SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAINS IN E-COMMERCE: CHALLENGES AND BEST PRACTICES

Abstract

The emerging development of e-commerce has tremendously changed the global supply chain, and it creates opportunities with sustainability issues. Although online trading can perform better in terms of speed of transactions, a broader market sphere, and consumer convenience, it also drives environmental and social issues such as excessive carbon emissions, tons of packaging, energy-consuming logistics, and labor abuse. This study examines the notion of sustainable supply chain in the context of e-commerce and the issues that organizations encounter and the good practices that they can employ to overcome the adverse effects that such issues present. The article uses the literature review and the case-based analysis to come up with the key issues of sustainability including the lack of efficiency in resources, the difficulty of commercial logistics on last mile, the reverse logistics, and stakeholder complexities. It has been found that green logistics integration, the implementation of a circular economy, ethical sourcing, and the digitization of supply chain transparency are the core measures that might help to improve sustainability. Also, the coordination between suppliers, e-commerce websites and users is identified as an essential aspect having a long-term impact in respect of environmental, economic, and social objectives. The research identifies groundbreaking activities like environmentally friendly packaging, route optimization with the help of AI, energy efficient warehousing, and usage of renewable energy sources that proves to be successful in lowering carbon footprint and the costs of their operations. Also, policy-making, regulatory guidance, and corporate social responsibility initiatives are observed to be helpful in advancing sustainability within the sector. Integrating existing knowledge and empirical practice, this work will yield practical information to scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers aiming to reconcile corporate development with ecosystem preservation. In the grander scheme of things, this paper has highlighted that e-commerce sustainability in supply chains is a competitive asset as well as an ethical responsibility of creating resilience, transparency, and accountability in the digital economy.