Retail and e-commerce - February 2019

Closing the loops in retail
Consumers can now give their return package to the PostNL parcel delivery staff at the door. The deliverer who hands out a parcel can also take back a return parcel, if necessary. According to PostNL, this not only offers the consumer convenience, but is also by far the most sustainable way of returning.
E-commerce association Thuiswinkel.org (in Dutch) has developed the calculation tool Consciously Delivered (in Dutch). This gives webshops and customers an indication of the CO2 impact of parcel delivery. An infographic about the calculation tool can be found here (in Dutch, 2.1 MB).
At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, LOOP was introduced: FMCG manufacturers in the food industry introduce reusable packaging that is also collected at the customer’s home, returned, cleaned and refilled for the next customer.

Following The Money
E-commerce is still growing rapidly, but more and more attention is being paid to costs and especially to the relationship with the physical points of sale. A BEVH (in German) market report from Germany shows growth. A presentation (in German, 14.67 MB) gives more information. The growth is also visible in France a FEVAD report shows.
An ABN AMRO (in Dutch) study shows the importance of a multichannel approach (both physical stores and online presence). You can download the report here (in Dutch, 664 kB).

Interesting packaging developments in e-commerce
An insightful review article by Claire Koelsch Sand (a.o. deputy professor at Michigan State University) describes interesting packaging developments in e-commerce. The article (282 kB) is published in Food Technology.

Amazon Scout – self-propelled delivery vehicle
Amazon is experimenting with the self-propelled and autonomously navigating Scout delivery vehicle for home delivery - and filming it with, among other things, a drone.

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