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The COVID-19 pandemic accelerates e-commerce adoption, which naturally induces an expedited acceptance of innovative last-mile deliveries. Focusing on self-collection via parcel lockers technology, this study investigates consumers' behavioural change, maintenance and habit formation related to e-commerce deliveries in response to the pandemic. We use a survey instrument for data collection (n = 500) and structural equation modelling for data analysis. Anchored on the risk–attitude–norm–ability–self-regulation (RANAS) framework, this study found that risk, attitude, norm, ability and self-regulation factors related to using the contactless shopping-delivery channel lead to the formation of self-collection habits, and that the formation process is fully mediated by consumers' maintenance motivation to use the channel. Furthermore, consumers' online shopping habit partially mediates the relationship between the maintenance motivation and self-collection habit formation. Consumers who were already frequent online shoppers before the pandemic are less likely to pick up self-collection as a habit during the pandemic. Additionally, model comparisons are conducted which reveal the differentiated habit formation processes. The findings contribute to a theoretical understanding of the formation of delivery habit as driven by the pandemic. Practical implications are also created which guide logistics and e-commerce operators' interactions with consumers in the post-pandemic period.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in e-commerce, which has prompted residents to shift their purchasing habits from offline to online. As a result, Smart Parcel Lockers (SPLs) have emerged as an accessible end-to-end delivery service that fits into the pandemic strategy of maintaining social distance and no-contact protocols. Although numerous studies have examined SPLs from various perspectives, few have analyzed their spatial distribution from an urban planning perspective, which could enhance the development of other disciplines in this field. To address this gap, we investigate the distribution of SPLs in Tianjin's central urban area before and after the pandemic (i.e., 2019 and 2022) using kernel density estimation, average nearest neighbor analysis, standard deviation elliptic, and geographical detector. Our results show that, in three years, the number of SPLs has increased from 51 to 479, and a majority were installed in residential communities (i.e., 92.2% in 2019, and 97.7% in 2022). We find that SPLs were distributed randomly before the pandemic, but after the pandemic, SPLs agglomerated and followed Tianjin's development pattern. We identify eight influential factors on the spatial distribution of SPLs and discuss their individual and compound effects. Our discussion highlights potential spatial distribution analysis, such as dynamic layout planning, to improve the allocation of SPLs in city planning and city logistics.
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Freight transportation in urban areas represents an essential activity from the standpoint of economic development;in recent years, the spread of e-commerce (also accelerated by COVID-19) has contributed to increasing the demand for freight distribution over short distances. In most cities, the approaches and measures are often based on new technologies. Nevertheless, today there are contexts wherein delivery operations represent critical tasks to be solved. Furthermore, low accessibility areas, such as small islands, present further problems due to their exclusive dependence on maritime links (and often low-reliability services). This paper tackles this topic, formulating and solving a distribution problem by linking shipping services with last-mile distribution operated by means of an automatic delivery service (parcel lockers). A test application is proposed by considering the small island of Lipari in the archipelago of the Aeolian islands (Sicily, Southern Italy). The results show that such a type of service could reduce the user's waiting time when compared to traditional home deliveries.
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The COVID-19 pandemic and movement control order that started in 2020 has changed the shopping behavior to online shopping. This also increases in-home delivery services by the shipping providers. However, since the virus can be transmitted through surface transmission, the buyer is advised to avoid touching surfaces and clean or sanitize surfaces regularly with standard disinfectants to prevent the spread. In addition, with an increase in the parcel delivery process, missing parcels also will be one of the main problems that the buyer will be facing. This study has developed a smart parcel box with sanitizer to overcome the issues stated above. Smart in this context refers to the notification that the buyer will get once the parcel is placed inside the parcel box, the box itself will be locked once the parcel is in and only can be opened by the authorized user. This study utilizes the Arduino IDE software to control the operation of the locks and notifications. The notifications are linked to the Blynk Application that needs to be installed on the buyer's smartphone. The software is also coded to run the motor that controls the standard disinfectants that will be sprayed on the parcel for a few seconds. The results indicate one solution for the online shopping addicts to shop while avoiding the spread of COVID-19 viruses. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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A plethora of courier services are available in Bangladesh which are more expensive, less effective and takes ages to deliver the product. Besides, in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation, it's onerous to move from one place to another, and if a person wants to send a product, he/she needs to go to the courier office. Moreover, many people need to move from their house for attending office, meetings, and traveling from one district to another district for special purposes. In this paperwork, a system is introduced to reduce the cost and time to send a product from one place to another place. Basically, an application is developed to meet the people who want to send a product and another one who want to carry the product. For carrying the product one can easily earn money. After scrutinizing the cost of courier services in Bangladesh, an algorithm is introduced to calculate the carrying cost of the product and an algorithm is also developed for product security.
