR applications, which implies that the quality of the solution cannot be ascertained. A small, almost dormant, branch of the literature suggests using statistical principles to estimate the minimum and its bounds as a tool to decide upon stopping and evaluating the quality of the solution. In this paper we examine the functioning of statistical bounds obtained from four different estimators by using simulated annealing on p-median test problems taken from Beasley’s OR-library. We find the Weibull estimator and the 2nd order Jackknife estimator preferable and the requirement of sample size to be about 10 being much less than the current recommendation. However, reliable statistical bounds are found to depend critically on a sample of heuristic solutions of high quality and we give a simple statistic useful for checking the quality. We end the paper with an illustration on using statistical bounds in a problem of locating some 70 distribution centers of the Swedish Post in one Swedish region.
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The p-median model is used to locate P facilities to serve a geographically distributed population. Conventionally, it is assumed that the population patronize the nearest facility and that the distance between the resident and the facility may be measured by the Euclidean distance. Carling, Han, and Håkansson (2012) compared two network distances with the Euclidean in a rural region with a sparse, heterogeneous network and a non-symmetric distribution of the population. For a coarse network and P small, they found, in contrast to the literature, the Euclidean distance to be problematic. In this paper we extend their work by use of a refined network and study systematically the case when P is of varying size (1-100 facilities). We find that the network distance give as good a solution as the travel-time network. The Euclidean distance gives solutions some 4-10 per cent worse than the network distances, and the solutions tend to deteriorate with increasing P. Our conclusions extend to intra-urban location problems.
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In this article, the p-median model is used to find the location of retail stores that minimizes CO2 emissions from consumer travel. The optimal location is then compared with the existing retail location, and the excess CO2 emissions compared with the optimal solution is calculated. The results show that by using the environmentally optimal location, CO2 emissions from consumer travel could be reduced by approximately 22%.
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The p-median model is used to locate P centers to serve a geographically distributed population. A cornerstone of such a model is the measure of distance between a service center and demand points, i.e. the location of the population (customers, pupils, patients, and so on). Evidence supports the current practice of using Euclidean distance. However, we find that the location of multiple hospitals in a rural region of Sweden with a non-symmetrically distributed population is quite sensitive to distance measure, and somewhat sensitive to spatial aggregation of demand points.
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Online retailing is growing fast and claims are being made about its positive environmental impact relative to traditional shopping, particularly by the retailers themselves. There is, however, little concrete evidence to support the claims. Whilst there exists some research into the passenger travel implications of e‐shopping, this paper seeks to analyse the issues involved in online shopping from both a passenger and freight transport perspective. The objectives of the paper are first, to set out the complex transport relationships involved in online shopping and in particular the interaction between the passenger and freight aspects and second, to shed some light on the environmental impact of online shopping. It concludes that as things currently stand, it cannot be stated with any degree of certainty that clicks are any more environmentally responsible than bricks. The paper is conceptual in nature and is the pre‐cursor to an empirical study of the issue.
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We present a statistical analysis of simulated annealing applied to the p-median problem. The algorithm we use combines elements of the vertex substitution method of Teitz and Bart with the general methodology of simulated annealing. The cooling schedule adopted incorporates the notion of temperature adjustments rather than just temperature reductions. Computational results are given for test problems ranging from 100 to 900 vertices, retrieved from Beasley's OR-Library for combinatorial problems. Each problem was run for a maximum of 100 different streams of random numbers. Optimal solutions were found for 26 of the 40 problems tested, although high optimum hitting rates were obtained for only 20 of them. The worst gap in relation to the optimal solution was 1.62%, after all runs for each of the test problems were computed.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on the carbon intensity of “last mile” deliveries (i.e. deliveries of goods from local depots to the home) and personal shopping trips. Design/methodology/approach Several last mile scenarios are constructed for the purchase of small, non‐food items, such as books, CDs, clothing, cameras and household items. Official government data, operational data from a large logistics service provider, face‐to‐face and telephone interviews with company managers and realistic assumptions derived from the literature form the basis of the calculations. Allowance has been made for home delivery failures, “browsing” trips to the shops and the return of unwanted goods. Findings Overall, the research suggests that, while neither home delivery nor conventional shopping has an absolute CO 2 advantage, on average, the home delivery operation is likely to generate less CO 2 than the typical shopping trip. Nevertheless, CO 2 emissions per item for intensive/infrequent shopping trips by bus could match online shopping/home delivery. Research limitations/implications The number of items purchased per shopping trip, the choice of travel mode and the willingness to combine shopping with other activities and to group purchases into as few shopping trips or online transactions as possible are shown to be critical factors. Online retailers and home delivery companies could also apply measures (e.g. maximising drop densities and increasing the use of electric vehicles) to enhance the CO 2 efficiency of their logistical operations and gain a clearer environmental advantage. Practical implications Both consumers and suppliers need to be made more aware of the environmental implications of their respective purchasing behaviour and distribution methods so that potential CO 2 savings can be made. Originality/value The paper offers insights into the carbon footprints of conventional and online retailing from a “last mile” perspective.
