The impact of e-commerce on final deliveries: alternative parcel delivery services in France and Germany

In Europe, shopping habits have changed fast during the last decade and a high percentage of consumers now shop online. E-commerce for physical goods generates a significant demand for dedicated delivery services, and results in increasingly difficult last mile logistics. In particular home delivery services, which are usually the preferred option by the online consumers, contribute to the atomization of parcel flows thus causing particular problems within the urban areas. However, alternative delivery solutions are growing fast, especially in metropolitan areas The purpose of this article is to compare the alternatives to home delivery that have been developed by French and German parcel delivery operators which developed pick-up points in stores and automated lockers networks. The paper includes an analysis of the key drivers of the development of the two emblematic delivery services (pick-up points and lockers), with reference to the strategies of service providers and e-commerce firms as well as consumer preferences. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.