Autumn 2006

Internet shopping is green - that was this year's slogan from IMRG (interactive Media in Retail Group) on 24 July, the day it has made its own in celebration of the date's common abbreviation, "24/7".

The organisation backed up the claim with a range of research findings which, it maintains, show that home shopping can mean fewer vehicle miles, less inventory, less use of paper and packaging products and less waste. It also cites the "dematerialisation" effect of downloading music without the need for hard-copy media.

Among its sources, IMRG cites the OECD, whose work is said to show that internet retailing could eliminate the need for 12.5 per cent of retail building space, saving the energy and materials.

It also says an Ernst and Young study suggests that internet applications could reduce inventories by 25 per cent to 35 per cent, adding that an IBM study suggests savings of more like 50 per cent.

The "greenness" of home shopping is sometimes challenged by those who complain that it results in a large number of small vehicles making urban deliveries. However, that complaint could be countered by the fact that every such vehicle is probably replacing multiple car journeys by consumers to collect goods from stores.

As IMRG chairman James Roper sums it up: "Internet shopping can mean a significant reduction in product movements from manufacturer to distributor to warehouse to distribution centre to store to shelf to basket to car boot to home."