Nearly half of Germans think online shopping is not a sustainable way of shopping

In the common sense of many Germans, shopping in offline stores is more sustainable than shopping online. About half of Germans ( 46%) even think that e-commerce is not a sustainable way of shopping. However, the opposite is true. According to a survey by market research organization YouGov , online shopping is more in line with the concept of sustainable development.

The survey found that when comparing online shopping and shopping in physical stores , 44% of Germans believe that offline shopping is more sustainable, while only 18% believe that online shopping is more sustainable . In addition, 32% of respondents believe that there is no difference between the two shopping methods, and 11% of Germans have no opinion on this.

The survey also pointed out that when people were asked separately whether e-commerce is a sustainable way of purchasing , 46% of respondents denied it, 28% clearly stated that e-commerce is indeed a sustainable way of purchasing , and about a quarter ( 26%) of respondents had no opinion on this.

Based on this, market research organization YouGov believes that the public perception of " e-commerce is more sustainable " is worse than the survey results show, and people's awareness of e-commerce needs to be further improved. As for why online shopping is more sustainable than offline shopping, consulting firm Oliver Wyman explained: when people shop in offline physical stores, they emit more pollutants due to transportation problems.

Since online shopping is more environmentally friendly, how can we further improve the sustainability of e-commerce ? In this regard, 64% of German consumers believe that buying multiple products at one time can reduce waste and is more in line with sustainability requirements.

In addition, some consumers believe that the return problem is the main obstacle to the development of sustainable e-commerce. To avoid this, many consumers hope that merchants can provide more detailed information about the product ( 49% ) , product images ( 39%) and product videos (29% ).

Nowadays, sustainability has gradually become a trend, and more and more Europeans pay attention to sustainability when shopping. Therefore, merchants can focus more on sustainability to win the hearts of consumers.

Germany

E-commerce

Sustainable