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

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