With InPost you are smarter.... and greener!

In recent years we have witnessed exponential growth in e-commerce and the trend is set to increase in the future.

A symptom, this, of a society with constantly evolving and changing needs.

Sustainability always in first place

A fundamental element of an e-commerce service is logistics and, in particular, the delivery phase, and this is for three reasons:

• efficiency (costs are high),
• effectiveness (it is the only point of physical contact with the customer)
• environmental sustainability (it is considered very impactful from an environmental point of view).

And it is precisely environmental sustainability that is the topic analysed in the research 'The environmental impact of e-commerce deliveries' carried out by Netcomm together with the Politecnico di Milano and B2c Logistics, and supported, among others, by InPost.

The aim of the research was to measure and compare the CO₂ emission of an e-commerce purchase compared to a purchase made in a traditional shop and the difference in CO₂ emitted by an e-commerce purchase with home delivery or with delivery to a pick-up point, in four product categories.

The purchasing processes have been declined in three different types of territories in terms of population density (city of Milan, city of Ferrara, province of Viterbo and Rieti), therefore with different hypotheses of the distances covered by both the van delivery point and the customers.

Four product types

• Tech
• Beauty
• Fashion
• Books

Were also compared in order to investigate possible differences.

What did the research reveal?

The work, supported among others by InPost and different couriers, who provided data and insights, revealed some interesting results, which are worth dwelling on:

• deliveries from e-commerce purchases have a lower environmental impact than those generated by offline purchases. This is perhaps a counter-intuitive concept, which is also worth dwelling on in the future..
• Out of Home deliveries, just like the one offered by InPost, further reduce environmental impact by emitting up to 38% less CO₂. In fact, this type of delivery allows both an increase in delivery density and a reduction in missed deliveries due to the customer's absence at home.

The analysis of the emissions generated by the different stages of the process also highlights the importance of the customer's journey to the shop or pick-up point.

A key element that can make each delivery or collection even more sustainable is the means of transport chosen by the customer to travel to the collection point. A walk or a bike ride can have a positive impact on the emission balance, as can incorporating the pick-up point into one's daily commute.

This therefore highlights how the ubiquity of pick-up points is one of the key elements in reducing environmental waste, a factor on which InPost works every day.

We have recently exceeded 6,500 delivery and pick-up points throughout Italy, including lockers and InPost Points, (Search HERE for the nearest to you) and the targets for the end of this year are as challenging as they are necessary.