Striving for Sustainable E-Commerce Supply Chains

The e-commerce boom that was fuelled by Covid-19 is showing no signs of slowing. It is predicted that in 2025, e-commerce transactions in South Africa will grow 150% to R225 billion.

While consumers are clearly sold on the speed and convenience of online shopping, they are also increasingly recognising that there is an environmental price to be paid, and they are demanding greener e-commerce supply chains. Integrating sustainability into ecommerce logistics is a growing imperative and a significant supply chain trend in South Africa in 2025.

Dire reports from a few years ago warned that ecommerce was “heating up the planet”. CBS said: “The rush toward ever-faster shipping is creating the need for more truck trips, undoing the ecological benefits of shopping online. Amazon's package deliveries in 2017 alone emitted about 19 million metric tons of carbon, according to one estimate. That's just under five coal power plants."

That was then. While the transport and logistics industry is still responsible for around 24% of global CO2 emissions, strides are being made to reduce this, including in ecommerce supply chains. Companies are investing in technologies like electric vehicles, renewable energy sources and advanced data analytics to measure, manage and minimise their environmental impact. They are optimising transportation routes to have fewer vehicles on the road and to cut CO2 emissions. They are adopting circular supply chain models, to get more use out of products and move beyond the traditional “take-make-waste” approach.

E-commerce giant Amazon reduced its overall emissions by 3% last year. The business has committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. To reach this target, Amazon is expanding the use of zero-emission transportation such as electric delivery vans, cargo e-bikes and on-foot deliveries. It has launched initiatives to remove carbon emissions from transportation systems like ocean shipping, aviation and trucking. The organisation is also using innovative construction techniques and building materials to make fulfilment centres, data centres, offices and physical retail locations more sustainable.

Takealot has also embarked on a green journey, including transitioning to battery-electric trucks to cut emissions. The group has fleets of battery-electric trucks on the roads in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

Woolworths, in partnership with DSV and Everlectric, was the first South African retailer to embark on an extensive rollout of electric panel vans (EVs) to deliver their customers’ online purchases. To power the vans, electricity is sourced as far as possible from renewable sources by utilising DSV’s extensive solar infrastructure at their Gauteng and Cape Town facilities.

Global logistics leader DHL is offering a portfolio of green shipping services to help reduce the environmental impact of e-commerce deliveries. DHL Express’s GoGreen Plus, which uses Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), is part of this. The biofuel is produced from renewable sources such as vegetable oils, animal fats and agricultural crops. SAF is designed to be used as a substitute for traditional jet fuel and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% compared to fossil fuels.

South African logistics firm Bakers SA is reducing its environmental impact by integrating EVs into its fleet of vehicles.

There is still a long way to go, but research shows that e-commerce has the potential to significantly reduce vehicle miles travelled and greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing individual shopping trips. This will depend, however, on whether e-retailers and supply chain managers are committed, knowledgeable, skilled and suitably qualified to optimise their supply chains.

Thato Moloi is the president of leading supply chain industry body SAPICS, a non-profit organisation founded in 1966 to elevate, educate and empower the community of supply chain professionals across Africa. This is done via membership, events, the annual conference and education courses and workshops through Authorised Education Providers and others.

The annual SAPICS Conference is the leading event in Africa for supply chain professionals and is now in its 47th year. The 2025 SAPICS Conference takes place in Cape Town from 8 to 11 June 2025.