Exploring home delivery service attributes: Sustainability versus delivery expectations during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Many consumers expect e-commerce home delivery to be sustainable and fast. To better understand the dilemma behind these requirements, we analyzed e-commerce players' practices and assessed consumers' preferences for home delivery using a mixed-methods approach. We used exploratory structured interviews with logistics and e-commerce companies to reveal their home delivery options, and a discrete choice experiment (DCE) with 400 consumers to identify their home delivery preferences. Our study provides new insights into consumer expectations and preferences regarding home delivery solutions offered by e-commerce companies. Our findings provide empirical evidence of consumer expectations regarding individualization, innovation, and sustainable service alternatives for home delivery. Our results indicate that delivery speed is the most desired home delivery attribute, followed by delivery options, reusable packaging, and delivery by electric delivery vehicles.