Opportunities and challenges of crowd logistics on the last mile for courier, express and parcel service providers - a literature review

This article examines the impact of crowd logistics on the last mile parcel delivery for courier, express and parcel service providers. As the use of crowd logistics for the last mile holds both opportunities and challenges, it is unclear if the providers make use of the concept and how this might affect their business model. To identify the most important challenges and opportunities and to provide a definition for crowd local delivery, a systematic literature review was carried out. Findings from the review show that the integration of a crowd component offers good opportunities to create value. However, a number of problems still need to be solved. The findings have strategic importance for courier, express and parcel service providers and (new) crowd-based providers that aim to enter the market. For both, it is critical to determine an appropriate compensation scheme.