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Globalisation, urbanisation and the recent COVID-19 pandemic has been raising the demand for logistic activities. This change is affecting the entire supply chain, especially the last-mile step. This step is considered the most expensive and ineffective part of the supply chain and a source of negative economic, environmental and social externalities. This article aims to characterise the sustainable urban last-mile logistics research field through a systematic literature review (N = 102). This wide and holistic review was organised into six thematic clusters that identified the main concepts addressed in the different areas of the last-mile research and the existence of 14 solutions, grouped into three types (vehicular, operational, and organisational solutions). The major findings are that there are no ideal last-mile solutions as their limitations should be further explored by considering the so-called "triple bottom line of sustainability”;the integration and combination of multiple last-mile alternative concepts;or by establishing collaboration schemes that minimise the stakeholders' conflicting interests. © 2023 by the authors.
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In the last decade, e-commerce has been growing consistently. Fostered by the covid pandemic, online retail has grown exponentially, particularly in industries including food, clothing, groceries, and many others. This growth in online retailing activities has raised critical logistic challenges, especially in the last leg of the distribution, commonly referred to as the Last Mile. For instance, traditional truck-based home delivery has reached its limit within metropolitan areas and can no longer be an effective delivery method. Driven by technological progress, several other logistic solutions have been deployed as innovative alternatives to deliver parcels. This includes delivery by drones, smart parcel stations, robots, and crowdsourcing, among others. In this setting, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive review and analysis of the latest trends in last-mile delivery solutions from both industry and academic perspectives (see Figure 1 for overview). We use a content analysis literature review to analyse over 80 relevant publications, derive the necessary features of the latest innovation in the last mile delivery, and point out their different maturity levels and the related theoretical and operational challenges. (Figure presented.). © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the nutritional content and quality of food parcels distributed in Lebanon and assess their adherence to dietary guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic and an unprecedented economic crisis. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study (June-July 2020); phone survey (thirty items). SETTING: Lebanon. PARTICIPANTS: Food parcel providers (FPP; n 72) involved in food parcel distribution (FPD), mainly to Lebanese households. RESULTS: FPP included international non-governmental organizations (INGO) (n 3), local non-governmental organizations (n 45) and personal initiatives (n 24). Overall, low adherence to the World Food Programme (WFP) food parcel guidelines were observed among FPP for specific food items, including vegetables, fish, legumes and cereals, whereas salt content significantly surpassed the guidelines (all P-values <0·001). On average, a food parcel provided 608·4 ± 55 kcal/d/person. The greatest contributors to total energy intake (TE) in the food parcel were carbohydrates (46·4 %) and fats (46·8 %), while protein contributed to 7 %TE. In addition, %TE from fats and sugars significantly surpassed the dietary reference intakes (DRI) for a single person per d (134-234 % and 185 % of DRI, respectively, P-values <0·001). Only 10-15 % of daily needs for key micronutrients, including Fe, Zn, thiamin, riboflavin and dietary folate, were met through the food parcels. Adequate food safety and hygiene practices were reported among FPP, yet dramatic changes in food costs due to overlapping crises affected the quality and quantity of food in parcels. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the need to improve the nutritional content of food parcels and adherence to dietary guidelines to alleviate food and nutrition insecurity while preventing diet-related diseases among vulnerable beneficiaries in Lebanon.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Pandemics , Humans , Cross-Sectional Studies , COVID-19/epidemiology , Diet , Nutritional Status , VegetablesABSTRACT
During the era of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), online shopping has been growing and the traffic of parcel posts has also increased. However, recipients cannot always be on standby at home to receive their parcels. Therefore, a smart box prototype has been developed to receive parcel posts from the postal service. For sustainable development purposes, this system combines IoT and solar energy technologies to provide services to a recipient. One of the key features of this system is sending notifications or alerts to a recipient via a mobile application called LINE Notify when mail or parcel posts are dropped into the box. After testing the box using various kinds of mail envelopes for 50 time and various kinds parcels for 50 times, it was found that the average performance was 96%. The box received an overall evaluation score is $4.35\pm 0.50$ from system evaluation by 10 subjects. One problem detected in this system was an error detecting small sized parcels. This issue can be improved in the next version by adding additional sensors. © 2022 IEEE.
