Transport and environmental groups stress real impacts of eCommerce

2000-02-16

In a report on BBC radio this morning, a very unusual event happened. A transport organisation, representing goods delivery services in the UK was in agreement with an environmental organisation, namely Friends of the Earth. Now traditionally, these organisations have been fighting tooth and nail, pitching economic argument of goods transportation against its environmental impact. So, what caused this seemingly unprecedented event? The answer is eCommerce, or the effects of it.

We techno-ostriches tend to keep our heads firmly stuck in the electronic sand, forgetting that with a large proportion of eCommerce transactions there is an associated fulfilment process. Even something as neat as a CD or book still requires to be transported to the sticky hands of its purchaser. As we turn to the Web more and more for our purchases, the amount of goods to be transported is inevitably going to increase. For example, companies like Tesco in the UK and Peapod in the US are starting to see success in online supermarket shopping. The models are still to be thrashed out, but the trend looks inevitable.

For the consumer, the electronic shopping Nirvana may be very attractive. Just click on a few buttons and, within a couple of hours, bags full of heavy groceries arrive at the door, accompanied no doubt with a smile and a wave from the delivery person. The realities being stressed this morning were delivery trucks clogging up the back lanes, duplicating journeys being made by competing companies in the rush to win each other’s business. In addition, the point was made about what would the now-liberated customers be doing with all that extra time? Probably spending it in the car, off to some leisure activity or other. The hyper-efficiencies of the virtual hypermarkets might well result in a hyper-gridlock.

Now environmental groups have a reputation for doom-mongering, but transport groups have not traditionally held this role. The fact that both groups agree is sobering indeed. As Robin Bloor said in eRoad, “eCommerce is coming, ready or not.” The tidal waves of change are already having many impacts, not all of them pleasant. However, it should be noted that both organisations are a little guilty of mapping tomorrow’s plans on today’s realities. IT will not only change the way we buy, but also the way we distribute goods and spend our leisure time. Supermarkets may well become warehouses, but might the corner stores become depots? Has anyone considered how letterboxes may need to change, or the possibility of overnight deliveries such that groceries are on the doormat, fresh for the day ahead? What s probably most important here is that we all sides enter the debate, transport and environment, IT, business and consumer, such that we can make the best of what is coming whilst protecting ourselves from the pitfalls it may present.

(First published 16 February 2000)