FULFILLMENT SERVICES FORUM 2023
Road to Green E-commerce
In July 2023, the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM) in collaboration with the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy held the Fulfillment Services Forum 2023.
According to the Vietnam E-Business Index 2023 Report, the rapid growth of e-commerce in recent years has clearly revealed many unsustainable factors. VECOM has proposed a Sustainable E-commerce Development Program, focusing on three areas:
i) Environmentally friendly e-commerce: E-commerce is increasingly negatively affecting the environment, in which delivery service is one of the main factors.
ii) Narrowing the gap in e-commerce development between localities: In 2020, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City accounts for 70% of e-commerce in the country. The goal is to reduce this rate to 50% by 2025. However, without drastic solutions, this goal will not be achieved.
iii) Human resources: Human resources have not met the needs of e-commerce development, especially high-quality human resources trained at universities.
In recent years, VECOM has coordinated with many organizations to implement many activities to narrow the development gap between regions, improve the quality of high-quality human resources, especially through E-commerce training programs in universities.
However, there are still little activities to minimize the negative environmental impacts of e-commerce. International studies have shown that e-commerce can have a greater negative impact on the environment than traditional commerce, and this result is true in Vietnam, where e-commerce and related services rapidly increasing negative impact on the environment. Online retail, ride-booking services, food delivery for example, generate significant amounts of plastic waste and carbon emissions.
According to the e-Conomy SEA 2022 Report, in order to reduce carbon emissions from online retail by 30-40%, logistics service providers need to use electric vehicles for last-mile delivery, strengthening their distribution centers, reduce and recycle packaging materials. Achieving the goal of reducing carbon emissions requires a joint effort of companies, traders and consumers.
The forum points out five main goals:
1. Analyzing and evaluating the negative impacts from the rapid development of e-commerce on the environment in Vietnam.
2. Analyzing the impact of fulfillment services on the environment with the close relationship between fulfillment services and e-commerce.
3. Policy proposals and solutions to develop more environmentally friendly fulfillment services, towards sustainable e-commerce development in the period of 2026 - 2030.
4. Introduce reputable e-commerce and fulfillment service brands with typical solutions in environmental protection.
5. Encouraging organizations and universities teaching e-commerce and logistics to research the impact of e-commerce in general and fulfillment services in particular on the environment, and proposing solutions minimize this impact.
The diverse participants include:
- Government agency in E-commerce, Digital economy, Logistics, Postal service, Fulfillment Services, Natural resources and Environment.
- Professional organizations in E-commerce, Digital Economy, Logistics, Postal, Fulfillment Services, Natural resources and Environment.
- Enterprises in Fulfillment Services, Postal services, and Delivery related to e-commerce.
- Enterprises providing platforms, technology solutions related to e-commerce, fulfillment services.
- Enterprises providing products and services for packaging, warehousing, recycling, etc.
- Online Retailers.
- Press, media: Nhan Dan Newspaper, Industry and Trade Newspaper, Transport Newspaper, VnExpress,...
