Framework of Last Mile Logistics Research: A Systematic Review of the Literature

John Olsson, Daniel Hellström and Henrik Pålsson
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John Olsson: Lund University, Department of Design Sciences, P.O. Box 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
Daniel Hellström: Lund University, Department of Design Sciences, P.O. Box 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
Henrik Pålsson: Lund University, Department of Design Sciences, P.O. Box 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 24, 1-25

Abstract: Coincident with the rapid growth of omni-channel retailing, growing urbanization, changing consumer behavior, and increasing focus on sustainability, academic interest in the area of last mile logistics has significantly increased. The growth in academic publications has been tremendous, with three out of four articles appearing within the past five years. The influx of research spans multiple disciplines and various methodologies, underlining the complexity and fragmentation of last mile logistics research, which leads to a lack of unity in the understanding of the concept. We provide a systematic review and classification of the literature to provide a more coherent view of last mile logistics research. The review covers 155 peer-reviewed journal publications focusing on last mile logistics. Findings demonstrate that the literature embraces a diversity of aspects and facets that are classified into five themes: emerging trends and technologies, operational optimization, supply chain structures, performance measurement, and policy. Further, we propose a framework of last mile logistics literature that comprises five components and their interrelationships, namely, last mile logistics, last mile distribution, last mile fulfillment, last mile transport, and last mile delivery. The results provide a foundation for further development of this research area by proposing avenues for future research.

Keywords: last mile logistics; systematic review; business logistics; omni-channel; retail; B2C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (47)

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