Overcoming the last mile distribution challenge. Part 2 Shippers’ perspectives in E-commerce and expectations

The last mile problem is more apparent these days due to the surge in the volume of e- commerce transactions. It is worsened by the increasing expectations of the shippers. In addition, due to the rising volume of last mile deliveries, a country’s social wellbeing is compromised. Thus, there is a need to strike balance among the different stakeholders such that their needs are fulfilled without jeopardizing their operations. To deal with the abovementioned, we have identified and will be writing the report in the perspective of the three stakeholders which we feel are directly affected by those issues. They are the logistics service providers (LSPs), the shippers and the government. The methodology used in this paper include detailed research and analysis of the interviews and survey conducted. The participants also attended a two-day conference (LMFAsia 2016) in March 2016 to gain a better understanding of the last mile problem through the various round table discussions and interviews with industry leaders. Through the various research and interviews done, we compiled our findings into three separate reports. The first report (LSPs perspective) focuses on the challenges of the LSPs, the solutions to those challenges, and conflict of interest between the LSPs and the other two stakeholders. The second report (Shippers perspective) tackles the customer purchasing behaviours, the expectations between the retailers and end customers and the expectation that the shippers have of the LSPs. The last report (Government perspective) concentrates on the positive and negative impact the urban freight brings to a country and the initiatives that the authorities brought forward to address the existing problems. The first report will address the lack of research done in terms of the conflict of interest between the stakeholders. The second report will fill the gap in terms of the lack of survey done to understand the end customer’s expectations. The last report will evaluate the initiatives that was brought forward by the authorities.Bachelor of Science (Maritime Studies