Next Gen Retail

Welcome to NextGen Retail! This is Lindholmen Science Park’s new initiative to shape a more dynamic retail sector, building on the successful work carried out within ASTER (2021–2025). Through innovative collaborative projects focusing on sustainability and digitalisation, we drive the change needed for a future-proof industry. Our vision becomes reality through strong partnerships.

Below, you can explore our current collaborations and a selection of projects from our previous ASTER portfolio.

Ongoing Projects

Strengthening the Role of Trade in the Innovation System

This initiative is a strategic effort to motivate the retail sector's role as a driving force for societal transformation. The project achieves this by mapping, mobilizing, and increasing the retail...

CIRKLA

The CIRKLA project unites merchants, transport providers, trade associations, packaging manufacturers, and researchers to develop a practical logistics system for circular e-commerce packaging.

Project Results

Here are some successfully conducted project results from ASTER, a collaborative effort between Lindholmen Science Park and Lund University, funded by Vinnova and the Swedish Energy Agency. The projects focused on demonstrating Sweden as a global leader in e-commerce that can be effective, competitive and sustainable.

Climate-Neutral Rural Logistics

The project addressed environmental issues related to CO2 emissions from e-commerce deliveries, accessibility to services in rural areas and cooperation between stakeholders. It explored the...

DENSE - The unified e-commerce delivery

The project involves several key stakeholders that play an important role in the Swedish ecosystem. Its aim was to explore and develop a consolidation solution for last-mile deliveries that could be...

E-Com Ready: The future of sustainable supply chains

Reduced carbon footprint, improved working environments, and more efficient logistics. The E-Com Ready project demonstrates that e-commerce-optimised packaging can lower environmental impact while...

e-COMSTRAT

The objective of e-COMSTRAT was to provide new knowledge about how municipalities can achieve an improved urban environment through access to delivery data. By taking part in delivery data, e-COMSTRAT...

Gordon Circular - A circular package for home delivery of food

The strong growth of e-commerce in recent years has been positive for the growth of many Swedish companies. Unfortunately, the amount of waste, as a result of the disposable packaging in which home...

Large-scale, coordinated and customized e-commerce deliveries

Large-scale, coordinated and customised e-commerce deliveries tested a new large-scale solution for sustainable food deliveries, where chilled foods are transported in a reusable carton that adds...

Parcel locker Policy

The Parcel Locker Policy project has concluded that parcel lockers (PLs) have significant potential to reduce the negative environmental and social impacts of e-commerce logistics. Here, you can read...

Returnable

Over the past decade, the demand for e-commerce services in the grocery trade has skyrocketed. This has led to a significant increase in the use of plastic and paper bags, which are seldom reused or...

Smart Fossil-free Return Flows

The purpose of Smart Fossil Free Returns Flows is to understand more about the underlying factors and the main reasons why a retailer decides to implement a digital returns information system. Based...

hållbarhetsmärkningar för godstransporter.jpg

Sustainable labels for freight transport

Road freight transport is an important prerequisite for the functioning of our society and business. Not least, the importance of transport has increased as more and more people choose to shop online...

Sustainable omnichannels

Which delivery method is most sustainable - home delivery or Click and Collect? How should consumers be able to know which choice is the best to minimize the emissions when they shop online? The...

Sustainable reconditioning for circular trade

E-commerce in a circular economy requires renewed business models where resources and products are reused and used for as long as possible, which means that return flows and reconditioning of products...

The effects of the industry agreement

The purpose of this project was to identify and describe the effects of the industry agreement for fossil-free delivery. Exploring these effects generates important knowledge for further developing...

Illustration av handel med fossilfria transporter och människor som bär paket och cyklar

The Industry Agreement for Fossil-Free Delivery

Before the Industry Agreement, the market was characterised by a plethora of arbitrary and confusing terms, such as "climate-smart". The Industry Agreement for Fossil-Free Delivery is an initiative by...

The role of logistics for profitability in circular business models

A key step toward sustainable trade involves introducing and scaling up circular business models, particularly those close to consumers, such as used sales, rentals, and repair services. Interest in...

Fact Box on ASTER

From 2021 to 2025, ASTER (Alliance for Sustainable E-commerce) brought together organizations from the public sector, business, and academia. The goal was to position Sweden as a global leader in demonstrating that e-commerce can be effective, competitive, and sustainable.

ASTER was a collaborative effort between Lindholmen Science Park and Lund University. The program was funded by Vinnova, the Swedish innovation agency, and the Swedish Energy Agency, with a total budget of 10,400,000 SEK. Of this total, 4,500,000 SEK was specifically earmarked for organizations that wanted to jointly apply for funding for projects related to sustainable e-commerce.

Do you want to know more about Next Gen Retail?

Caroline Karlsson

Communications officer

caroline.karlsson@lindholmen.se

+46 (0) 702680772

Josephine Darlington

Next Gen Retail

Portfolio Manager

josephine.darlington@lindholmen.se

+46 (0)709 656 975