This work is closely related to Agatz (2008) Gevaers (2014) in terms of the central theme of online groceries and model development. Specific Factor based analysis for the last mile and validation for a German player differen-tiates this work from the after mentioned papers. Relevant problems un-derlying the last mile delivery were identified by the use of press releases, literature and different studies. It was shown that innovation (independent of its type) could have effects on different factors that drive the costs for the last mile delivery. Innovation can be profitable in terms of costs but it can-not be concluded how much it has an effect on customer service level.
Future studies can prioritize the factors according to their affect and cur-rent relevance in solving the last mile problem. Efforts should be directed towards incorporating service level aspects like lead-time and response time explicitly. Value based pricing can be the basis for development of a revenue management model for stochastic demand distribution and un-known customer classes. The effect of returns and environmental regula-tions (Weltevreden, 2008) on the last mile problem specific to online gro-ceries is also a possible area for future research.
E-commerce players (multi and pure players) can use the model as a guide-line to evaluate which cost factors could affect the last mile problem. In ad-dition, an important managerial implication is that there exists no right strategy for solving the last mile fulfillment problem. Nevertheless, this model shows the relation between different costs factors but not their ex-tent of effects. With the help of quantitative data such as sales volume, in-vestment costs and implementation costs a business case study can be de-veloped.
References
Agatz, N., Campbell, A., Fleischmann, M. and Savelsbergh, M. (2008a), “Challenges and Opportunities in Attended Home Delivery”,
Agatz, N., Campbell, A., Fleischmann, M. and Savelsbergh, M. (2011), “Time Slot Management in Attended Home Delivery”, Transportation Science, Vol. 45 No. 3, pp. 435–449.
Agatz, N., Fleischmann, M. and van Nunen, J. (2008b), “E-fulfillment and multi-channel distribution – A review”, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 187 No. 2, pp. 339–356.
ATKearney (2012), “Von B2C zu B2B durch alternative Zustelloptionen. Aktuelle Her-ausforderungen für Paketdienstleister im B2C-Segment”, Available at:
http://www.at- kearney.de/documents/856314/1214708/BIP_Von_B2C_zu_B2B_durch_alter-native_Zustelloptionen.pdf/892541a9-63aa-434d-b2b3-2f146094409f, [Acces-sed: 10 June 2015].
Bask, A., Lipponen, M. and Tinnilä, M. (2012), “E-Commerce Logistics: A Literature Research Review and Topics for Future Research”, International Journal of E-Services and Mobile Applications, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 1–22.
Blauwens, G., Baere, P. de and Van de Voorde, Eddy (2010), Transport Economics, 4th ed., De Boeck, Antwerpen.
Board of Innovation (2015), “CARDROPS. E-commerce delivery in your car. Conven-ient”, Available at: http://www.cardrops.com/, [Accessed 2 June 2015].
Boyer, K.K., Tomas Hult, G. and Frohlich, M. (2003), “An exploratory analysis of ex-tended grocery supply chain operations and home delivery”, Integrated Manu-facturing Systems, Vol. 14 No. 8, pp. 652–663.
Brown, J.R. and Guiffrida, A.L. (2014), “Carbon emissions comparison of last mile delivery versus customer pickup”, International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, Vol. 17 No. 6, pp. 503–521.
Brusch, M. and Stübner, E. (2014), “Developments and Classifications of Online Shopping Behavior in Germany”, International Journal of Cyber Society and Ed-ucation, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 147–156.
Boyer, K.K., Frohlich, M.T. and Hult, G.T. (2004), Extending the supply chain: How cutting-edge companies bridge the critical last mile into customers' homes, 1st ed., American Management Association, New York.
Boyer, K.K. and Hult, T. (2005), “Extending the supply chain: Integrating operations and marketing in the online grocery industry”, Journal of Operations Manage-ment, Vol. 23 No. 6, pp. 642–661.
Boyer, K.K., Prud'homme, A.M. and Chung, W. (2009), “The last mile challenge. Eval-uating the effects of customer density and delivery window patterns”, Journal of business logistics, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 185–201.
Bubner, N., Bubner, Nikolaus, Helbig, Dr. Ralf and Jeske, M. (2014), “Logistics Trend Radar. Delivering insight today. Creating Value tomorrow!”, Available at:
http://www.dhl.com/content/dam/downloads/g0/about_us/logistics_in-sights/DHL_Logistics-TrendRadar_2014.pdf, [Accessed 2 June 2015].
Chakravarty, A.K. (2014), Supply Chain Transformation: Evolving with Emerging Business Paradigms, Springer texts in business and economics, Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Colla, E. and Lapoule, P. (2012), “E-commerce: exploring the critical success fac-tors”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 40 No. 11, pp. 842–864.
Dell’Amico, M. and Hadjidimitriou, S. (2012), “Innovative Logistics Model and Con-tainers Solution for Efficient Last Mile Delivery”, Procedia - Social and Behav-ioral Sciences, Vol. 48, pp. 1505–1514.
