Customer Benefits in City Logistics : Towards Viable Urban Consolidation Centres

Urban Consolidation Centre (UCC) is a city logistics initiative that has the potential to increase the efficiency of urban freight delivery systems while reducing negative environmental and social effects caused by freight vehicles. One important issue that have hindered longevity of this initiative is its viability, both the financial viability and acceptance from affected stakeholders (also called UCC customers). The UCC customers in focus in this thesis are receivers of goods and municipalities. To satisfy both types of stakeholders, their requests and, in particular, the benefits they can gain from using UCCs need to be studied. The types of benefits to be given priority differ between the stakeholders, where municipalities strive towards more societal benefits, and the main goals of receivers are an increase in efficiency and financial sustainability. In response, the purpose of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of benefits for customers of UCCs, with a particular focus on customer needs and benefits that UCCs can provide. This thesis consists of five appended papers, each of which uses a different methodology. The methodologies applied in the papers include a multiple interview study of five UCCs, a surveybased interview study of retail stores, and a case study of an operating UCC. Regarding customer needs, this thesis takes the customer perspective, in order to identify needs that UCCs can meet. The results presented in this thesis also highlight the importance for UCCs to give priority to meeting customer needs that stem from some type of problem. Regarding benefits that UCCs can provide, the thesis suggests how different types of benefits can be distinguished. This can give guidance to UCC operators regarding which benefits should be given priority in communication with UCC customers. However, the results highlight that it is also important to understand the situation of the customer to be able to communicate the most relevant benefits that UCCs can provide. Furthermore, the results illustrate different improvement areas that can affect the benefits for UCC customers. These identified areas are: improved understanding by both UCCs and its customers of each other’s operation, communication, developing a more holistic view for UCC customers, and developing new UCC services to match customer needs. The results provide a foundation for customer needs that UCCs can meet, and the benefits that UCCs can provide. This foundation can be important for UCC customers to gain a better understanding of what a UCC is and how it can affect their operation, something that this thesis contributes towards. It can also assist initiators of UCCs to determine which customer needs they should focus on. Lastly, the results and contribution also address the potential role of municipalities, and it is argued that their role should change from a more supportive role to that of a paying UCC customer. All of these aspects can increase the probability that a UCC, when established becomes viable