TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE LAST-MILE LOGISTICS: ANALYZING ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS IN POST-COVID E-COMMERCE

Abstract

There has been a considerable shift from conventional market to e-commerce in recent years. This rise in e-commerce has significantly increased the demand for efficient delivery solutions, thereby increasing concerns about its environmental impact. As such it is critical to analyse the sustainability concerns in last mile logistics. Out of the complete delivery process, the most critical is the last mile that connects the distribution centre to the end consumers. Due to exponential growth in e-commerce, there has been a considerable growth in logistics sector putting a question mark on sustainability of logistics. Since last mile is the most critical portion of logistics due to the costs and complexity associated, it becomes necessary to investigate the factors affecting its sustainability. A thorough literature review is utilized to give an overview of the research performed on the topic last mile delivery. COVID-19 has been a main reason for the exponential surge in e-commerce and logistics. Hence, the literature is categorized in two categories pre-covid and post-covid literature and insights are developed. The literature on last mile delivery and sustainability is studied and findings and discussions are summarized. By reviewing the existing research literature this study finds the factors associated with last mile logistics and its sustainability. Moreover, this study identifies the most critical stability issues within last mile distribution. Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multi criteria decision making (MCDM) method is applied to rank the identified factors. Fuzzy AHP is a rational strategy that eliminates the challenge associated with comparing two factors. It aids decision-makers in choosing the most crucial factor by prioritizing and ranking methods. In this study this methodology has been used to rank the factors affecting sustainability in last mile logistics. It helps stakeholders to understand the issues faced in achieving sustainability in last mile operations. The ranks of factors affecting sustainability in last mile operations along with their respective priority weight are presented in this study.