Online shopping a green option
The study focused on whether or not people think it is more environmentally-friendly to buy goods from e-commerce sites than to head out to the high street themselves.
Retail association IMRG has published the findings of a recent survey as part of Climate Week 2011, in which it states that almost 73% of people are convinced that safe shopping online is better for the planet than high street shopping.
DIY Week notes that the figure is a 25% increase on 2009 to 2010, according IMRG. However, while around 64% of shoppers said they would prioritise a carbon-friendly delivery solution, nearly three quarters would not be prepared to pay a premium of more than £10 a year for it.
Online retailer sales are currently growing around 10 times faster than conventional retail sales and are predicted to reach one fifth of total retail sales in the UK by 2012.
IMRG has reported findings by Heriot-Watt University, which found that carbon dioxide emissions from a van delivery are significantly less than making a special trip to the shops to buy the same item.
As a result, the IMRG believes customers are choosing to replace high-volume travel to the shops with consolidated van deliveries to the home.
Also in the report, states My Hermes, was the prediction that online retail will make up one-fifth of total sales in the UK by 2012.
Professor Alan McKinnon, of Heriot-Watt University, says the research suggested Web-based shopping can use less carbon than travelling to the shops by car or bus.
"Internet retailing appears, overall, to offer a significant environmental advantage, though rather than rest on their green laurels, e-tailers and their carriers could be doing more to de-carbonise the distribution of online orders," McKinnon saysded.
Over 1 300 people were questioned as part of the survey and the number of people who have been turned on to e-commerce has risen by a quarter compared to a similar study conducted in 2010.
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