Article
Version 1
This version is not peer-reviewed
What e-Consumers Want? Forecasting Parcel Lockers Choice in Rome
Version 1
: Received: 27 May 2021 / Approved: 28 May 2021 / Online: 28 May 2021 (12:23:05 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Iannaccone, G.; Marcucci, E.; Gatta, V. What Young E-Consumers Want? Forecasting Parcel Lockers Choice in Rome. Logistics 2021, 5, 57. Iannaccone, G.; Marcucci, E.; Gatta, V. What Young E-Consumers Want? Forecasting Parcel Lockers Choice in Rome. Logistics 2021, 5, 57.
Abstract
: E-commerce sales surge represents a huge challenge for urban freight transport. Parcel lockers constitute a valid solution for addressing the challenges home deliveries imply. In fact, eliminating courier-consumer contact (also relevant for health-related issues, as made evident by COVID19 pandemic) and delivering in few predefined places might help coping with missed deliveries substantially. Furthermore, this option enables consolidated shipping and reducing delivery trip costs. This paper analyses and compares consumers’ preferences for alternative collection strategies. It investigates home delivery vs parcel locker use and forecasts their future market shares. This is performed based on both customers’ socio-economic variables and attributes characterising these alternative logistic fulfilment strategies. The case study considered rests upon a stated preference survey deployed in the city of Rome. The investigation specifically targets young people (i.e., population under 30 years) since they represent early adopters. Discrete choice models allow both quantifying the monetary value of parcel lockers attributes (i.e., willingness to pay measures) and estimating the potential demand for this innovative delivery scheme. Results show that distance and accessibility are the main choice determinants. Furthermore, there is an overall high propensity to adopt parcel lockers. This research can support policymakers when implementing such solutions.
Keywords
parcel locker; last mile delivery; home delivery; City Logistics; urban freight transport; stated preference; discrete choice modelling; consumer behaviour; e-commerce; channel choice; collection points
Subject
Business, Economics and Management, Accounting and Taxation
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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