Parcel and Postal Technology International
  • News
    • A-E
      • Automation
      • Business Diversification
      • Construction / Development
      • Cross-border
      • Delivery
      • E-commerce
      • Expo
    • F-O
      • Freight
      • IT & Systems
      • Last Mile
      • Lockers / PUDO
      • Logistics
      • Mail
      • Operations
    • P-R
      • Packets
      • Parcels
      • Peak
      • Retail
      • Returns
    • S-Z
      • Sorting Systems
      • Staff / Personnel
      • Sustainability
      • Technology
      • Vehicles / Fleet
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    • March 2025
    • September 2023
    • June 2023
    • March 2023
    • December 2022
    • SHOWCASE 2019
    • Archive Issues
    • Subscribe Free!
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Analysis
  • Awards
    • 2025 Awards
    • Previous Winners
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Parcel + Post Expo
LinkedIn YouTube Twitter
  • Sign-up for Breaking News Emails
  • Meet the Editors
  • Contact Us
  • Media Pack
Subscribe
LinkedIn Facebook
Parcel and Postal Technology International
  • News
      • Automation
      • Business Diversification
      • Construction / Development
      • Cross-border
      • Delivery
      • E-commerce
      • Expo
      • Freight
      • IT & Systems
      • Last Mile
      • Lockers / PUDO
      • Logistics
      • Mail
      • Operations
      • Packets
      • Parcels
      • Peak
      • Retail
      • Returns
      • Sorting Systems
      • Staff / Personnel
      • Sustainability
      • Technology
      • Vehicles / Fleet
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    1. December 2024
    2. September 2024
    3. June 2024
    4. March 2024
    5. SHOWCASE 2019
    6. Subscribe Free!
    Featured
    April 2, 2025

    In this Issue – March 2025

    Online Magazines By Web Team
    Recent

    In this Issue – March 2025

    April 2, 2025

    In this Issue – December 2024

    December 5, 2024

    In this Issue – September 2024

    September 19, 2024
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Analysis
  • Awards
    • 2025 Awards
    • 2024 Award Winners
    • 2023 Award Winners
    • 2022 Award Winners
    • 2021 Award Winners
    • 2020 Award Winners
    • 2019 Award Winners
    • Previous Winners
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Parcel + Post Expo
LinkedIn Facebook
Subscribe
Parcel and Postal Technology International
Opinion

Delivering on the last-mile challenge

Louisa Hosegood, digital and strategy director, Bis Henderson ConsultingBy Louisa Hosegood, digital and strategy director, Bis Henderson ConsultingDecember 3, 20207 Mins Read
Share LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Email

Faced with mounting challenges on urban congestion, cost pressures and environmental concerns, how should businesses adapt their delivery models to meet rocketing e-commerce order volumes?

E-commerce has grown massively, and probably permanently, during the pandemic to 30% or more of retail trade. Customers increasingly value the convenience, assurance, immediacy, pricing and safety of ordering online.

The performance of many home delivery operations during the Covid-19 crisis has been truly impressive, ramping up capacity at breakneck speed, running continuously at peak levels, or for some new entrants, being truly creative with ‘emergency models’. However, the traditional last-mile delivery model – from distribution centre to home addresses, collection points, click and collect stores, locker systems and the like – is under huge pressure to serve more customers and greater volumes, and many existing approaches are simply not sustainable in economic, environmental and social terms.

Currently, last-mile delivery using internal combustion engine vehicles generates significant CO2 and noxious emissions, and raises many other environmental and social problems, including noise, health issues and congestion – particularly in dense urban areas. With increasingly stringent emissions regulations and planned urban area vehicle restrictions, there is now an urgent need to create a sustainability plan for the fast-expanding fleet of vans that is rapidly replacing the old regime of large trucks delivering to stores. And that’s only the vehicle side of final mile; the green agenda extends much wider with the conscious consumer now expecting more in terms of packaging and choices over how and when their parcels are delivered.

