IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i5p2981-d513618.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Environmental Impact of Transport Activities for Online and In-Store Shopping: A Systematic Literature Review to Identify Relevant Factors for Quantitative Assessments

Author

Listed:
  • Susanne Feichtinger

    (Institute of Production and Logistics, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Feistmantelstrasse 4, 1180 Vienna, Austria)

  • Manfred Gronalt

    (Institute of Production and Logistics, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Feistmantelstrasse 4, 1180 Vienna, Austria)

Abstract

In the scientific literature, there are numerous studies with different approaches and focuses on assessing the environmental impact of online shopping and shopping in the traditional retail channel. The aim of this work is to analyse scientific studies that quantitatively assess the environmental impact of transport activities in both channels and to extract the factors used for this assessment. A literature search was conducted for the period 2006 to October 2020, with 90 studies shortlisted, of which 15 studies were identified as relevant in a screening process. The analysis showed that a different number of factors is included in the selected studies. Logistics-related and behavioural factors are mostly of similar importance. Third-order effects, such as rebound or complementary effects, are rarely considered. Furthermore, it becomes clear that the results also depend on differences in study design and external factors. This work illustrates the complexity of quantitatively assessing the environmental impact of online and in-store shopping. Caution is advised when deriving recommendations for action from general statements about the environmental friendliness of a distribution channel. The 15 factors found, together with the classification method used, form a solid basis for building new models.

