In the world we live in today, there is always a debate about which form of shopping is the best. Ever since the online mode of shopping became a viable means of getting goods to a customer’s house, the debate of which means is best to get your goods has always come to the front burner. With some people choosing to buy their groceries, smart mobile devices and other goods by walking into the store to get it, and others prefer to sit in their houses and get the goods delivered. However, both forms of shopping have their pro’s and con’s, which is still dependent on the part of the shopper. This article seeks to examine which of the two forms saves more energy.
What Is a Real Store?
A real store can be said to be a physical store where shoppers come in to do their day-to-day shopping. This type of shopping is one of the oldest means of buying home needs, groceries, smart devices and a host of others. Most of the time, after doing your shopping, it could take a longer time to make payment because of the number of people using the store at the time.
A lot of people think it is more stressful to shop in the brick and mortar stores across the world. In 2019, physical shopping across the world took a down spin as only an estimated 31% (source: here) of people did their shopping physically. Aside the fact that physical shopping is also energy sapping, it also has its advantages.
According to research most of the people who still do physical shopping find it interesting because it has some features you cannot find on the online market. Features such as:
- ability to touch and feel products they are interested in;
- presence of shopping experience;
- getting scammed is likely not possible;
- possibility of buying damaged goods is low.
In addition, there is no need for waiting for your goods to be delivered as the delivery is instant.
What you should know about Online Shop
An online shop is a shop that significantly has its structure on the internet where people can order goods and get it delivered at their doorsteps. This type of shop came into existence in the 90s. That period is known as the dot-com era. Check out this source to find out more.
Furthermore, in 1998, Pets.com launched, it was an online shop where pets were sold. Unfortunately, the business failed but it gave rise to a lot of other businesses like Amazon who is one of today’s most successful online stores.
Most brick and mortar stores have finally decided to take a paradigm shift, and also have stores online where people can order. According to research 57% of people around the world have settled for shopping online in 2019. Some reasons why people decide to shop online are:
- it requires less stress,
- you can always read product reviews on the internet before you buy,
- goods are most times sold at lower prices,
- it is convenient and it saves time.
The online mode of shopping is by far the most successful because of the existence of the internet. It appears that a lot more people are enjoying buying food, groceries and other items online.
Now, we are about to examine which saves more energy than the other between real store and online shop.
Which Mode of Shopping saves more Energy?
It has been established that both modes of shopping are still relevant in 2020. They both aim to get goods and services into the hands of the final consumers.
In our everyday operations, as we buy goods and services either through the online means or the physical shopping there is an impact on the environment by the release of carbon emissions into the air. For the physical form of shopping, it is either you go with your personal car, public transport system, or cabs. Regarding the e-commerce businesses, the goods are moved from the warehouse by delivery vans, bikes or cars.
In 2009, the World Economic Forum estimated the percentage of carbon emission coming from logistics and transporting of products at 5.5%. However, the speed at which goods are delivered also affects the spread of carbon emissions into the air. If a logistic vehicle travels at a lower speed, there is less emission, but if the reverse is true case, there is more emission. Consequently, a lot of delivery companies have started taking actions by buying vehicles that produce less carbon. In fact, most logistic firms are investing in modern technologies that make delivery faster while the emission into air is totally reduced.
Physical shopping has an impact in the environment. Most people go shopping in their personal vehicles, and this contributes to the wide spread of carbon emission into the air. To illustrate this, if you drive to the store to shop once a month you’re likely to reduce carbon emission than someone who drives to the store every day.
In 2010, a UK studies focused on the impact of a products’ “last line”, which refers to the final stage of a product’s journey. The study concluded that you would have to buy 24 items and travel to and fro, to make you equal the carbon footprint of one item ordered online. If you took a bus, it would take the purchase of 8 products to balance the equation.
To make things better, online stores are taking a quantum leap by asking customers to pick a green card, which makes deliveries for customers whose routes are the same get their orders in the same vehicle. By implication, fewer vehicles would be on the road and the release of energy into the sky would be reduced. Having concluded that although online shopping is easier and faster, it has its own disadvantage. Indeed, because of the use of vehicles for delivery, online shops use more energy than physical stores. There’s still a lot of work to be put in place to see that the world becomes a better place even with the growing rate of online stores across the world.
With the fast pace of technological advancement, and production of electricity vehicles which emits less carbon into the sky, online shop will fast become the safest way of shopping in the nearest future.