Ahead of the inaugural E-PACK Europe 2019 conference, we spoke to Angela Hultberg, Head of Sustainable Mobility at IKEA, to get insights into moving goods in a sustainable way, last mile delivery, the main challenges faced by eretailers and more.
Your presentation will discuss “Last mile delivery - moving goods in a sustainable way” can you give us a sneak peak of what delegates will hear?
E-commerce is constantly changing customers shopping behaviour. So far that means more deliveries, more trucks, more air pollution, noise pollution and congestion - unless we do things differently. IKEA has pledged to have 100% zero emission home deliveries by 2025, and to make this transformation in five major cities already by 2020. To achieve this we must challenge, and change, the way we work today, and find the right partners for tomorrow.
Why is this an important topic to discuss and what effect can it have on the e-commerce industry?
It is absolutely necessary for companies to start setting up more sustainable multichannel networks. If we don’t, the negative impact of e-commerce on our cities will be huge. But it will require a lot from all of us, working with last mile, circularity, waste and much more. There are endless opportunities to evolve to better ways of working.
What are the main challenges e-commerce retailers facing? Why is the e-commerce supply chain so challenging for manufacturers and retailers?
It is not easy to change current ways. There are hurdles, unknowns, costs, and sometimes we are simply set in our ways. But we need to challenge ourselves to take on the biggest challenge of all – climate change. And by doing so, I believe we will find better ways and increase quality in our operations, not only for us as retailers, but also for our customers.
What are you most looking forward to hearing about at E-PACK?
Finding new ideas on how different parts of the e-commerce world can work together to create sustainable change. It’s all part of one whole, and we need to work across function, last mile with packaging, waste handling with production and much more.
Angela presented as part of the Innovative Technologies Transforming the Supply Chain session at E-PACK Europe 2019. Other presenters in the session included Foresta.IO, EMOTA and more.
