Transition Towards Sustainable E-Commerce: A Design Thinking Approach

Aim
To achieve the sustainable development goals there is no doubt that we need to transform e-commerce into a sustainable system. Individual efforts are not enough. We need changes at the system level. We also know that research and innovation are crucial for tackling this global and complex societal challenge. How do we transform e-commerce into a sustainable system? What key areas and issues need to be addressed?

Methodology
Grounded in Design Thinking, we approach this complex challenge from a user perspective. In total four workshops were conducted with about 20 participants in each session. A wide range of actors, e.g. authorities, municipalities, industries, and business, participated in each workshop, which lasted approximately three hours. Multiple investigators collected and analysed the data.

Key results/conclusions
This study identifies eight multidisciplinary and interconnected areas in need of radical change in order to transform e-commerce into a sustainable system. These are: dynamic and flexible delivery, delivery location, packaging, horizontal distribution collaboration, returns, consumption lifestyles, logistics predictions, and urban planning and design. Strategic change in the form of new knowledge and innovation in these areas have the potential to effect the entire e-commerce system. Based on these insights and to effectively bring about radical system change, we formed an Alliance for SusTainable E-commeRce (ASTER) acting as the national competence hub to strategically coordinate initiatives and accelerate demonstration and collaboration projects. ASTER use Vinnova's mission-oriented approach, which means getting different actors to work together in the same direction towards common goals.