The overall upsurging demand for an online shopping as well as time-specific deliveries is poised in for being heavily weighed based on sustainability as well as Urban density, the air pollution as well as traffic bottleneck on huge scale.
The COVID-19 Pandemic might have fuelled up the progression of the E-Commerce arena, there is huge paradigm shift within the Client likings and the overall accessibility for the segment offers depict that it will endure to boost even post the outbreak withdraws within the near future.
As per the World Economic Forum’s (WEFs) study, the upsurge within the E-Commerce has always shifted and modernized the concept for Urban Delivery, Final-mile, as well as Associated Technologies. The mandate for final-mile delivery is upsurged and is poised to expand by 78 percent globally within the year 2030.
The WEFs study depicts that: “To satisfy customers’ ever-rising desire to buy products online, without any intervention, the number of delivery vehicles in the top 100 cities globally will increase by 36 percent until 2030. Consequently, emissions from delivery traffic will increase by 32 per cent and congestion will rise by over 21 percent.”
The Senior Consultant, Supply Chain as well as Logistics Practice, at Frost and Sullivan, Sivan T J stated that: “Rapid urbanisation, increased number of online customers, product availability, rise in demand for faster delivery of parcels are some of the factors contributing to the growth of last-mile delivery services. High cost associated with failed delivery due to lack of address systems and non-availability of customers, poor route planning and the use of inefficient transport vehicles adding to the carbon footprint of package delivery, vehicle noise pollution and urban congestion, are the factors relevant to the development of sustainable last-mile strategy.”
The Vice-President for FedEx Express Middle East and Africa Operations, Taarek Hinedi, stated that: “The key to a more efficient and sustainable approach in logistics is reducing the transportation requirements, and as a result we’re seeing more companies create more efficient supply chains. Consolidating packages within circular routes instead of point-to-point trips means greater delivery efficiency and a more sustainable logistical model.”
Sivan further added that “Strategies approved by service providers are anticipated to emphasis on cutting down emissions created by last-mile transportation. Some of the strategies include enhancing route navigation and arrangement with real-time data about traffic congestion and collective utilization of substitute fuels and autonomous vehicles to battle hurdles associated with sustainability issues.”
Three transition guidelines – the WEF report recommends – include electric vehicle (EV) directive for inner-city areas, transfers during night-time and before/after working hours, data-based connectivity results like the dynamic re-routing and load-pooling, as well as multi-brand parcel lockers and boxes.
The report outcome also further showcases that: “Such a scenario could diminish the CO2 emissions by 30 percent, bottleneck by 30 percent and distribution budgets by 25 percent within the year 2030 as comparatively to a ‘do nothing’ baseline.”
Hinedi also stated that: “The innovation was welcomed by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and customers alike. This innovation fits well with the UAE National AI strategy 2031 and Dubai Autonomous Transportation strategy, which support the adoption of robotics and artificial intelligence technologies.”
Noon groups SVP Growth as well as Digital strategy head, Maya El Ayach also opined that: “We are currently implementing more sustainable packaging and packing guidelines and look forward to rolling out our learnings across the entire noon group.”
In addition to superior traffic congestion and augmented greenhouse gases, the shift to online shopping has also led to an excessive utilization of packaging materials. Most of the waste ends up in landfills or in the atmosphere. Bearing continuous concerns in mind, native online commerce is occupied towards rolling out measures to alleviate the effect of packing waste and move forward dependably.
Innovative solutions are also being announced to address the issue. Roxo, FedEx’s Same Day Bot – an autonomous distribution device intended to travel on sidewalks and along roadsides, safely distributing smaller shipments to clients’ homes and industries – made its initial global appearance outside the United States in Dubai in October 2019.
In the meantime, the UAE-based luxury E-Commerce podium Ounass also tossed eco-friendly boxes completed from recycled materials as its default packaging in 2019.
Sustainable solutions
In the wake of intensifying client consciousness and calls for ecological variation, businesses can make a captivating case for sustainable practices by participating business engagement with eco-friendly policies. Additionally, tapping into the sympathies of ‘conscious clients’ will go hand-in-glove in cultivating sustainability within supply chains, in-store and online marketplaces.
In 2020, E-commerce giant Amazon launched its ‘Environment Pledge Friendly’ programme to benefit clients determine and acquisition sustainable merchandize. Clients can browse for merchandize that have one or more of the sustainability certifications. The business is also occupied towards powering its operations with 100 percent renewable energy within 2025.
Meanwhile, FedEx Express’ Hinedi proclaims that in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the business dodged more than three million metric tonnes of CO2 corresponding emissions globally as an outcome of enterprise-wide fuel and energy saving initiatives. That is comparable to the carbon offset of more than four million acres of US forests in one year.
“Sustainability has always been a core focus of our operations. Our innovative solutions include the utilization of robotics – inclusive of the autonomous robots within the excellent warehouse amenities – to enhance package sortation and pickup, packing innovations to curb materials and waste, and other progressions to curb the emissions, traffic bottleneck, and noise during last-mile delivery,” she adds.
“We distinguish that the long-term health of our business is traditionally connected to the health of our planet and native communities, and that’s why we’re committed to ‘diminish, replace, revolutionize’, which we apply across key areas like aircraft productivity, vehicle effectiveness, sustainable amenities, and sustainable provisions and recycling.”
With sustainability taking priority across this territory, players who are keen to flourish in the longer-term must participate a greener approach in their operations. The clients of tomorrow will care.