Deutsche Post DHL (2014b), “Forschungsprojekt DHL Paketkopter - vom Festland auf die Insel Juist”, Available at: http://www.dhl.de/paketkopter, [Accessed 5 June 2015].
Deutsche Post DHL (2014c), “Global E-Tailing 2025. Eine Studie von Deutsche Post DHL”, Available at: http://www.dpdhl.com/content/dam/dpdhl/global_etai-ling_2025/pdf/dpdhl-studie-global-e-tailing-2025.pdf, [Accessed 15 June 2015].
Deutsche Post AG (2014), “Deutsche Post DHL übernimmt StreetScooter GmbH”, Available at: http://www.dpdhl.com/de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2014/deut-sche_post_dhl_uebernimmt_streetscooter_gmbh.html, [Accessed 15 June 2015].
eMarketer (2014b), “E-Commerce-Umsatz in Deutschland in den Jahren 2011 bis 2018”, Available at: http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/199790/um-frage/entwicklung-des-b2c-e-commerce-umsatzes-in-deutschland/, [Accessed 25 May 2015].
Esper, T., Jensen, T. and Turnipseed, F. (2003), “The last mile: an examination of ef-fects of online retail delivery strategies on consumers”, Journal of Business Lo-gistics, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 177–203.
European Commission (2013b) E-commerce and delivery. A study of the state of play of EU parcel markets with particular emphasis on e-commerce, Okholm and (Copenhagen Economics), July 2013, p.297
European Commission (2013c) Internal Market Report. Available at: http://ec.eu-ropa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_398_en.pdf, [Accessed 11 June 2015]
Eurostat (2013) Available at: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_ex-plained/index.php/Information_society_statistics_at_regional_level, [Accessed 27 May 2015].
Fernie, J. and Sparks, L. (2009), “Retail logistics: changes and challenges”, in Fernie, J. and Sparks, L. (Eds.), Logistics & retail management: Emerging issues and new challenges in the retail supply chain, 3rd ed., Kogan Page Ltd., London, Philadelphia, pp. 3–37.
Food.de Online (2015): Frischegarantie, Available at: https://food.de/kuehlkette-frische-garantie, [Accessed 10 June 2015].
Freshfoods.de Online (2015): Lieferung, Available at: https://www.fresh-foods.de/lieferung/, [Accessed 10 June 2015].
Fichter, K. (2003), “E-Commerce: Sorting Out the Environmental Consequences”, Journal of Industrial Ecology, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 25–41.
Gevaers, R., Van de Voorde, E., & Vanelslander, T. (2011). Characteristics and typol-ogy of last-mile logistics from an innovation perspective in an urban context.
City distribution and urban freight transport: multiples perspectives, 56-71.
Gevaers, R., Van de Voorde, Eddy and Vanelslander, T. (2014), “Cost Modelling and Simulation of Last-mile Characteristics in an Innovative B2C Supply Chain Envi-ronment with Implications on Urban Areas and Cities”, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 125, pp. 398–411.
Geoffrion, A.M. and Krishnan, R. (2001), “Prospects for Operations Research in the E-Business Era”, Interfaces, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 6–36.
Grégory Bressolles and Gerald Lang (2014), “Proposing Key Performance Indicators for performance measuring of e-fulfillment systems in multi-channel retailing Conference: Proceedings of the ANZMAC, At Brisbane (Australia)
Hau, L. and Whang, S. (2001), “Winning the last mile of e-commerce”, MIT Sloan Management Review, Vol. 42 No. 4, pp. 54–62.
Hsiao, M.-H. (2009), “Shopping mode choice: Physical store shopping versus e-shopping”, Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Re-view, Vol. 45 No. 1, pp. 86–95.
IGD (2013): „Development for click and collect (drive) for groceries“, Available at:
http://www.olivierdauvers.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Click-and-collect-for-groceries_presentation.pdf, [Accessed 20 June 2015].
IGD (2014): „Share of grocery retail sales in the United Kingdom UK) in 2014 and 2019, Available at: http://www.statista.com/statistics/326418/forecast-grocery-retail-market-value-by-channel-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/, [Accessed: 20 June 2015].
Johnson, E. and Whang, S. (2002), “E-Business and Supply Chain Management: an Overview and Framework”, Production and Operations Management, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 413–423.
Kämäräinen, V., Saranen, J. and Holmström, J. (2001), “The reception box impact on home delivery efficiency in the e-grocery business”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 31 No. 6, pp. 414–426.
Koether, R. (2014), Distributionslogistik: Effiziente Absicherung der Lieferfähigkeit, 2nd ed., Betriebswirtschaftlicher Verlag Gabler, Wiesbaden.
Van Loon, P., Deketele, L., Dewaele, J., McKinnon, A., & Rutherford, C. (2014). A com-parative analysis of carbon emissions from online retailing of fast moving con-sumer goods. Journal of Cleaner Production.
Liu, J., Li, C.-L. and Chan, C.-Y. (2003), “Mixed truck delivery systems with both hub-and-spoke and direct shipment”, Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 325–339.