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Due to COVID-19, ordering food through online shopping increased. Accordingly, the use of logistics and delivery services is also increasing. As the number of parcels to be delivered gets bigger, the efficiency of the delivery mechanism and battery efficiency becomes important. The problem of finding the route traveling several destinations at once is called as Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). There are several algorithms suggested to solve it in polynomial time. Among them, this paper experimented to compare the performance of two algorithms, the greedy algorithm, and the branch-and-bound algorithm. We used the Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) program to test the vehicle running based on the calculated route by two algorithms. The average running time and charging time are recorded to evaluate the performance. Through this experiment, we found out that the branch-and-bound algorithm provides in a faster route selection and consumes less battery than the greedy algorithm. © 2022 IEEE.
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In recent months, online sales have experienced a sharp surge also due to the COVID pandemic. In this paper, we propose a new location and routing problem for a last mile delivery service based on parcel lockers and introduce a mathematical formulation to solve it by means of a MIP solver (Gurobi).The presence of parcel locker stations avoids the door-to-door delivery by companies but requires that consumers move from home to collect their parcels. Potential location of locker stations is known but not all of them need to be opened. The problem minimizes the global environmental impact in terms of distances traveled by both the delivery company and the consumers deciding the optimal number of stations that have to be opened.How much do the number and location of lockers impact on environment? Is the behavior of consumers a critical aspect of such optimization? To this aim we have solved 1680 instances and analyzed diferent scenarios varying the number of consumers and potential parcel lockers, the maximum distance a consumer is willing to travel to reach a locker station, and the maximum distance we may assume the same consumer is willing to travel by foot or by bicycle.The experimental results draw interesting conclusions and managerial insights providing important rules of thumbs for environmental decision makers.Copyright (c) 2022 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
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The COVID-19 pandemic calls for contactless deliveries. To prevent the further spread of the disease and ensure the timely delivery of supplies, this paper investigates a collaborative truck-drone routing problem for contactless parcel delivery (CRP-T&D), which allows multiple trucks and multiple drones to deliver parcels cooperatively in epidemic areas. We formulate a mixed-integer programming model that minimizes the delivery time, with the consideration of the energy consumption model of drones. To solve CRP-T&D, we develop an improved variable neighborhood descent (IVND) that combines the Metropolis acceptance criterion of Simulated Annealing (SA) and the tabu list of Tabu Search (TS). Meanwhile, the integration of K-means clustering and Nearest neighbor strategy is applied to generate the initial solution. To evaluate the performance of IVND, experiments are conducted by comparing IVND with VND, SA, TS, variants of VND, and large neighborhood search (LNS) on instances with different scales. Several critical factors are tested to verify the robustness of IVND. Moreover, the experimental results on a practical instance further demonstrate the superior performance of IVND. IEEE
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The pandemic caused by the corona virus SARS-CoV-2 raised many new challenges for humanity. For instance, governments imposed regulations such as lockdowns, resulting in supply chain shocks at different tiers. Additionally, delivery services reached their capacity limits because the demand for mail orders soared temporarily during the lockdowns. We argue that one option to support supply chain viability at the last-mile delivery tier is to use (outdoor) parcel lockers through which customers can collect their orderings 24/7 while ensuring physical distancing. The location planning of such lockers is known to be of utmost importance for their success. Another important topic to address is that the design of the compartment structure of the parcel lockers should meet the (uncertain) customer demand for different commodities. Both of the latter planning issues are combined into one optimization problem in this article. The objective is to maximize a linear function (e.g., expected profits) of the covered demand, given a budget an operator is willing to invest. An integer linear programming formulation is proposed, and a reformulation based on Benders decomposition is derived. It is shown that the Benders cuts can be separated in linear time. The developed algorithms enable solving of large-scale problem instances demonstrated by a performance analysis of computational experiments. The impact of different problem parameters on the obtained solutions is demonstrated by a sensitivity analysis. A case study based on real-world data from Austria is presented. The results show that using parcel lockers can support supply chain viability at the last-mile delivery tier. Moreover, the relatively small investment cost yields promising returns. The results further indicate that small-sized and medium-sized compartments should be preferred over large and x-large ones in the parcel locker compartment design.