Suggested Citation

  • Susanne Feichtinger & Manfred Gronalt, 2021. "The Environmental Impact of Transport Activities for Online and In-Store Shopping: A Systematic Literature Review to Identify Relevant Factors for Quantitative Assessments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-23, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:5:p:2981-:d:513618
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/5/2981/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/5/2981/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Orit Rotem-Mindali & Jesse Weltevreden, 2013. "Transport effects of e-commerce: what can be learned after years of research?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 40(5), pages 867-885, September.
    2. Heleen Buldeo Rai & Koen Mommens & Sara Verlinde & Cathy Macharis, 2019. "How Does Consumers’ Omnichannel Shopping Behaviour Translate into Travel and Transport Impacts? Case-Study of a Footwear Retailer in Belgium," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-19, May.
    3. Deepak Sivaraman & Sergio Pacca & Kimberly Mueller & Jessica Lin, 2007. "Comparative Energy, Environmental, and Economic Analysis of Traditional and E‐commerce DVD Rental Networks," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 11(3), pages 77-91, July.
    4. Weltevreden, Jesse W.J. & Rotem-Mindali, Orit, 2009. "Mobility effects of b2c and c2c e-commerce in the Netherlands: a quantitative assessment," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 83-92.
    5. Patricia Mokhtarian, 2004. "A conceptual analysis of the transportation impacts of B2C e-commerce," Transportation, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 257-284, August.
    6. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    7. Chaparro-Peláez, Julián & Agudo-Peregrina, Ángel F. & Pascual-Miguel, Félix J., 2016. "Conjoint analysis of drivers and inhibitors of e-commerce adoption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 1277-1282.
    8. Qing Zhai & Xinyu Cao & Patricia L. Mokhtarian & Feng Zhen, 2017. "The interactions between e-shopping and store shopping in the shopping process for search goods and experience goods," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(5), pages 885-904, September.
    9. Eléonora Morganti & Laetitia Dablanc & François Fortin, 2014. "Final deliveries for online shopping: the deployment of pickup point networks in urban and suburban areas," Post-Print hal-01067223, HAL.
    10. Shi, Kunbo & De Vos, Jonas & Yang, Yongchun & Witlox, Frank, 2019. "Does e-shopping replace shopping trips? Empirical evidence from Chengdu, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 21-33.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Minh Hieu Nguyen & Jimmy Armoogum & Binh Nguyen Thi, 2021. "Factors Affecting the Growth of E-Shopping over the COVID-19 Era in Hanoi, Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mashalah, Heider Al & Hassini, Elkafi & Gunasekaran, Angappa & Bhatt (Mishra), Deepa, 2022. "The impact of digital transformation on supply chains through e-commerce: Literature review and a conceptual framework," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    2. Kunbo Shi & Long Cheng & Jonas De Vos & Yongchun Yang & Wanpeng Cao & Frank Witlox, 2021. "How does purchasing intangible services online influence the travel to consume these services? A focus on a Chinese context," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2605-2625, October.
    3. Mommens, Koen & Buldeo Rai, Heleen & van Lier, Tom & Macharis, Cathy, 2021. "Delivery to homes or collection points? A sustainability analysis for urban, urbanised and rural areas in Belgium," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    4. Shi, Kunbo & De Vos, Jonas & Cheng, Long & Yang, Yongchun & Witlox, Frank, 2021. "The influence of the built environment on online purchases of intangible services: Examining the mediating role of online purchase attitudes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 116-126.
    5. Colaço, Rui & de Abreu e Silva, João, 2022. "Exploring the e-shopping geography of Lisbon: Assessing online shopping adoption for retail purchases and food deliveries using a 7-day shopping survey," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    6. Shi, Kunbo & De Vos, Jonas & Yang, Yongchun & Li, Enlong & Witlox, Frank, 2020. "Does e-shopping for intangible services attenuate the effect of spatial attributes on travel distance and duration?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 86-97.
    7. Santos, Georgina & Behrendt, Hannah & Teytelboym, Alexander, 2010. "Part II: Policy instruments for sustainable road transport," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 46-91.
    8. Xi, Guangliang & Cao, Xinyu & Zhen, Feng, 2020. "The impacts of same day delivery online shopping on local store shopping in Nanjing, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 35-47.
    9. Alexander Rossolov & Halyna Rossolova & José Holguín-Veras, 2021. "Online and in-store purchase behavior: shopping channel choice in a developing economy," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(6), pages 3143-3179, December.
    10. Arranz-López, Aldo & Blitz, Andreas & Elizondo-Candanedo, Raúl F. & Lanzendorf, Martin, 2024. "The connections between e-shopping and sustainable transport choices – Comparing urban and rural environments," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    11. Shi, Kunbo & De Vos, Jonas & Yang, Yongchun & Witlox, Frank, 2019. "Does e-shopping replace shopping trips? Empirical evidence from Chengdu, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 21-33.
    12. Giacomo Lozzi & Gabriele Iannaccone & Ila Maltese & Valerio Gatta & Edoardo Marcucci & Riccardo Lozzi, 2022. "On-Demand Logistics: Solutions, Barriers, and Enablers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-21, August.
    13. Xu, Lu & Saphores, Jean-Daniel, 2024. "Does e-shopping impact household travel? Evidence from the 2017 U.S. NHTS," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    14. Buldeo Rai, Heleen, 2021. "The net environmental impact of online shopping, beyond the substitution bias," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    15. Marta Viu-Roig & Eduard J. Alvarez-Palau, 2020. "The Impact of E-Commerce-Related Last-Mile Logistics on Cities: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-19, August.
    16. Ozbilen, Basar & Wang, Kailai & Akar, Gulsah, 2021. "Revisiting the impacts of virtual mobility on travel behavior: An exploration of daily travel time expenditures," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 49-62.
    17. Zhouying Song, 2022. "The geography of online shopping in China and its key drivers," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(1), pages 259-274, January.
    18. Ni, Linglin & Wang, Xiaokun (Cara) & Zhang, Dapeng, 2016. "Impacts of information technology and urbanization on less-than-truckload freight flows in China: An analysis considering spatial effects," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 12-25.
    19. Shulin Wang & Shanhua Wu, 2023. "Optimizing the Location of Virtual-Shopping-Experience Stores Based on the Minimum Impact on Urban Traffic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-25, June.
    20. Magdalena Mucowska, 2021. "Trends of Environmentally Sustainable Solutions of Urban Last-Mile Deliveries on the E-Commerce Market—A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-26, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:5:p:2981-:d:513618. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.