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The classic problem of finding the shortest path over a network has been the target of many research efforts over the years. These research efforts have resulted in a number of different algorithms and a considerable amount of empirical findings with respect to performance. Unfortunately, prior research does not provide a clear direction for choosing an algorithm when one faces the problem of computing shortest paths on real road networks. Most of the computational testing on shortest path algorithms has been based on randomly generated networks, which may not have the characteristics of real road networks. In this paper, we provide an objective evaluation of 15 shortest path algorithms using a variety of real road networks. Based on the evaluation, a set of recommended algorithms for computing shortest paths on real road networks is identified. This evaluation should be particularly useful to researchers and practitioners in operations research, management science, transportation, and Geographic Information Systems.
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This study examines the population redistribution in Sweden at municipality level between 1970 and 1996. The aims of this study are to analyse : (1) the importance of migration and geographical variations in fertility and mortality for the redistribution of population between municipalities in Sweden from 1970 to 1996 ; and (2) the impacts of age composition in municipalities versus local age-specific fertility, mortality and migration rates on changes in population distribution. The population change in each municipality was calculated as if it was only affected by one demographic factor at the time. The results of these counterfactual scenarios were compared to actual population change and the effect of fertility, mortality, in- and out-migration and age composition was thereby isolated. Measurements of concentration have been used in order to analyse the changing population distribution. The main demographic factor behind the redistribution since 1970 is the geographical differences in age composition and its effects on the natural population change. It is demonstrated that this factor lies behind the trend towards increasing concentration in Sweden, while the impact of migration affects the fluctuations from this trend to a greater extent.
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What are the conceptual properties of a trading area? What is the definition of the term? What testable propositions are currently available to validate its properties and thus give precision to the definition? This article gives answers to these questions.
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This paper compares transport-related CO2 emissions of online and brick-and-mortar shopping based on supply, delivery, order and travel data related to one multi-channel clothing retailer. A sensitivity analysis sheds more light on how situational factors, such as the customers’ travel distances, returns, the use of public transport modes and information behavior via different channels influence the outcome of this comparison. The results show that online retailing causes lower CO2 emissions under many conditions. Nevertheless, the brick-and-mortar channel is more environmentally friendly when travel distances are small. The radius for which brick-and-mortar shopping has an advantage increases when returns, shifts in the use of public transport and information behavior are also considered.
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The concept of a median in a weighted graph is generalized to a multimedian. Then, it is shown that the optimum distribution of p switching centers in a communication network is at a p-median of the corresponding weighted graph. The following related problem in highway networks is also considered: What is a minimum number of policemen that can be distributed in a highway network so that no one is farther away from a policeman than a given distance d? This problem is attacked by generating all vertex-coverings externally stable sets of a graph by means of a Boolean function defined over the vertices of a graph. Then this idea is extended to Boolean functions that generate all matchings, all factors, and all possible subgraphs of G with given degrees.
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We consider a graph with n vertices, all pairs of which are connected by an edge; each edge is of given positive length. The following two basic problems are solved. Problem 1: construct the tree of minimal total length between the n vertices. (A tree is a graph with one and only one path between any two vertices.) Problem 2: find the path of minimal total length between two given vertices.
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This paper explores the relationship between transport emissions and various measures of passenger travel patterns in Britain. The paper uses original data from the 1989/91 National Travel Survey and identifies a method for incorporating a range of vehicle operating conditions into calculations of vehicle emissions and energy consumption for each journey recorded in the National Travel Survey data. The paper shows that travel distance is a reasonable proxy for vehicle energy consumption and emissions of most pollutants. Travel distance per person is therefore a simple and readily available environmental indicator for transport. This indicator has potential application in the assessment of current transport policies and programmes and in the development of future policies and programmes.
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The concepts of the “center” and the “median vertex” of a graph are generalized to the “absolute center” and the “absolute median” of a weighted graph (a graph with weights attached to its vertices as well as to its branches). These results are used to find the optimum location of a “switching center” in a communication network and to locate the best place to build a “police station” in a highway system. It is shown that the optimum location of a switching center is always at a vertex of the communication network while the best location for the police station is not necessarily at an intersection. Procedures for finding these locations are given.
