Home delivery of online shopping is too expensive and harms the planet, says entrepreneur who set up Travelex and now works on click-and-collect
- Sir Lloyd Dorfman called on consumers to start using click-and-collect
- He claimed it is 'much more climate friendly' and reduces vehicles on roads
- Mr Dorfman works for click-and-collect business Doddle which counts Amazon, ASOS, M&S and Morrisons among its clients
Home delivery of online shopping harms the planet and is too expensive for retailers, the entrepreneur who set up foreign-exchange giant Travelex has warned.
Sir Lloyd Dorfman, who now works in deliveries, called on consumers to only opt for click-and-collect - where packages are left in nearby lockers or at stores - because it is 'much more climate friendly'.
His words come as online shopping experiences a boom due to the pandemic, with sales surging 33 per cent to a 12-year high in June alone.
'The whole e-commerce market is not sustainable long-term by having an increasing number of brands running around trying to wait for people to be at home to deliver the things,' said Mr Dorfman.
Sir Lloyd Dorfman said shoppers should opt for click-and-collect as it is 'more climate friendly'
Mr Dorfman sold his majority stake in foreign-exchange giant Travelex in 2014, before starting to work on click-and-collect company Doddle - which counts M&S, Amazon and ASOS among its clients.
Today the company signed a deal with Japanese partner Yamato, which ships 1.8 billion parcels a year.
They will start delivering to homes in the country, where an estimated 99 per cent of consumers have items bought online delivered to their front door.
'Long-term that’s not sustainable from a climate point of view or from a cost point of view,' he said.
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'Click-and-collect rather than home delivery is an important way forward for this market and is much more climate friendly.'
The World Economic Forum estimated in January that without government intervention the number of delivery trucks on the road will surge by a third in a decade.
This will push emissions up by 32 per cent, they said, and increase commutes by 11 minutes due to a 21 per cent rise in congestion.
The entrepreneur sold his majority stake in Travelex in 2014, and is now working at click-and-collect business Doddle - which counts M&S and ASOS among its clients
He said that the coronavirus pandemic has 'propelled' the expansion of e-commerce, which was already 'growing exponentially'.
Asked whether online retailers should help the ailing high street, where more than 41,000 workers have lost their jobs in major culls at UK retailers, he was less sure.
'I don’t think you should force them to do things that are not in the interest of their business, and the heavier obligation is on the high street to reinvent what they do and how they do it.'
But, he added, online giants do sometimes invest in the high street if they see an opportunity to make money, pointing to Amazon’s takeover of Whole Foods in 2017.
Environmentalists have warned that online shopping generates mountains of excess packaging, harming the planet.
