Improving last-mile delivery for e-commerce: the case of Sweden
Muhammad Muzahidul Islam Patowary, Daphne Peulers, Tatjana Richter, Antonia Melovic, Daniel Nilsson, Klaus Solberg Söilen
Abstract
In an age where e-commerce can provide a huge variety of different products online, customers still face the issue of the last mile challenge. The purpose of this paper is to find out if the last-mile delivery of products is efficient and explore the possible improvement to this service. This research shows that home delivery is the preferred method of last-mile delivery. A significant gap was disclosed between the available options for delivery on e-commerce websites and consumer preferences of last-mile delivery. Time of delivery and accuracy are the greatest barriers in the delivery chain. The research also shows that there is a lack of home delivery services provided in the market. The research is limited by the usage of non-probability sampling and equal distribution of respondents of all ages. The research identifies a clear gap between customers’ demands in the last mile and the firms’ offerings.