The report "Fast E-commerce – A Contradiction to Sustainable E-commerce?" has studied the impact of time requirements on environmentally sustainable logistics. Researchers Uni Sallnäs, Sara Rogerson and Vendela Santén state that there is an inherent paradox in the industry. Short lead times make planning and consolidation difficult, but e-commerce companies still consider speed to be business-critical.
Urgency and Impatience Drive Choices
The study distinguishes between the concepts of urgency and impatience among consumers. Urgency arises from actual or created time constraints, such as via countdown timers, which drives acute choices. Impatience is a behavioral pattern where the consumer expects fast delivery even if the need is not urgent.
At the same time, consumers in the diary study state that planning is important, including being able to coordinate package pickup with other errands.
Responsibility is Projected onto the Consumer
The results indicate that the actors manage the goal conflict between speed and the environment by projecting responsibility onto each other. E-commerce companies and transport companies argue that the speed requirements are driven by consumers. This lack of coordination contributes to maintaining speed as a norm.
A representative from a transport company provides a slightly different picture in the report regarding consumer expectations:
Time is not the same priority as it was four or five years ago. Then it was cool to be able to get the package quickly. Now it's not cool anymore, but now [...] it doesn't really matter.
Unclear at Checkout
In the conducted website study of 73 large e-commerce companies, the researchers found that 39 percent offer at least one delivery option described as environmentally sustainable. However, there is rarely a visible connection between the sustainable option and a longer delivery time. In some cases, the sustainable option was also the fastest option offered.
Furthermore, it is stated that consumers have difficulty distinguishing which delivery option is fastest and which is slowest.
Differentiation as a Solution
The researchers conclude that speed and sustainability are not unambiguous opposites, but that the relationship requires conscious management. A potential solution highlighted is differentiated delivery times. By communicating delivery times and offering slower options, e-commerce companies can meet the consumers who do not have an urgent need, and thus enable more transport-efficient logistics.