Unito boss Gutschi reports a 20 percent decline in the previous year. Parcel delivery should be even “greener”.
The annoying returns in the mail order business are significantly reduced. At least with the local Unito group (Otto, Universal Versand, Quelle). According to Unito boss Harald Gutschi, customers sent back 20 percent fewer goods across the entire product range in the previous year than in 2019. Gutschi speaks of a “dramatic decrease in returns”. In total, the return rate is now 25 instead of the previous 30 percent.
There are two reasons for this: on the one hand, customers are “acting much more sustainably than they did a few years ago,” says Gutschi, and on the other hand, the product presentation has been improved to such an extent that mistakes in size or fit can be contained in advance. In the previous year alone, the Unito Group sent 6.5 million parcels to Austrian customers. In the Christmas business there was an increase of 30 percent compared to the previous year.
Unito boss Harald Gutschi
Climate-neutral delivery
The reduction of returns is one of many measures to become more climate neutral as a sender. According to Gutschi, the Unito Group has been using CO2-neutral delivery for all orders since the beginning of the year. A general climate neutrality is targeted by 2030. Until then, Unito will make voluntary compensation payments for CO2 emissions – 1,476,000 kg of C02 are expected this year, but the customers will not be charged extra: “Nobody really wants to pay for it,” says Gutschi and therefore prefers to bet “Complete package” with important delivery partners such as Austrian Post or the logistics company Gebrüder Weiss.
Post boss Georg Pölzl
Post relies on e-fleets
In the next few years, Swiss Post wants to gradually increase its existing fleet of electric vehicles from currently 2,100 vehicles and also deliver 100 percent CO2-free on the last mile – that is to the end consumer – by 2030. In Graz, this is already happening this year, according to Post boss Georg Pölzl. The electricity for the e-vehicle fleet is provided by five own photovoltaic systems. Post and Unito want to stand up to the mail order giant Amazon with their “green delivery”. The US group has also announced CO2 neutrality by 2030, but nothing of this has yet to be seen in Austria, Gutschi said.
Post electric transporter
Hydrogen, gas and electric trucks
The logistics company Gebrüder Weiss is relying on new drive systems, its own wind farm and new rail transport solutions such as Combi Cargo in order to become CO2-neutral by 2020. In everyday practice, electric and several gas trucks are already being used, reported Gebrüder-Weiss managing director Jürgen Bauer. The range of the electric truck is around 160 to 170 kilometers, which is why it is only used for shorter distances. “Diesel is still the main drive technology for longer journeys,” says Bauer. The first hydrogen-powered Gebrüder Weiss truck has been in service in Switzerland since the end of January 2021. In Austria, however, there is still a lack of infrastructure for this, says Bauer.
Online shopping better than reputation
Although a lot of goods have to be transported through the area, online shopping is less harmful to the climate than assumed, at least according to a study by the German Clean Tech Institute, which Unito boss Gutschi likes to quote. A specific calculation example from the study shows that an average of 460 grams of CO2 is generated when an item is purchased in a stationary manner, and 300 grams of CO2 when it is consumed online – and thus 35 percent fewer CO2 emissions. This is mainly due to the condensed transport of the shipments by logistics service providers, who usually deliver to several customers per trip.
