Last-Mile Delivery Methods in E-Commerce: Does Perceived Sustainability Matter for Consumer Acceptance and Usage?

Patrick Klein () and Bastian Popp
Additional contact information
Patrick Klein: Department of Business Administration, in particular Retail Management, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbruecken, Germany
Bastian Popp: Department of Business Administration, in particular Retail Management, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbruecken, Germany

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-27

Abstract: Sustainability has gained significant importance in e-commerce, as it impacts both consumer behavior and company success. This paper contributes to the literature on sustainability in e-commerce by studying the perceived sustainability of three common last-mile delivery methods (home delivery, parcel lockers, and click and collect) and other drivers of consumers’ acceptance of each delivery method (perceived costs, convenience). Based on a review of the relevant literature, a conceptual model integrating key determinants of consumers’ attitudes to delivery methods and their intention to use them is derived and tested using a sample of 536 German online buyers. The results demonstrate that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness increase the acceptance of the delivery methods, whereas perceived costs constrain it. The findings reveal significant influences of perceived sustainability on the acceptance of the delivery methods, which vary between its three components (environmental, economic, and social) and regarding the delivery method. Retailers and collaborating parcel delivery services are advised to continue making last-mile delivery methods more convenient. However, they are also advised to implement standards in terms of environmental and social sustainability and inform customers about their efforts regarding sustainable last-mile delivery to build a competitive advantage in omni-channel retailing.

Keywords: perceived sustainability; last-mile delivery; delivery methods; sustainable delivery; omni-channel retailing; home delivery; click and collect; parcel lockers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/16437/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/16437/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:24:p:16437-:d:997480

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().