Green distribution alternatives: actors, roles and responsibilities

E-commerce presents a fantastic opportunity for consumers to receive product deliveries anytime, anyhow and anywhere. However, a major challenge for all logistics systems is that of environmental sustainability, and for e-commerce, the distribution of products to consumers constitutes one of the largest environmental challenges. This chapter focusses on green distribution alternatives for consumers, and thereby provides an overview of how e-commerce can become more environmentally sustainable through offering such alternatives. The chapter starts by pointing to two major trends behind the greening of e-commerce: the growth of e-commerce itself and the increasing societal and corporate concern for environmental sustainability. Building on a series of studies of e-commerce development on the Swedish market, the perspectives of consumers, retailers and logistics service providers paint a broad picture of e-commerce delivery. Finally, today’s as well as potential future challenges for sustainable e-commerce deliveries are discussed.