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Purpose>Last-mile delivery is associated with a negative environmental impact and high costs. The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach to designing stationary parcel locker (SPL) networks while minimizing both CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions and costs during delivery and pick-up.Design/methodology/approach>This study uses a multinomial logit model to evaluate recipients' willingness to use SPLs based on their availability at home and travel distance. To determine optimal SPL locations, this study formulates a mixed-integer linear programming model.Findings>The empirical study of different regional clusters reveals that optimal SPL locations can generate cost savings of up to 11.0%. SPLs have a positive impact on total CO2e emission savings in urban areas (i.e. up to 2.5%), but give rise to additional emissions (i.e. 4.6%) in less populated areas due to longer travel distances during the pick-up process.Originality/value>This paper optimizes SPL locations and the ecological effect of SPLs by minimizing emissions and costs simultaneously. Furthermore, it extends existing discrete choice models by also including recipients' availability at home, increasing the accuracy of recipients' preferences. So far, the effect of SPLs has been studied for metropolitan areas only. A global logistics service provider shared a real dataset which allows us to study seven different regional clusters ranging from rural areas to large cities. Thus, this study contributes to the field of sustainable urban logistics.
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The ever-increasing impacts of the last mile delivery sector on the environment and the quality of life of the urban population, such as increased congestion, demand best practices to be incorporated by companies to reduce impacts such as emission of air pollutants and Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and depletion of natural resources, among others. However, a myriad of strategies has been developed for this purpose but there is a lack of methodologies that allow the choice of the best ones for a specific case. Therefore, this study looks for those best practices to be employed through an innovative methodology that consists of SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), a map of strategies of the delivery service, and using the Sustainability Balanced Scorecard (SBSC) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), with the differential of considering the peculiarities of each company. The results applied in a Brazilian last mile delivery service company show that best practices such as route optimization, implementation of new infrastructure and business models for urban deliveries, and use of information systems for fleet tracking and monitoring contribute significantly to improving performance indicators and achieving the sector’s goal to become more sustainable, and especially meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 8, 9, 11, and 17.
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Despite various economic crisis situations around the world, the courier and delivery service market continues to be revitalized. The parcel shipping volume in Korea is currently 3.37 billion parcels, achieving a growth rate of about 140% compared to 2012, and 70% of parcels are from metropolitan areas. Given the above statistics, this paper focused on the development of an underground logistics system (ULS), in order to conduct a study to handle the freight volume in a more eco-friendly manner in the center of metropolitan areas. In this paper we first analyzed the points at which parcel boxes were damaged, based on a ULS. After collecting image data of the parcel boxes, the damaged parcel boxes were detected and classified using computerized methods, in particular, a convolutional neural network (CNN), MobileNet. For image classification, Google Colaboratory notebook was used and 4882 images were collected for the experiment. Based on the collected dataset, when conducting the experiment, the accuracy, recall, and specificity of classification for the testing set were 84.6%, 82% and 88.54%, respectively,. To validate the usefulness of the MobileNet algorithm, additional experiments were performed under the same conditions using other algorithms, VGG16 and ResNet50. The results show that MobileNet is superior to other image classification models when comparing test time. Thus, in the future, MobileNet has the potential to be used for identifying damaged boxes, and could be used to ensure the reliability and safety of parcel boxes based on a ULS.
