Purpose – For traditional grocery retailers, the growing importance of online sales means creating new logistics models for omni-channel (OC) management Due to these transformational changes, retail research and practice are lacking a comprehensive view on integrated fulfilment and distribution concepts for home and store deliveries as they have evolved recently The purpose of this paper is to develop a planning framework for last mile order fulfilment in OC grocery retailing and to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different design concepts Design/methodology/approach – The findings were developed and evaluated by means of explorative interviews with grocery retail and logistics experts Additionally, key literature on last mile order fulfilment and retail supply chain management was reviewed to supplement the integrated OC grocery operations planning framework Findings – OC logistics planning can be structured into back-end fulfilment (eg warehouse and in-store picking) and last mile dis

Last mile fulfilment and distribution in omni-channel grocery retailing: a strategic planning framework

Customer perceptions of e-service quality in online shopping

Purpose – Online retailing changes all retail systems significantly. The growing importance of online sales requires the creation of new fulfillment models. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how retailers develop from separate multi-channel (MC) to integrated omni-channel (OC) fulfillment. OC retailing has an integrated perspective, with seamless interactions between online and bricks-and-mortar channels. Design/methodology/approach – More than 60 internationally active retailers and experts from Germany participated in an exploratory survey. With a response rate of 40 percent the authors achieved the goal to adequately depict the German MC and OC retail market. It is currently the largest empirical study of MC and OC fulfillment. Findings – It is the first study to comprehensively analyze the logistical development options open to retailers for integrated fulfillment. The authors discuss the conceptual development options and formulate propositions for an advanced OC fulfillment approach. OC re...

Retail logistics in the transition from multi-channel to omni-channel

This paper provides a systematic review of consumer behaviour and order fulfilment in online retailing. The objective of this review is threefold: first, to identify elements of order-fulfilment operations that are relevant to online consumer behaviour (purchase, repurchase, product return); second, to understand the relationship between order-fulfilment performance and consumer behaviour; and third, to inspire future research on developing consumer service strategies that takes account of these behavioural responses to order-fulfilment performance outcomes. The paper is based on a systematic review of literature on online consumer behaviour and order-fulfilment operations, mainly in the fields of marketing and operations, published in international peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and September 2015. This study indicates that the current literature on online consumer behaviour focuses mainly on the use of marketing tools to improve consumer service levels. Very little research has been conducted on the use of consumer service instruments to steer consumer behaviour or, consequently, to manage related order-fulfilment activities better. The study culminates in a framework that encompasses elements of order-fulfilment operations and their relationship to online consumer behaviour. This paper is the first comprehensive review of online consumer behaviour that takes aspects of order-fulfilment operations into account from both marketing and operations perspectives.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ijmr.12129

Consumer Behaviour and Order Fulfilment in Online Retailing: A Systematic Review

Purpose




The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the extant research on last-mile logistics (LML) models and consider LML’s diverse roots in city logistics, home delivery and business-to-consumer distribution, and more recent developments within the e-commerce digital supply chain context. The review offers a structured approach to what is currently a disparate and fractured field in logistics.




Design/methodology/approach




The systematic literature review examines the interface between e-commerce and LML. Following a protocol-driven methodology, combined with a “snowballing” technique, a total of 47 articles form the basis of the review.




Findings




The literature analysis conceptualises the relationship between a broad set of contingency variables and operational characteristics of LML configuration (push-centric, pull-centric, and hybrid system) via a set of structural variables, which are captured in the form of a design framework. The authors propose four future research areas reflecting likely digital supply chain evolutions.




Research limitations/implications




To circumvent subjective selection of articles for inclusion, all papers were assessed independently by two researchers and counterchecked with two independent logistics experts. Resulting classifications inform the development of future LML models.




Practical implications




The design framework of this study provides practitioners insights on key contingency and structural variables and their interrelationships, as well as viable configuration options within given boundary conditions. The reformulated knowledge allows these prescriptive models to inform practitioners in their design of last-mile distribution.




Social implications




Improved LML performance would have positive societal impacts in terms of service and resource efficiency.




Originality/value




This paper provides the first comprehensive review on LML models in the modern e-commerce context. It synthesises knowledge of LML models and provides insights on current trends and future research directions.

/pdf/consumer-driven-e-commerce-a-literature-review-design-3whv8vtd83.pdf

Consumer-driven e-commerce: A literature review, design framework, and research agenda on last-mile logistics models

Purpose – Many traditional retailers use the internet as a complementary business channel while “pure player” retailers only sell products via the internet. The question of who is better at offering electronic physical distribution service quality (e‐PDSQ) is open to debate. But, despite e‐PDSQ's importance there are few empirical studies and most have focused on general service quality of internet shopping or web site design. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and empirically test a conceptual framework for e‐PDSQ from the consumer's perspective.Design/methodology/approach – This paper follows a two‐stage paradigm for scale and construct development, which is presented in a framework based on the concept of order fulfilment as a key driver in e‐PDSQ. Consumer postal surveys were conducted in Edinburgh, UK.Findings – The consumer survey confirmed the appropriateness of the adopted e‐PDSQ framework. The finding that price is the most important online purchasing criteria is in accordance with Verdict w...

Physical distribution service quality in online retailing

Purpose – Many traditional retailers use the internet as a complementary business channel and thus sell products through multiple channels. In contrast, “pure player” internet retailers only sell products via the internet. A proliferation of pure players over the past few years has intensified competition in the online shopping market and the question of who is better at offering physical distribution service quality (PDSQ), multi‐channel retailers or pure players, is open to debate. Despite PDSQ's importance in an electronic commerce environment there are few studies to date and most have focused on general service quality of internet shopping. The purpose of this paper is to discuss this phenomenon and posit a conceptual framework for further investigation.Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews the literature to develop variables and constructs for investigation following the first stage of Churchill's paradigm for scale development, which are presented in a framework based on the concept of o...

Developing a framework for measuring physical distribution service quality of multi‐channel and “pure player” internet retailers

Purpose – The growth in online shopping has presented challenges for physical distribution service quality (PDSQ) provided by retailers, including both multi‐channel and pure players, and logistics service providers (LSPs). Issues emerging from a consumer survey regarding electronic physical distribution service quality (e‐PDSQ) informed this paper's research, which aims to consider this phenomenon.Design/methodology/approach – The research study employed qualitative interviews with retailers, logistics service providers and experts to consider the consumer survey findings and discuss the current market situation and suggestions for improvement.Findings – Interviewees confirmed that pure players offer better e‐PDSQ than multi‐channel retailers as well as important constructs of availability, time, condition and returns regarding this phenomenon, but also raised issues of relationships between retailers and LSPs and costs regarding service trade‐offs.Research limitations/implications – The research underta...

Yuan Xing

Papers

Physical distribution service quality in online retailing

Developing a framework for measuring physical distribution service quality of multi‐channel and “pure player” internet retailers

The interface between retailers and logistics service providers in the online market

Green energy subsidy structure design under the impact of conventional energy price uncertainty

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