Q-Commerce vs. E-Commerce in Last-Mile Delivery: A Data-Driven Comparison of Emissions, Costs, and Efficiency – Evidence from Simulated Scenarios
By: Manas Sarkar
References
- Buldeo Rai, H. T. (2022). Not all e-commerce emits equally: Systematic quantitative review of online and store purchases’ carbon footprint. Environmental Science & Technology, 708-718. doi:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c00299
- Caggiani, L. C. (2021). A green logistics solution for last-mile deliveries considering e-vans and e-cargo bikes. Transportation Research Procedia, 75-82. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2021.01.010
- Comi, A. &. (2021). Last-mile delivering: analysis of environment-friendly transport. Sustainable Cities and Society. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103213
- de Mello Bandeira, R. A. (2019). Electric vehicles in the last mile of urban freight transportation: A sustainability assessment of postal deliveries in Rio de Janeiro-Brazil. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 491-502. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2018.12.017
- Deloison, T. H. (2020). The future of the last-mile ecosystem. In World Economic Forum. Retrieved from https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_the_last_mile_ecosystem.pdf
- Dündar, H. Ö. (2021). A review on sustainable urban vehicle routeing. Journal of Cleaner Production. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125444
- Eskandaripour, H. &. (2023). Last-Mile Drone Delivery: Past, Present, and Future. Drones. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/drones7020077
- Figliozzi, M. A. (2020). Carbon emissions reductions in last mile and grocery deliveries utilizing air and ground autonomous vehicles. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2020.102443
- Fiori, C. &. (2018). Modelling energy consumption of electric freight vehicles in urban pickup/delivery operations: analysis and estimation on a real-world dataset. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 65. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2018.09.020
- Fornari, E. N. (2022). THE WHEEL OF RETAILING IS STILL SPINNING: PROMISES, COMPROMISES, AND PITFALLS OF QUICK-COMMERCE. N/A, 12. Retrieved from http://www.simktg.it/sp/sim-conference-2022.3sp
- Gnoni, M. G. (2025). Assessing sustainability of smart last mile delivery: a simulation-based decision support tool. Sustainable Future. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2025.100713
- Gund, H. P. (2024). Q-commerce or E-commerce? A systematic state of the art on comparative last-mile logistics greenhouse gas emissions literature review. International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, 185-207. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/IJIEOM-01-2023-0001
- Iwan, S. N. (2021). Unloading Bays as Charging Stations for EFV-Based Urban Freight Delivery System—Example of Szczecin. Energies. Energy. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/en14185677
- Kumar, R. R. (2020). Adoption of electric vehicle: A literature review and prospects for sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119911
- Luna Sanchez, P. (. (2024). An analysis of the drivers of consumers’ purchasing behavior in quick commerce platforms. Retrieved from https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202403172686
- Marmiroli, B. V. (2020). The transport of goods in the urban environment: A comparative life cycle assessment of electric, compressed natural gas and diesel light-duty vehicles. Applied Energy. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.114236
- Martinez Vidal, À. M. (2022). Sustainable solutions in last mile logistics (Master’s thesis). Barcelona, Spain: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Retrieved from https://upcommons.upc.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/bb19076d-b570-425e-b336-8172948bdc4e/content
- Meghan Yurchisin, A. J. (2023). HE SUSTAINABLE LAST MILE - FASTER CHEAPER GREENER. Accenture. Retrieved from https://www.accenture.com/content/dam/accenture/final/a-com-migration/r3-3/pdf/pdf-148/accenture-sustainable-mile-pov.pdf
- Mohamed Awwad, A. S. (2018). September). Sustainable Last-Mile logistics operation in the Era of E-commerce. In Proceedings of the international conference on industrial engineering and operations management, (pp. 584-591). Retrieved from https://ieomsociety.org/dc2018/papers/179.pdf
- Mucowska, M. (2021). Trends of environmentally sustainable solutions of urban last-mile deliveries on the e-commerce market—a literature review. Sustainability. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su13115894
- Mukhopadhyay, M. (2022). Who moved my grocery, in 10 minutes?-A light on Indian dark stores. SSRN, 10. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4052765
- Mukhopadhyay, M. (2023). From Click to Quick-Examining the drivers of Quick Commerce on Online Consumer Behavior Using Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping. International Conference on Marketing Innovation. SSRN. doi:https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4720199