The expansion of e-commerce has also placed great demands on physical space, whether it be fulfilment centres or sorting, consolidation and delivery hubs, and this has become a contentious issue. As consumers demand ever faster deliveries, more localized fulfilment models are required. Yet these same consumers, as residents, oppose plans for industrial development in conurbations, as seen by the recent rejection of Ocado’s fulfilment centre expansion in Islington, London. Many logistics property experts suggest that local government bodies are being slow to realize the mounting urban warehousing challenge heading their way.

What’s more, current models are economically moribund. Consumers expect ‘free’ delivery, but e-commerce is hungry for resources – warehousing, vehicles, order pickers and drivers – which have to be paid for and, as in the case of warehousing and labor, are in short supply. Meanwhile, the push for speed of deliveries means that many delivery trips operate ‘on demand’ and at well below capacity. For omnichannel retailers the switch in emphasis to online sales fundamentally challenges the cost structure of the business, requiring the challenges of the final mile to be addressed in a more holistic way to rebalance costs.

Of course, any comment on last mile wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Amazon. Welcome or not, Amazon’s dominance of e-commerce has almost single-handedly upgraded the expectations of every online shopper. This has placed substantial pressure on 3PLs, their delivery partners, and the e-commerce retailers they serve. On the positive side ‘The Amazon Effect’ has helped many retailers realize how critical final mile is to their success.

An additional factor, as yet barely addressed, is the need in an e-commerce economy for pickups as well as deliveries – not just of returns, but also of consignments from a growing array of micro-businesses and home workers. The recent announcement by Royal Mail that posties will also pick up pre-paid packages is an indicator as to how the market is evolving.

Solutions at every scale
To create an economically and environmentally intelligent approach to fulfilment, capable of meeting the needs of consumers, residents and companies, many partial solutions for individual firms are available and more are in development. Let’s consider some key elements of future last-mile solutions.

An obvious starting point is vehicles. With advances in engineering and creative design, options for delivery vehicles are changing – for example carbon-fiber bodies like those being adopted by AO and Asda are much lighter, reducing emissions and increasing payload capacities. Greener fuel options are gaining traction, such as electric and fuel cell technology, and pedal power and pedestrians may be a part of the mix. There may be autonomous delivery robots, as being trialled in Milton Keynes in the UK, and, less probably, drones.

Transport arrangements too will vary. As the market matures it will become evident that not all deliveries need to be same-day and on-demand, allowing for some degree of rationalization and consolidation. On the other hand, increasingly sophisticated, and affordable, IT systems are becoming available that will further redefine route planning and scheduling, optimizing operations in real time around criteria of time, mileage, emissions or a combination thereof.

Indeed, many of the solutions for last-mile delivery will be data driven, and much of the required data already exists or could readily be made available. Dynamic systems can balance options, offering consumers greater visibility and maximum flexibility, such as changing destination at short notice, with greater operational efficiencies of reducing failed or re-deliveries. Systems will provide a platform for greater collaboration by enabling easier consolidation of deliveries from disparate sources for a single destination, creating much needed operational efficiency and, crucially, adding another layer to the coveted customer service proposition.

The network of physical space behind the final mile is often forgotten in the race to find cheaper, faster wheels to deliver the parcels. Short lead times necessitate close proximity to customers but finding local warehouse space for sorting and consolidating consignments for last-mile deliveries is difficult – even harder than sourcing larger fulfillment facilities. This is where creativity will need to be at its best.

There is considerable scope for automation and IT systems, and simple changes in working practices, to improve the use of resources – labor, space and energy, in particular.
As high street footfall diminishes, some stores may become redundant, others may be too large, while in some, in-store order picking may no longer present the same degree of conflict with the ‘shopper-in-person’. In the future, last mile is likely to involve parcels picked from a variety of locations – from big distribution centres, to shops or former shop premises converted to ‘dark stores’. And that’s even before we consider the concept of urban logistics centres.

More collaboration is needed
The next significant trend, especially for fashion and general merchandise, is inter-retailer collaboration on deliveries, principally to drive down parcel costs, but also to offer consumers a single, timely delivery instead of three or four.