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Car travel for food and other household items represents about 40% of all UK shopping trips by car, and about 5% of all car use. In the past 10 years, there has been an extremely rapid growth, albeit from a very small base, of home delivery services for such shopping. As this sector has developed, there has been increasing concern about the growth in delivery traffic, countered by the hope that services are reducing personal car travel. The balance between such tendencies is critical to the overall impact of services. The present paper examines a range of international evidence, including the results of nine modelling assessments. The evidence suggests that with realistic levels of take-up, a direct substitution of car trips by van trips could reduce vehicle-km by 70% or more. More complex shopper behavioural responses will occur, but, according to available empirical evidence, overall traffic reductions are still probable. Meanwhile, the benefits of services could be maximized by use of appropriate cost structures, new types of delivery location, less polluting vehicles, greater cooperation or out-sourcing by retailers, and measures to encourage greater consumption of local produce.
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In this paper we develop a model for estimating the attractiveness of shopping malls by analysing the distance customers travel to shopping malls. A mall intercept survey is conducted, and visitors to area malls are asked where they live and whether they came from home. More attractive malls are expected to attract customers from greater distances. Thus, analysis of the distances travelled leads to the derivation of the attractiveness of each shopping mall. The model was tested using a survey of 3,112 shoppers in 10 malls in Orange County, CA. The estimated attractiveness levels derived by this approach were compared with the results of other models for estimating retail attractiveness levels, and a good match was found. As a result of the study, we conclude the following: (i) distance is a less important factor in selecting a shopping mall to patronize compared to the choice of grocery stores or other retail facilities and (ii) the decline in the probability of patronizing a certain mall is better modelled as an exponential decline rather than a decline according to a power of the distance.
Article
In this paper we propose a new model for the p-median problem. In the standard p-median problem it is assumed that each demand point is served by the closest facility. In many situations (for example, when demand points are communities of customers and each customer makes his own selection of the facility) demand is divided among the facilities. Each customer selects a facility which is not necessarily the closest one. In the gravity p-median problem it is assumed that customers divide their patronage among the facilities with the probability that a customer patronizes a facility being proportional to the attractiveness of that facility and to a decreasing utility function of the distance to the facility.The model is analyzed and heuristic solution procedures are proposed. Computational experiments using a set of test problems, provide excellent results.
Conference Paper
Due to increased international trade over the past decade, the global carbon footprint of the US has been expanding. Electronics are a major driver in this trend, as they are both heavily imported and energy intensive. We estimate that the embodied emissions in electronic goods imported to the US has increased from ~170 Mmt CO2 in 1997 to ~470 Mmt CO2 in 2004, primarily driven by increased consumption of computers and peripherals, audio/video equipment, wireless communications equipment, and various components. Two usually ignored portions of the supply chain, international transport and wholesaling/retailing, represent further emissions of 4-10 Mmt CO2 and ~33 Mmt CO2 respectively, showing the importance of including them in life cycle inventories of electronics.
Utflyttning av produktion inom den svenska industrin/Outsourcing of production in Swedish industry
  • D Lennartsson
  • P Lindholm
Lennartsson, D., Lindholm, P., 2004. Utflyttning av produktion inom den svenska industrin/Outsourcing of production in Swedish industry. Statist. Swed. (in Swedish).
How do different densities in a network affect the optimal location of service centers? In: Working papers in transport, tourism, information technology and microdata analysis
  • M Han
  • J Håkansson
  • P Rebreyend
Han, M., Håkansson, J., Rebreyend, P., 2013. How do different densities in a network affect the optimal location of service centers? In: Working papers in transport, tourism, information technology and microdata analysis, 2013:15.
Motoring Towards 2050: Shopping and Transport Policy
  • R A C Foundation
Foundation, R.A.C., 2006. Motoring Towards 2050: Shopping and Transport Policy. RAC, London.
National Transport Survey
  • Dft
DfT, 2006. National Transport Survey: 2006. London, TSO.
On statistical bounds of heuristic solutions to location problems, Working papers in transport, tourism, information technology and microdata analysis
  • K Carling
  • X Meng
Carling, K., and Meng, X., (2014), On statistical bounds of heuristic solutions to location problems, Working papers in transport, tourism, information technology and microdata analysis, 2014:10.
An empirical test of the gravity p-median model
  • K Carling
  • M Han
  • J Håkansson
  • P Rebreyend
Carling, K., Han, M., Håkansson, J., Rebreyend, P., 2012. An empirical test of the gravity p-median model. In: Working papers in transport, tourism, information technology and microdata analysis, 2012:10.