Leveraging the physical network of stores in e-grocery order fulfilment for sustainable competitive advantage

Marcia Mkansi and Aaron Luntala Nsakanda

Research in Transportation Economics, 2021, vol. 87, issue C

Abstract: This work draws on the results obtained from a qualitative multi-case study carried out on a sample of retailers with a significant presence in the United Kingdom e-grocery market. Using the resource-based view model, the study determines whether operating an e-grocery channel, by leveraging the existing network of stores, yields a sustainable competitive advantage. The findings show that the network of stores is clearly the primary conduit through which e-grocery retailers offer a wide assortment of products, perishables and non-perishables, to a large geographically dispersed population, while meeting their high expectations of faster and on-time delivery. It offers e-grocery practitioners a different avenue of reflection in the exploration of the trade-offs between fulfilment responsiveness, last mile operation costs, and a seamless customer experience. The stores act, in e-grocery operations, as enablers of various other tangible or intangible benefits that translate into a sustainable competitive advantage. This is particularly important in the e-grocery market, where the physical space and handling requirements comprise significant costs that are difficult to recoup from delivery charges at levels acceptable to customers. Stores, as part of e-grocery retailing, maintain offline or pure online channels, and have implications in transportation and the overall value proposition of e-grocers.

Keywords: e-grocery; Resource-based view; Tangible resources; Multiple-channel retailing; Last mile delivery; Pure online traders (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M10 M16 M19 O33 O39 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0739885919303026
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

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:eee:retrec:v:87:y:2021:i:c:s0739885919303026

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
https://shop.elsevie ... _01_ooc_2&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2019.100786

Access Statistics for this article

Research in Transportation Economics is currently edited by M. Dresner

More articles in Research in Transportation Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().