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Purpose>The purpose of this research is to reveal consumer preferences towards innovative last-mile parcel delivery and more specifically unmanned aerial delivery drones, in comparison to traditional postal delivery (postie) and the recent rise of parcel lockers in Australia. The authors investigate competitive priorities and willingness to pay for key attributes of parcel delivery (mode, speed, method and time window), the role of contextual moderators such as parcel value and security and opportunities for logistics service providers in the growing e-commerce market.Design/methodology/approach>A survey involving stated choice experiments has been conducted among 709 respondents in urban Australia. The authors estimated panel error component logit models, derived consumer priorities and deployed 576 Monte Carlo simulations to forecast potential delivery mode market shares.Findings>The study results suggest that people prefer postie over drone delivery, all else equal, but that drone deliveries become competitive with large market shares if they live up to the premise that they can deliver faster and cheaper. Both drone and postie become less attractive relative to parcel lockers when there is no safe place to leave a parcel at a residence, highlighting the importance of situational context and infrastructure at the receiving end of last-mile delivery. The authors identified opportunities for chargeable add-on services, such as signature for postie and 2-h parcel deliveries for drones.Originality/value>The authors offer timely and novel insights into consumers preferences towards aerial drone parcel deliveries compared to postie and lockers. Going beyond the extant engineering/operations research literature, the authors provide a starting point and add new dimensions/moderators for last-mile parcel delivery choice analysis and empirical evidence of market potential and competitive attributes of innovative versus traditional parcel delivery alternatives.
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Online shopping in Malaysia recorded a significant increase annually. The number of online shopping rocketed due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and movement control order (MCO) enforced by the Malaysian government. The current situation contributes to the volume of the parcel that needs to be delivered by delivery companies in Malaysia. The case of unattended parcel delivery, parcel lost, and failed delivery attempts had caused a lot of trouble to the household and the delivery company. It costs time and money because the household lost their valuable parcel, and the delivery company needs to reschedule the delivery. ParcelRestBox aims to overcome these issues by accepting parcels delivered without requiring the recipient to be present and send a delivery notification to the household to alert parcel delivered. This paper discusses on the design and the development of the ParcelRestBox prototype towards the actual development of this system. The ParcelRestBox development is significant to households or recipients, delivery companies, and property developers. ParcelRestBox consists of a ParcelRestBox device with NodeMCU V3 ESP8266 microcontroller, infrared sensor, and Android mobile application. The Mobile Application Development Life Cycle (MADLC) methodology is adopted as a guideline in the project development. The ParcelRestBox mobile application works as an interface for the recipient to interact with the ParcelRestBox device. Every parcel delivery will be detected by the ParcelRestBox device, and the notification will be sent to ParcelRestBox mobile application to alert the user. Thus, this ParcelRestBox system is beneficial if it can be used by the household or adopted by property developer to equip newly developed property in smart city area in Malaysia. © 2021 IEEE.
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A global pandemic of covid-19 has hastened the growth of online shopping or E-commerce. Nowadays, E-commerce transactions provide various products from luxury goods and services to everyday necessities. While the popularity of online shopping has grown fast, there are several common issues that shoppers experience. Common problems that customers experienced are failed delivery, missing parcels and even the criminal case. Malaysia has introduced Pos Laju Ezi Box Kiosk, but still contemporary Kiosk type approach for the delivery system has some problems such as high initial installation cost, the expense of management system and especially security weaknesses in the wireless communication. To overcome the aforementioned problems, this paper proposes a low-cost smart parcel box system that will be installed at individual homes with enhanced security. This system used Arduino Mega 2560 to control all the processes of the developed system. The system will be initiated when couriers send the parcel’s tracking number as a message to the user via applications to get the password. For security purpose, password will be provided once the courier’s message is the same as the message specified by the user. Couriers then can enter the password provided and insert the parcel into the smart parcel box. The proposed lowcost smart parcel box system ensures that parcels are delivered safely and securely to the customer’s door. © The 2022 International Conference on Artificial Life and Robotics (ICAROB2022).
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In recent years, the volume of parcels sold electronically has increased significantly. The current pandemic period has amplified this, as the volume of e-shop transactions has grown even more. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictive measures, most shops are closed in the Czech Republic. Customers most often use e-shops to buy goods. As a result, the volume of parcel transport, which is provided by parcel carriers, is increasing to finish customers. Improving distribution logistics and the entire logistic system are constantly under pressure in the context of existing competition, maintaining the declared level of customer service and increasing volume of parcels. One way to streamline the logistic distribution process is to use RFID technology as one of the automatic identification technologies. The aim of the article is to create the proposal for the use of RFID technology in the distribution process of parcels in order to make it more effective. Simulation software the Witness Horizon will used to achieve the aim. The software uses the dynamic simulation to evaluate the benefits of using RFID technology before its implementation. © 2021 Kaunas University of Technology. All rights reserved.