Lunce, S.E., Lunce, L.M., Kawai, Y. and Maniam, B. (2006), “Success and failure of pure-play organizations: Webvan versus Peapod, a comparative analysis”, In-dustrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 106 No. 9, pp. 1344–1358.
McLeod, F., Cherrett, T. and Song, L. (2006). Transport impacts of local collec-tion/delivery points. International Journal of Logistics, 9(3), 307-317.
Morganti, E., Seidel, S., Blanquart, C., Dablanc, L. and Lenz, B. (2014b), “The Impact of E-commerce on Final Deliveries: Alternative Parcel Delivery Services in France and Germany”, Transportation Research Procedia, Vol. 4, pp. 178–190.
Planetretail.net European Grocery Retailing by Kelly Tackett. Available at:
http://www.planetretail.net/presentations/ApexBrasilPresentation.pdf, [Ac-cessed: 22 June 2015].
Pulido, R., Muñoz, J.C. and Gazmuri, P. (2014), “A continuous approximation model for locating warehouses and designing physical and timely distribution strate-gies for home delivery”, EURO Journal on Transportation and Logistics.
Punakivi, M., Yrjölä, H. and Holmström, J. (2001), “Solving the last mile issue: recep-tion box or delivery box?” Internarecep-tional Journal of Physical Distriburecep-tion & Logis-tics Management, Vol. 31 No. 6, pp. 427–439.
Punakivi, M. and Tanskanen, K. (2002), “Increasing the cost efficiency of e-fulfilment using shared reception boxes”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 30 No. 10, pp. 498–507.
Punakivi, M. and Saranen, J. (2001), “Identifying the success factors in e-grocery home delivery”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol.
29 No. 4, pp. 156–163.
Pyke, D., Johnson, E. and Desmond, P. (2001), “E-Fulfillment: It's Harder Than It Looks”, Supply Chain Management Review, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 26–32.
Quak, H. and de Koster, R. (2009), “Delivering Goods in Urban Areas: How to Deal with Urban Policy Restrictions and the Environment”, Transportation Science, Vol. 43 No. 2, pp. 211–227.
Reibstein, D.J. (2002), “What Attracts Customers to Online Stores and What Keeps Them Coming Back”, Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 465–473.
Ring, L. J. und Tigert, D. J. (2001): „Viewpoint: the decline and fall of Internet gro-cery retailers", in: International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Aufl. 29, Nr. 6, S. 264 – 271.
Schnedlitz, P., Lienbacher, E., Wadegg-Lidl, B. and Waldegg-Lindl, M. (2013), “Last Mile: Die letzten - und teuersten - Meter zum Kunden im B2C E-Commerce”, in Crockford, G., Ritschel, F. and Schmieder, U.-M. (Eds.), Handel in Theorie und Praxis, Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, pp. 249–273.
Småros, J., Holmström, J. and Kämäräinen, V. (2000), “New Service Opportunities in the E-grocery Business”, The International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 61–74.
Sneader, K., Crawford, B., and Ebrahim, S. (2000). Operation food: Fighting to win in the new economy. Available at: http://www.fmi.org/e_business/prese-nations/OperationFood/sld001.htm, [Accessed: 22 June 2015].
Song, L., Cherrett, T., Guan, W. and Zhang, W. (2012), “Alternative Solution for Ad-dressing Failed Home Deliveries”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Vol. 2269 No. 1, pp. 83–91.
Song, L., Cherrett, T.J., McLeod, F.N. and Guan, W. (2009), “Addressing the last mile problem - the transport impacts of collection/delivery points”, Transportation Research Record, No. 2097, pp. 9–18.
Swaminathan, J.M. and Tayur, S.R. (2003), “Models for Supply Chains in E-Busi-ness”, Management Science, Vol. 49 No. 10, pp. 1387–1406.
Vanelslander, T., Deketele, L. and van Hove, D. (2013), “Commonly used e-com-merce supply chains for fast moving consumer goods: comparison and sugges-tions for improvement”, International Journal of Logistics Research and Appli-cations, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 243–256.
Weltevreden, J.W. (2008), “B2c e-commerce logistics: the rise of collection-and-de-livery points in The Netherlands”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 36 No. 8, pp. 638–660.
Wollenburg, J., Hübner, A. and Kuhn, H. (2014), “Conceptual Framework for Order Fulfillment and Delivery in Online Grocery Retailing. Working Paper”.
Xing, Y., & Grant, D. B. (2006). Developing a framework for measuring physical distri-bution service quality of multi-channel and “pure player” internet retailers. In-ternational Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 34(4/5), 278-289.
Yrjölä, H. (2001), “Physical distribution considerations for electronic grocery shop-ping”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 31 No. 10, pp. 746–761.
Zhang, J., & Cohen, R. (2008). Evaluating the trustworthiness of advice about seller agents in e-marketplaces: A personalized approach. Electronic Commerce Re-search and Applications, 7(3), 330-340.