According to recent news Black Friday sales will create a surge in vehicle emissions, made worse because the concentration of demand to a short space of time overloads the capacity of firms to deliver in the normal way.

The importance of sustainability has grown for consumers in recent years, and before the pandemic hit, many retailers were using new sustainability drives as a way to grow customer share.

This sentiment has not gone away during the pandemic: while many of us have been content to order items online when stores are closed, questions should be asked about the environmental impact of events such as Black Friday, and this needs to be factored into retailer’s delivery propositions.

This could be addressed with greater collaboration designed to reduce the number of deliveries across multiple retailers, or providing delivery options that can reduce the environmental impact, such as only receiving delivery when someone else nearby is receiving something too.”