Smart Logistics—Sustainable Technological Innovations in Customer Service at the Last-Mile Stage: The Polish Perspective

Katarzyna Kolasińska-Morawska, Łukasz Sułkowski, Piotr Buła, Marta Brzozowska and Paweł Morawski ()
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Katarzyna Kolasińska-Morawska: Department of International Management, Management Institute, Cracow University of Economics, 31-510 Cracow, Poland
Łukasz Sułkowski: Department of Management of Higher Education Institutions, Faculty of Management and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University, 30-348 Cracow, Poland
Piotr Buła: Department of International Management, Management Institute, Cracow University of Economics, 31-510 Cracow, Poland
Marta Brzozowska: Department of Management, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce, 25-369 Kielce, Poland
Paweł Morawski: Department of Management, Lodz University of Technology, 90-361 Lodz, Poland

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-33

Abstract: The present day is marked by the economic expansiveness of societies and the adoption and adaptation of intelligent technologies. In this hyper-world, customers expect a personalized offer enhanced with customized service, which results in the introduction of sustainable and intelligent solutions—among other services. What becomes important is not so much the “Primum non nocere” of creation as much as the “go smart to the future” in creating. The smart logistics concept is a representation of this trend. The subject of the article is an analysis of the impact of the application of the smart idea in the field of sustainable development on changes in logistics in customer service at the last-mile stage. The source of this article is exploratory research of secondary sources, including books, articles, and reports, which has been subjected to a critical content analysis. The obtained results made it possible to design and implement an explanatory study of online-buying habits of people based on the CAWI ( Computer Assisted Web Interview ) methodology. The collected material has become the basis for the authors to indicate the applicability of smart logistics in the field of last-mile logistics, which can be used by researchers and training institutions in the field of professionalization of management of intelligent logistics processes in customer service at the last-mile stage. The last-mile service in logistics involves reaching the largest possible number of recipients, however, it has a negative impact on the natural environment, which, of course, contradicts the concept of sustainable development, including trends that are noticeable in the logistics market, customers, and in the law. Hence, it is important to look for solutions that allow us to achieve the appropriate level of customer service in the last mile, but at the same time, take care of the natural environment. The study was narrowed down to the Polish perspective due to the growing demand for last-mile logistics services. Moreover, Poland is still a country where the concept of sustainable development is not fully understood and used. The research allowed us to indicate the directions of development of the last-mile service processes by considering the technological innovations that may support the application of the concept of sustainable development.

Keywords: smart logistics; innovations; sustainability; last mile; customer service subject (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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