Green Digitalization: A New Path for Sustainable Development in the Retail Industry — A Comparative Study of Chinese and American Corporate Practices

Abstract

The United Nations Environment Programme’s 2024 Emissions Gap Report warns that global greenhouse gas emissions have reached a historical peak; failing to achieve a 42% emission reduction by 2030 will jeopardize the 1.5℃ temperature control goal. As a core carbon-emitting sector accounting for 12% of global emissions, the retail industry faces an urgent need for low-carbon transformation, while digital technologies offer a proven 15–20% emission reduction potential. This study introduces the concept of “green digitalization,” defined as the application of digital tools (e.g., artificial intelligence, Internet of Things) to restructure the retail “people-goods-venue” value chain, thereby enabling quantifiable, traceable low-carbon operations. Drawing on empirical data from three self-developed systems (“Lian Tong Ying,” “Dian Xiao Tong,” “Ke Ying Tong”) and comparative analyses of green transformation paths among U.S. enterprises (including Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods), this study identifies fundamental differences between China and the U.S. in technological application, model innovation, and policy adaptation. It further proposes a U.S.-adaptation framework for China’s digital decarbonization experience, centered on the tripartite logic of “technology localization + model collaboration + standard unification.” This research contributes a dual-driven paradigm of “technological evidence + cross-national adaptation” to global retail sustainability. Empirically, it verifies that lightweight digital tools can simultaneously achieve 28% carbon reduction and 22% operational efficiency improvement, while the ecological strategies of U.S. enterprises provide critical insights for scaling emission reduction effects.