Retailers must offer sustainable delivery options or be a ‘strategic risk’

Australian consumers are calling for more sustainable delivery options when shopping online, a new research report has found.

As online shopping rates continue to skyrocket, sustainability becomes increasingly important for both businesses and consumers than ever before, with a new study showing that consumers prioritise sustainable deliveries, even if this means a higher fee or a slightly longer delivery.

A new report, ‘Sustainability in the Australian Retail Supply Chain’, commissioned by Manhattan Associates, Shippit and Greener – in partnership with the National Retail Association (NRA) and NORA, found that 60% of Australian consumers are open to receiving a delivery at a later date if it meant that it was delivered more sustainably.

“Due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and its convenience, home delivery is now the preferred delivery option for 69% of Australian online shoppers,” said Raghav Sibal, Managing Director, ANZ of Manhattan Associates.

“However, consumers are not prepared to just accept the convenience of delivery at the cost of the environment, and they are increasingly aware of the growing impact the eCommerce sector is having on CO2 emissions,” Sibal said.

While sustainability is certainly a main priority for most consumers, the study also found that 64% of consumers would be even more motivated to accept a longer delivery wait time – with all purchases consolidated into one package – if the delivery fee was free or discounted.

Multiple shipments are also something that consumers (81%) find an inefficient and unsustainable way of delivering goods. The same number of consumers also said they would prefer to receive their order at a later date if it meant that it would arrive in one consolidated delivery.

“For many years now, the predominant consumer pressure on retailers across the globe has revolved around how they can deliver goods even faster, leading to massive gains in same or next day delivery windows,” Sibal said.

“Yet, what this research is showing is that the issue of sustainability might be gaining traction as a circuit breaker for this consumer obsession with delivery speed,” he said.

Courier aggregator Shippit has collected data from deliveries across Australia, which measured the amount of carbon generated by its courier partners from the moment a parcel is picked up to when it’s delivered.

It was revealed that these deliveries contributed to about four thousand tonnes of carbon emissions.

To reduce these carbon emissions, Shippit CEO Rob Hango-Zada said that businesses must accept that purchasing products online is part of a new normal.

“So, the core infrastructure of shipping and logistics must innovate to keep up with the increase in demand without increasing waste,” Hango-Zada said.

“We believe that sustainability in retail starts with the delivery experience. We allow parcels to flow through networks more efficiently, by removing waste and inefficiencies across the supply chain,” he said.

Australian consumers are already making to be more environmentally conscious, with research showing that 45% of consumers said that after placing an order online, they would usually check to see if the retailer offered a sustainable delivery option, such as carbon offset or order consolidation services.

Tom Ferrier, Founder of Greener, said that retailers will need to make sustainability a bigger priority.

“The next few years presents an unprecedented opportunity for brands that are taking genuine action to reduce their emissions,” Ferrier said.

“For those helping their customers do the same, it’s a competitive advantage. For those who aren’t, it’s a strategic risk,” he concluded.