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Sustainability isn’t just about the last mile

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While adopting out-of-home delivery methods can reduce the environmental impact of the last mile, these emissions actually represent only a small fraction of the total emissions generated by e-commerce.Customers often purchase an item in different sizes or colors only to return the products that don’t fit. The amount of emissions and waste for a single order then doubles, as the package makes the return journey to the sender and generates unsold inventory.

Multiple delivery options for greater control of the experience

This allows e-retailers to meet consumer demands and ensure more successful deliveries:

“By offering more delivery options, you increase customer satisfaction. This trend is growing. We want to be a sustainable company, and out-of-home delivery fits

“ Currently, an average parcel delivered in the Netherlands emits around 295 grams of CO2 emissions. But if you order 5 pairs of jeans in phone number list different sizes and colors and keep one, you have to return 4 of them… Manufacturing just one pair of jeans is equivalent to 32 kilos of carbon. So we need to be aware not only of the emissions during delivery, but also those generated by consumers. We need to order responsibly and think carefully before returning items. ” – Sem Geurten, Key Account Manager Strategic Partners for DHL

Out-of-home deliveries increase the rate of successful deliveries

The increase in online orders inevitably improve user experience (ux) to reduce bounce rate leads to increased risks, failed deliveries, and therefore costs. In 2022 alone, failed deliveries resulted in costs of £68,084 for UK e-tailers and €144,354 for German e-tailers.

Delivery preferences by country in Europe

Although home delivery remains the standard preference in all markets, there are different delivery expectations across countries (NL, UK, DE, FR). Everywhere, the speed and flexibility of deliveries are gaining momentum, which has driven the adoption of different out-of-home methods;

62% of respondents prefer home delivery. However, this delivery method has declined by 9% over the past year, as more and more out-of-home delivery methods have been introduced.

A Flourish Data Visualization

“Not all webshops offer out-of-home text services  deliveries at checkout; many only offer home delivery. It’s important to remember that retailers need to make some technical adjustments to their website to offer out-of-home deliveries as the top option. [out-of-home delivery options] into their webshop.” – Niels Schouten, Strategic Lead Resellers at PostNL

However, if you ignore out-of-home deliveries, you risk missing out on business opportunities. Adding out-of-home delivery options helps satisfy more customers, reduce delivery costs, and ensure smooth delivery.

collected. It is delivered to the collection point.” – Sem Geurten, Key Account Manager, Strategic Partners, DHL

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