E-commerce has established itself as a new way of shopping. The impact of new technologies on society has led to new consumption habits. Although it represents a smaller percentage of the total purchases generated by citizens of Catalonia, online shopping is a habit that is taking root and growing among the population.
E-commerce generates about 53 million online purchases per year in Catalonia. Of these, 73% are delivered to home, 12% to the office, and only 15% of total purchases are collected through some form of Click & Collect.In this regard, the Generalitat has prepared, through the Directorate General of Commerce, the study Online commerce and mobility: orientations towards a sustainable model in Catalonia . A study in which the shopping habits have been analyzed online and the delivery preferences of the population, and mainly to provide knowledge tools to the commercial sector -entities and companies- and administrations for the implementation of actions aimed at promoting a shopping collection service online sustainable, with less environmental impact and mobility, and which at the same time promotes local commerce.
One of the main data provided by that study is that e-commerce generates about 53 million online purchases per year in Catalonia. Of these, 73% are delivered to home, 12% to the office, and only 15% of the total purchases are collected through some form of Click & Collect: 6.2% in store, 8.7% at a collection point, and 0.2% at a trusted bar / shop.
The forecast is for an increase of 21.7%, reaching 64 million purchases, which would translate into 47 million home deliveries during the next yearOn the other hand, the study also shows that purchases online generate 39 million displacements with home deliveries per year in Catalonia, that is, 2.9 deliveries per second. Of these, 15% require a second visit and 8.2% are returned, generating "absurd" logistics in 23% of cases.
In this sense, as an estimate, if the purchase intentions for next year are applied to current online purchases, the report indicates that the forecast is for an increase of 21.7%, reaching 64 million purchases, which would translate into 47 million home deliveries next year.
With this information, it is confirmed that the destination of purchases is the buyers' homes, in most cases, which has an impact on the environment in our cities, which also goes against the promotion of the sustainable and local trade model that characterizes Catalonia.
The Generalitat wants to bet on 3 objectives. First, to go from 15% Click & Collect to 25% in 2020; second, to ensure that by 2020 at least half of online shoppers are aware of the impact their online purchases have on: mobility, packaging, and air quality; and third, to ensure that by 2020 all municipalities in Catalonia have at least one collection point.Currently, 1 in 3 buyers online (33.5%) of respondents in the study claim to be aware of the negative effects of home deliveries, in relation to environmental impact, air quality, and logistics. Thus, buyers who are sensitive and aware of this aspect show a lower percentage of home deliveries (58.4%), well below that shown by less sensitized buyers (81.6%). This highlights the importance of raising awareness among buyers online on environmental effects and the impoverishment of air quality due to home deliveries.
Given these data, the Generalitat wants to commit to 3 objectives to be achieved in the next two years. First, to go from 15% of Click & Collect to 25% in 2020, in order to promote a sustainable trade model and attract visitor flows to city centers. This measure would mean more than 5.25 million additional visits to Catalonia's commercial areas. The second objective is to ensure that by 2020 at least half of online shoppers are aware of the impact their online purchases have on: mobility, packaging, and air quality. And finally, it is desired that by 2020 all municipalities in Catalonia have at least one collection point, and that its implementation is adapted to the urban characteristics of each town.
These goals are to be carried out through different strategies, specifically 6 actions are set:
- Incorporate online purchases and their deliveries into strategic trade and city plans (urban planning).
- Promote responsible online shopping practices to group orders, make delivery times more flexible (wider time slots) or prioritize deliveries during off-peak hours.
- Work with retail companies to promote responsible sales, in areas such as reducing excessive packaging, concentrating different orders in a single delivery, or promoting home deliveries using sustainable transport methods.
- Develop awareness campaigns on the negative effects of online purchase deliveries.
- Generate spaces for debate and analysis with operators from different sectors.
- And, finally, promote Click & Collect in stores, through trade incentives, and in urban spaces, through collaborations between different public administrations and the private sector (for example, empty premises and merchant associations).