TRAN5015M

Shaping Future Transport Systems

Assignment Title: Scholarship essay

Student ID: 201684975

Course: MSc (Eng) Transport Planning and Engineering

Word Count: 492

Lecturer: Frances Hodgson

Submission Date: Monday, 16th October 2023

Semester: 1

Academic Year: 2023/2024

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 Module: TRAN5015M, ID Number: 201684975

The Impact of E-Groceries on Transport Sustainability: Challenges

in The Last-Mile Delivery

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly propelled the growth of e-groceries over the
past few years. As reflected in Figure 1, UK Food and Grocery Online Market 2015-2025
(Savills Research, 2022, p.6), 48.7% of customers in the UK purchased food and grocery
items online in 2019. Then, the online food and grocery market experienced a 76.3%
increase in 2020, reaching a total expenditure of more than £20 billion for the year. The
increase in e-groceries will affect transport sustainability, particularly the last-mile delivery of
freight distribution and its environmental impact. It is possible that e-groceries can contribute
to enhancing transport sustainability by reducing the number of cars and emissions on the
road because customers will substitute in-store grocery trips. However, the rise in demand
for home deliveries may lead to increased freight traffic, and the total number of trips on the
road is unlikely to change significantly. It will potentially increase emissions and congestion,
especially if retailers continue to use non-electric vehicles for last-mile delivery.

Figure 1. UK Food and Grocery Online Market, 2015-2025

Customer and travel behaviour influence the environmental impact of e-groceries. The
research of Bjørgen et al. (2021) shows that even though 64% of e-groceries customers visit
physical stores less frequently than before, they still prefer to visit physical stores for
complementary purchases to their online shopping. In addition, a study demonstrates that
the focus on adopting e-groceries, especially regarding time considerations, surpassed the
interest in replacing traditional shopping trips (Pernot, 2021, cited in Gatta et al., 2021, p.4).
To sum up, it’s worth considering that e-grocery delivery can be a convenient option, but it's
not a complete replacement for conventional grocery shopping.

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The rise of e-groceries has increased the volume and frequency of last-mile deliveries,
potentially negatively affecting the environment. “Indeed, one could avoid consumer grocery
shopping trips by purchasing groceries online. “This would, in turn, modify last mile deliveries
substantially, since private grocery shopping trips will be replaced by retailer’s freight trips to
consumers’ houses” (Gatta et al., 2021, p. 2). According to Samudio Lezcano et al. (2023),
the initial point of delivery affects traffic and emissions. Delivery from the nearest store to the
customer reduces congestion and energy use. Furthermore, eco-friendly transport modes
such as electric or hybrid vehicles and bike couriers can be utilised. In summary, route
optimisation and sustainable initiatives should be conducted to minimise the detrimental
effects of last-mile deliveries on the environment.
The proliferation of e-groceries has the potential to impact transport sustainability
adversely. E-grocery delivery doesn't eliminate traditional grocery shopping because some
studies show that customers still visit physical stores to supplement their online purchases.
Moreover, the significant growth of the e-grocery industry has led to an increase in the
volume and frequency of last-mile deliveries, likely increasing emissions and congestion. In
conclusion, e-groceries are less likely to improve transport sustainability, primarily if
sustainable measures on last-mile delivery systems, such as using electric vehicles and
route optimisation, still need to be implemented.

References
Bjørgen, A., Bjerkan, K.Y. and Hjelkrem, O.A. 2021. E-groceries: Sustainable last mile
distribution in city planning. Research in Transportation Economics. 87, pp.6.
Gatta, V., Marcucci, E., Maltese, I., Iannaccone, G. and Fan, J. 2021. E-groceries: A channel
choice analysis in Shanghai. Sustainability (Switzerland). 13(7), pp.2.
Samudio Lezcano, M., Harper, C.D., Nock, D., Lowry, G. V. and Michalek, J.J. 2023. Online
grocery delivery: Sustainable practice, or congestion generator and environmental
burden? Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. 119, pp.16.
Savills Research, 2022. UK Grocery Report. https://pdf.euro.savills.co.uk/uk/commercial-
retail-uk/spotlight-uk-grocery---january-2022.pdf