GREEN LOGISTICS IN E-COMMERCE

Background: Along with the very dynamic development of e-commerce, the number of logistics operations involved in order fulfilment is increasing at a similar rate in B2C relationships. Each product must be completed, packed and shipped or handed over for collection by the customer. Although online shopping is very convenient for customers, it has a negative impact on the environment. The problem lays with the transportation of individual shipments, additional packaging and materials used for this purpose, and returns.

The aim of this paper is to present the main logistics challenges related to ecofriendly e-commerce and examine the influence of the green logistics approach in e-commerce on customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Methods: Both computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) and computer-assisted web interviews (CAWI) were applied to gather data. In total, 592 correctly completed questionnaires were received – 200 records from CATI and 392 interviews using CAWI. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between the variables.

Results: The empirical study confirmed the relationship between green logistics, satisfaction, and loyalty. This means that the more attention online retailers pay to green delivery (parcel lockers, pick up drop off points, click & collect), packaging (environmentally friendly materials and sizing of the packaging) and returns (returnable packaging, return of used products), the more satisfied and willing to buy from the same retailers again the customers are.

Conclusions: For online shoppers, not only price, and wide products selection  as well as fast delivery are important, but also environmental aspects matter more and more often. Logistics is of particular importance. If it is not well planned and organised, it can have a negative impact on the environment. The winners are those who invest in ecological solutions. The presented research results encourage further scientific exploration, which would be devoted only to this issue, taking into account other e-commerce stakeholders, i.e. sellers, suppliers and complementors.