INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Simon®, a
global leader in premier shopping, dining, entertainment and
mixed-use destinations today published a whitepaper outlining the
environmental impact of shopping online versus brick-and-mortar.
The study, conducted with Deloitte, shows that mall shopping can be
up to sixty percent more environmentally sustainable than online
shopping.
A number of factors, including increased returns and additional
packaging, contributed to E-commerce's negative environmental
impact. Whereas, the lower emissions associated with
brick-and-mortar locations were driven by shoppers making a greater
number of purchases per trip and combining their mall visits with
other activities as part of their trip chain.
An initial study conducted by Deloitte in 2016 assessed the
greenhouse gas emissions associated with all material, energy and
waste attributable to a product in its lifecycle. Simon updated the
analysis with new data to incorporate recent trends in shopper
behaviors for both online and mall shopping. To ensure
comparability, the life cycle assessment assumed that the consumer
purchased the same basket of goods online as they would in a
brick-and-mortar location. The updated study demonstrates that
shopping at a mall is approximately three times1 more
environmentally sustainable than just three years ago due to
changing consumer behaviors - both online and in-store.
"What this update shows is how consumer choices significantly
influence environment sustainability impacts, such as greenhouse
gases. In only a span of three years, we can see the impacts of an
increasing rate of returns for online orders, and how mall shoppers
are buying more items per trip as well as combining the trip with
other errands. The sustainability impacts are predictable. As
shoppers, if we can combine purchases and shop mindfully, we can
significantly reduce transportation resources associated with
multiple deliveries and product returns," said Kyle Tanger, Managing Director, Sustainability,
Deloitte.
Key findings from the study:
- Shopping online leads to five times more returned
products which considerably increases the environmental impact.
An extensive literature search shows that approximately 40 percent
of online purchases are returned versus seven percent in the case
of brick-and-mortar.
- Shopping online creates five times more emissions from
packaging for online orders (corrugated boxes, bubble wrap,
etc.) compared with the emissions associated with use of
plastic/paper bag consumers typically bring home from the
mall.2
- Mall shoppers buy, on average, three and a half products per
trip and visit other places on their way to the mall, which is
often referred to as trip chaining and lowers the emissions
specifically related to their mall visit, because their trip is
divided between multiple stops.
"Simon continues to focus on improving the sustainability of its
own properties. Through careful energy efficiency and renewable
energy investments, we have reduced the greenhouse gas emissions at
our properties by over 21 percent in five years. However,
sustainable shopping can only be achieved in collaboration with
retailers and shoppers. Especially during holiday shopping, we
encourage consumers to consider the environmental impact of their
shopping behaviors," said Mona Benisi, Vice President of
Sustainability, Simon. "Equipped with the information from this
study, shoppers can be more aware about the way they shop, return
goods and how they plan their trips to the mall. As a result, they
can not only reduce their environmental impact, but also increase
the pleasure of shopping by making it a shared experience."
1 In the original 2016 analysis, Simon found online
shopping to have a 7 percent greater greenhouse gas impact than
mall shopping for the same basket. Because of changes to
customer visits data and US EPA greenhouse gas emissions factor
methodologies, Simon updated this analysis to be compliant with
life-cycle assessment protocol and revealed a 23 percent larger
greenhouse gas footprint for online shopping.
2 An additional consideration of the analysis
was the impact of quick home delivery through online
shopping. While it is likely that additional airfreight could
be required for quick delivery, which significantly increases
emissions, there is incomplete industry data for how the percentage
of residential parcel delivery modes has changed. Therefore,
airfreight changes that could have added GHG emissions to online
shopping was excluded from the analysis until more detailed data
are available.
About Simon
Simon is a global leader in the ownership
of premier shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use
destinations and an S&P 100 company (Simon Property Group,
NYSE:SPG). Our properties across North
America, Europe, and
Asia provide community gathering
places for millions of people every day and generate billions in
annual sales. For more information, visit simon.com.
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