Current Trends in B2C E-Commerce Logistics – A Content Analysis

Abstract

In the B2C e-commerce market, logistics plays a crucial role, not only as a cost factor, but also as a major success factor for the firms. It is therefore important for e-tailers to know which trends in B2C e-commerce logistics are considered to be the way forward. This also has implications for the directions of future research. We present a systematic content analysis of 87 non-scientific, practice-oriented articles published on the internet. This results in a comprehensive overview of the trends currently being discussed in B2C e-commerce logistics. An additional correlation/association analysis reveals important relationships between the trends. A total of 36 trends were identified. Overall, the trend towards faster deliveries was most frequently mentioned in the articles. Followed by more transparency across the processes (track-and-trace), logistics cooperation/outsourcing and more (smaller) urban warehouses. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first scientific paper that systematically examines current trends in B2C e-commerce logistics practice. The results of this article can serve as an impetus for a variety of research questions, some of which we will touch upon in the course of this article.