海角社区T&L director examines e-commerce deliveries
Dr. Herbert Kotzab, director of the Crowley Center for Transportation and Logistics and professor at the 海角社区, co-authored a study earlier this year that provides insights into consumer expectations and preferences regarding home delivery solutions offered by e-commerce companies. Kotzab, who is recognized as the , was the lead author.
The interest in home deliveries dramatically increased during the COVID-19 pandemic with many consumers expecting e-commerce home delivery to be sustainable and fast. To better understand these expectations, this research highlighted e-commerce players’ practices and assessed consumers’ preferences for home delivery.
The researchers examined two concepts not previously studied in the context of e-commerce deliveries: packaging choices and delivery vehicles. The study found that packing is a prominent issue for home delivery options, suggesting that e-commerce firms should strive to offer different packaging alternatives such as disposable or reusable.
By conducting interviews with logistics and e-commerce companies to reveal their home delivery options and surveying 400 consumers to identify their home delivery preferences, the findings revealed important implications for e-commerce, logistics and home delivery stakeholders.
The results indicate that delivery speed is the most desired home delivery attribute, followed by delivery options, reusable packaging and delivery by electric delivery vehicles. A significant proportion of consumers favor sustainability options in the context of a developing economy.
Based on their findings, the researchers suggest that companies should be able to cater to these environmentally focused customers while also offering alternatives for customers who do not prioritize environmental impact.
Kotzab co-authored the paper with Işık Özge Yumurtacı Hüseyinoğlu, associate professor of logistics management at Izmir University of Economics in Turkey; Irmak Şen, economics and management professor at the University of Pavia in Italy; and Carlos Mena, professor of supply chain management at Portland State University in Oregon.
Read “” in ScienceDirect.