Green distribution options in e-commerce : Display versus content

Purpose: Lately, some e-commerce retailers have started displaying climate labels – i.e., eco-labels focusing on greenhouse gas emissions – on distribution or fulfilment alternatives in the check-out of the online store. Using actual purchase data, the purpose of this research is to understand the impact of climate labelling on customers’ choice of fulfillment. Design/methodology/approach: We analyse six months of customer checkout data from a market-leading pharmacy in Northern Europe using a nested logit formulation. Findings: We find that climate labels have a large and significant impact on the probability that a fulfillment alternative is selected by the customer. Further, if the label is attached to a top alternative, it increases the probability that the alternative is chosen. We also find that preselection has a strong effect on the impact of climate labels. Research limitations/implications:We note that climate labelling seems to have a strong impact on customer behavior, it opens up several venues for further research. For instance, there may be other relevant ways to slice the data to bring additional insights. And as climate labelling from more “well-known” labels are being used in e-commerce, the impact might be different. Research limitations/implications: The results have implications for retailers and logistics service providers alike, by indicating both how the content of the fulfillment option and the display of the option in the check-out impacts the business. The results further underline the importance of coordination between retailers and logistics service providers to provide support to consumers. Original/value: Contrary to previous research into greening e-commerce distribution, this paper takes a quantitative approach to address green consumer preferences.