Environmental concerns arise from faster deliveries
By Maalik Hawkins
Trinity Times Correspondent
Next-day shipping has surged in popularity globally since Amazon introduced it in 2005 and now most retailers have this option available to consumers and urge them to use it.
A CNN report estimates online retailers need eight times the resources to achieve next-day delivery compared to the standard shipping of three to five business days, raising concerns about business efficiency and negative environmental impact.
A November 2022 roundtable discussion among graduate students at different universities around the U.S. was conducted by the Trinity Times, the multimedia news site of Trinity Washington University, to better understand the habits of this demographic and their utilization of next-day shipping.
During the virtual roundtable discussion, students discussed why they believe people use same-day or next-day delivery service.
The motivations went beyond convenience for a younger generation’s desire for instant gratification.
Karrie Garcia, a graduate student at South College Atlanta talked about her work in the medical field and said healthcare professionals use next-day shipping to deliver tools and medicines that are in dire need, and time can determine life and death.
All the participants in the roundtable discussion agreed that most of the next-day service is used for items people do not necessarily need right away.
Each student in the group said they did not use the service during their undergraduate years because they were too financially strapped to order items online, and usually would just go to the store for supplies, books and tools.
David William, a graduate student at American University in Washington, doesn’t remember the service being that popular during his undergrad years, but acknowledged it’s more popular today.
According to the retail business newsletter “Chainstorage.com,” Generation Z — colloquially known as Zoomers, born between 1997 and 2012 — is the age group most likely to pay for same-day shipping at 40%, compared to 32% of Millennials, 29% of Generation X and 12% of Baby Boomers.
These statistics made sense to the graduate students participating in the roundtable discussion, stating they believed others in their age group are less likely to use the next-day delivery service.
The group concluded that in the future they would practice a more environmentally friendly option of shipment and that this discussion brought them greater awareness of the topic.
Jay Pope, assistant manager in Trinity Washington University’ mailroom, told the Trinity Times the university rarely uses the next day shipping option, noting the inefficiency of the service.
Most items sent from the university are shipped at the standard delivery rate and only students who bring their own shipping labels sent items same or next-day delivery, Pope said. The Trinity mailroom personnel encourage students to choose a method of shipping that is more environmentally friendly, since transportation is among the top three ways greenhouse gases are burned.