The Amazon website states that “online shopping is inherently more environmentally friendly than traditional retailing”. The online retailer backs up this claim with a link to a report that I co-authored in 2009 suggesting that, under certain circumstances, this is probably true. These circumstances do not include instant replenishment of individual consumer products at the push of a button, or the automated reordering of single items by smart fridges and kitchen cupboards wired or Wi-Fi-ed into the internet of things (Can Amazon Dash give home shopper a push, 2 April).
Online retail innovations tend to be viewed from the perspective of customer convenience, with too little thought given to the logistics of providing instant gratification and the related environmental impacts. Hopefully, the high cost of delivering items one at a time will encourage responsible use of this new service – or perhaps Amazon could install a “load consolidation” override button for the more environmentally conscious consumer.
Professor Alan McKinnon
Kuehne Logistics University, Hamburg