- Muñoz-Villamizar, A. V.-M. (2021). The environmental impact of fast shipping ecommerce in inbound logistics operations: A case study in Mexico. Journal of cleaner production. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125400
- Naik, A. &. (2025). Beyond Instant Delivery: Industry Challenges, Market Gaps, and the Future of Quick Commerce. In IBA IEA Conference on Economics and Public Policy. Atlantis Press, 402-437. Retrieved from 10.2991/978-94-6463-766-3_20
- Nickischer, A. (2020). Environmental Impacts of Internal Combustion Engines and Electric Battery Vehicles. D.U.Quark, 12. Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/duquark?utm_source=dsc.duq.edu%2Fduquark%2Fvol4%2Fiss2%2F3&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages
- Nogueira, G. P. (2022). The environmental impact of fast delivery B2C e-commerce in outbound logistics operations: A simulation approach. Cleaner Logistics and Supply. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clscn.2022.100070
- Pache, G. (2023). Q-commerce logistical networks: A shift in digital retail towards” going dark”? Hal Science. Retrieved from https://hal.science/hal-04214491v1
- Patella, S. M. (2020). The adoption of green vehicles in last mile logistics: A systematic review. Sustainability. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010006
- Prajapati, D. Z. (2022). Sustainable agro-food supply chain in e-commerce: Towards the circular economy. Sustainability. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148698
- R. Niemeijer, P. B. (2023). Agreenerlastmile: Analyzingthecarbonemissionimpactofpickuppointsin last-mile parcel delivery. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 11. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2023.113630
- Rai, H. B. (2017). Improving urban freight transport sustainability: Policy assessment framework and case study. Research in Transportation Economics, 26-35. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2017.08.005
- Rai, H. B. (2023). Dark stores in the City of Light: Geographical and transportation impacts of ‘quick commerce’in Paris. Research in Transportation Economics, 11. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2023.101333
- Rao, P. B. (2021). The e-commerce supply chain and environmental sustainability: An empirical investigation on the online retail sector. Cogent Business & Management. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2021.1938377
- Research, M. (2024). Marker Research Report. Retrieved from https://market.us/report/quick-commerce-market/#:~:text=Key%20Takeaways,delivery%20infrastructure%20and%20consumer%20demand
- Sanguesa, J. A.-B. (2021). Analyzing the impact of roadmap and vehicle features on electric vehicles energy consumption. Retrieved from https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9402917
- Sarkar. (2023b). Last-Mile Carbon Emission under E-Commerce: Environmental Perspective. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 277-292. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2023.1112020
- Sarkar, M. (2023a). Environmental Sustainability under E-Commerce: A Holistic Perspective. European Journal of Development Studies, 6. doi:https://doi.org/10.24018/ejdevelop.2023.3.3.252
- Sarkar, M. (2024). Is Quick Delivery Related to Quick-Commerce Environmentally Sustainable?. uropean Journal of Development Studies, 44-53. Retrieved from https://www.ej-develop.org/index.php/ejdevelop/article/view/404/351
- Silva, V. A. (2023). Sustainable urban last-mile logistics: A systematic literature review. Sustainability. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032285
- Statista. (2025). Revenue of the quick commerce market worldwide from 2017 to 2030 (in billion U.S. dollars). Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1394721/quick-commerce-revenue-worldwide/
- Torkel, K. J. (2022). GmbH, Reshaping Strategies in Times of Crises – TheCase of Gorillas Technologies. Lisbon: Catholic University of Portugal. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/openview/c1f57aa383eda6f54698f36bb9bf3b10/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2026366&diss=y
- Villa, R. &. (2021). A metro-based system as sustainable alternative for urban logistics in the era of e-commerce. Sustainability. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084479
- Viu-Roig, M. &.-P. (2020). The impact of E-Commerce-related last-mile logistics on cities: A systematic literature review. Sustainability. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166492
- Xin Wang, O. A.-F. (2023). Network Design for Ultra-fast Delivery Services via Probabilistic Envelope Constrained Programs. SSRN, 34. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4672554
- Yang, X. O. (2024). Winning the race to customers with micro-fulfillment centers : an approach for network planning in quick commerce. Central European Journal of Operations Research,, 295-33. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jlst-2026-0004 | Journal eISSN: 2784-7497
Language: English
Submitted on: Sep 1, 2025
Accepted on: May 1, 2026
Published on: May 29, 2026
Published by: University of Maribor
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 issues per year
Related subjects:
© 2026 Manas Sarkar, published by University of Maribor
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.