On Thursday, June 2, the last Dalarna Talks of the season took place. Dalarna Talks is a hybrid event where we discuss current topics together with interesting people. This time the theme was sustainability and we took a closer look at e-commerce. How sustainable is it?
The program began with an interview with Arne B Andersson, senior e-commerce advisor at Svensk Digital Handel, who talked about the development of e-commerce since 2006. The future is difficult to predict, but the Swedish Trade Federation has produced a scenario report in which it is believed that by 2030 e-commerce will account for 50 percent of retail purchases. The need for e-commerce to find circular business models, fossil-free deliveries, and good solutions for packaging and returns were also discussed.
How sustainable is e-commerce today? asked morning moderator Angelica Ekholm.
- Many say that e-commerce is not sustainable. But there are currently no research reports that have proven that e-commerce is unsustainable. Here it is important that we look at the whole trade, both physical and e-commerce, and produce reports on what could be done better.
Arne also talked about how the rise of e-commerce will put new demands on us to find smart ways to build both cities and sustainable transport solutions.
The panel on the importance of more people pulling in the same direction
Today's distinguished panel consisted of experience from both small and large e-commerce companies, the transportation industry and sustainability issues. It was Rickard Lyko from Lyko, which accounts for 1% of all e-commerce shipments in Sweden. David Forsberg from Kwikk, which has an e-commerce solution that makes it easier for small and local companies to sell online. Per Bondemark from Maserfrakt and sustainability strategist Frida Vikström from Dalarna Science Park.
The discussion highlighted many different perspectives and possible solutions. One of the conclusions and a common position from several of the participants was the importance that many actors need to drive development in the same direction. "One is not strong when it comes to change.
Everything is connected
Tobias Degsell, visionary of the future, concluded as usual with summarizing reflections "Today we are talking about trade, transport, sustainability and profitability and you have to understand that these things are connected. We will not have functioning trade, either physical or digital, without transportation. And we won't have real sustainability unless we link it to profitability."
"The secret to driving development forward is to show these links and how they are connected in a clear and concrete way. Show that we live in an ecosystem where we need each other. And we need to help each other!"
If you missed the last Dalarna Talks of the season, you can watch it afterwards here:
