Which is more damaging to the environment, buying clothes online or in a physical store? Experts insist that the issue cannot be resolved by demonizing one method of shopping over the other Ten years ago, buying clothes online was something that only the brave did. Shipping costs were high, and free returns were a rarity. The data shows how things have changed in just a decade.
According to Modaes’ 2023 Report on Online Fashion in Spain , only 8.8% of consumers had made the least one fashion purchase through the online channel in 2013. In 2022, after a rise during the pandemic, the proportion stood at 46.
7%. Even so, the fact that in 2021 that share was 46.8% may allude to a certain stagnation, accompanied by the return to physical stores that occurred after the end of the Covid-19 restrictions.
With data and news that are warning about the environmental impact of electronic commerce , many people are also choosing to go to a physical store as a more sustainable option. However, is this always the case? The answer is a big “it depends,” in which multiple factors must be taken into account, above all the question of whether what we buy is new or second-hand. Daniel Pinto Pajares, professor of the Master in e-Commerce at the International University of La Rioja (Spain), exemplifies it in the following way: “ A second-hand product that arrives from Germany to Spain requires transportation that emits more greenhouse gases than what the transport of a brand-new garment pur.
