Warehousing is one of the crucial elements in the distribution of goods and plays an indispensable role in modern logistics. Since the introduction of Industry 4.0, the level of digitalized warehousing has been steadily improved. In addition, the ecological sustainable development of warehousing has become one of the most important development trends of warehousing (Dohrmann et al., Logistics Trend Radar 7.0. DHL Group, (2024)). How can the impact of digitalization on ecological sustainability in the context of warehouses be quantified and presented in a meaningful way? The authors’ assessment of two leading companies in China’s logistics industry offers an innovative approach. The methodical procedure of this work includes a case study analysis of the two Chinese global players, namely JD.com and SF Express, in the megacity of Shanghai. JD.com is China’s largest integrated e-retailer and its Shanghai Asia No.1 warehouse corresponds to the warehousing with a high level of digitalization. SF Express is a comprehensive service enterprise mainly engaged in international and national express delivery with a relatively traditional warehousing system. The results show that an increase in the degree of digitalization can lead to an increase in the degree of ecological sustainability. However, a higher degree of digitalization is required for a certain degree of increase in ecological sustainability.