Can e-commerce reduce emissions in US suburbs?

Online shopping has revolutionised how Americans buy everything from clothes to groceries while home deliveries from restaurants have skyrocketed in recent years.

The rise of E-commerce was accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic and today makes up just over 15% of retail purchases in the US, but aside from convenience one unexpected benefit could be a reduction is carbon emissions. 

In car-reliant American cities and suburbs, last mile e-commerce deliveries replacing personal vehicles trips offer potential to reduce emissions through operational efficiencies like batched deliveries, smart routing, multiple order fulfilment and the use of light vehicles like e-bikes. 

This year Steer and Fourth Economy co-authored a report for the Chamber of Progress, ‘Efficiency and emissions impact on last mile delivery in the US, ‘ which showed some surprising results. 

Our study found that per 1000 items:

• Through batching and smart routing e-commerce deliveries are 2.3x to 2.7x more efficient than individual consumer trips and can save up to 1,416 miles of travel and 62 gallons of gas 
• By pooling and fulfilling multiple orders with a single delivery, online grocery deliveries can be 1.1x to 1.5x more efficient than individual consumer trips and can save up to 300 miles of travel and 13 gallons of gas
• Instant delivery is 0.9x to 1.1x more efficient than individual consumer trips and can save up to 53 miles of travel and 13 gallons of gas 

Based on our findings, a household that replaces driving to the grocery store or mall with an online order could make savings of up to 5.9 gallons of gas and 133 fewer miles driven per year, and if half of US households made this switch the possible emissions reductions per year would equal to a day’s worth of gasoline usage for the country as a whole. 

To a multiple of 100,000 this is equal to 2850 tons of coal unburned, carbon sequestration from 6070 acres of US forest and 258 garbage trucks of waste recycled instead of going to landfill. 

While there are factors of concern including convenience culture driving up emissions through excessive ordering, overall, the evidence on last-mile journeys remains positive for the climate. In an era where easy wins are required to bring down emissions quickly our study shows a simple path to lowering greenhouse gases in the short-term.