Greater collaboration is the route to creating a more comprehensive urban logistics model. With the right foresight and local authority support, we could see schemes like those popular in Japan, South Korea and Singapore where a multi-storey warehouse with vehicle access at all levels is sited on the periphery of a major conurbation. These facilities could push the boundaries of multi-use to maximize efficient operations by housing a variety of interconnected local area services, from e-commerce deliveries, click and collect point, shop replenishment or top up, supplier cross dock, inter-store stock rebalancing, returns and collections from customers and returns, and all while running a local green fuel multi-vehicle fleet.

This approach works well with a collaborating consortium of 8-10 manufacturers or retailers. The environmental and economic benefits of wider collaboration could be considerable, but success depends on a supportive approach from local transport and planning authorities, as is being offered by the Mayor of London and Transport for London.

In the current economic climate, substantial public investment in such comprehensive schemes is unlikely. But there is much that can be achieved by individual businesses and through close collaboration with other organizations and local authorities. Importantly, not every initiative requires significant new money: much can be achieved through intelligent decisions in the normal renewal cycle, and by repurposing existing assets.

More on Bis Henderson Consulting at www.bis-hendersonconsulting.com

Share. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email
Previous ArticleUK consumers unwilling to pay for green shipping initiatives
Next Article An Post partners with Hurricane Commerce

Related Posts

Opinion

OPINION: How Chinese CEP giants are shaping the future of Europe’s last-mile logistics

May 14, 20255 Mins Read
Opinion

OPINION: The impact of open smart locker networks on the future of parcel logistics

April 23, 20254 Mins Read
Opinion

OPINION: The challenges of expanding out-of-home delivery in the UK

April 2, 20255 Mins Read

Receive breaking stories and features in your inbox each week, for free


Enter your email address:


Latest News

THG Fulfil to increase sorting capacity with 430 Libiao robots

June 12, 2025

DHL Group to invest more than €500m in the Middle East

June 12, 2025

ANALYSIS: Tariffs and turmoil – discussing the latest US last-mile developments

June 12, 2025
Getting in Touch
  • Contact Us / Advertiser
  • Meet the Editors
  • Download Media Pack
  • Breaking News Emails
Our Social Channels
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
Supplier Spotlights
  • Prime Vision B.V.
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Notice & Takedown Policy
  • Site FAQs
© 2025 UKi Media & Events a division of UKIP Media & Events Ltd

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie records the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie records the user consent for the cookies in the "Analytics" category.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional1 yearThe GDPR Cookie Consent plugin sets the cookie to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie records the user consent for the cookies in the "Necessary" category.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie stores user consent for cookies in the category "Others".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie stores the user consent for cookies in the category "Performance".
elementorneverThe website's WordPress theme uses this cookie. It allows the website owner to implement or change the website's content in real-time.
JSESSIONIDsessionNew Relic uses this cookie to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application.

Functional

Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.

CookieDurationDescription
__cf_bm30 minutesCloudflare set the cookie to support Cloudflare Bot Management.

Analytics

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

CookieDurationDescription
CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded YouTube videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
uidsessionThis is a Google UserID cookie that tracks users across various website segments.
vuid1 year 1 month 4 daysVimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos on the website.
_ga1 year 1 month 4 daysGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to calculate visitor, session and campaign data and track site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognise unique visitors.
_ga_*1 year 1 month 4 daysGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views.

Advertisement

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.

CookieDurationDescription
OAGEOsessionOpenX sets this cookie to avoid the repeated display of the same ad.
OAID1 yearCookie set to record whether the user has opted out of the collection of information by the AdsWizz Service Cookies.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysYouTube sets this cookie to measure bandwidth, determining whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYoutube sets this cookie to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt.innertube::nextIdneverYouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requestsneverYouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.

Others

Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.

CookieDurationDescription
VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA5 months 27 daysDescription is currently not available.

SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by