The Last Mile of a Supply Chain Network: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

ABSTRACT Purpose: The last mile problem has gained ever-increasing attention over the last decade in both the academic and the industrial scenes. Most scholars appear to be agreed on that the main reasons behind this are: the rapid growth in e-commerce demand and urban population. Moreover, the fact that the last mile accounts for up to 75% of the supply chain overall cost makes the last mile a key competitive advantage, enabling whoever masters it to successfully run their business and satisfy their customers. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the last mile of a supply chain (LMSC) by consolidating the wide fragmented literature related to the topic. This study also aims to analyse and identify the key approaches to design, optimise, and manage the LMSC and its influencing factors. The review provides a framework that classifies the current themes and trends in the existing body of literature as well. Design/methodology/approach: Following a systematic literature review approach, this review was conducted by following a strict search protocol to achieve rigorous, replicable, and transparent results. The screening process started with more than 2600 articles, and was narrowed down to 48 articles. Findings: The review provides a framework that classifies the themes of the LMSC into four dimensions: Design, operations, sustainability, and innovation. Moreover, it demonstrates the main approaches to design, optimise, and manage the LMSC through three directions: cost-oriented, service-oriented, and sustainable-oriented. Finally, this review summarises the influencing factors and categorises them into five groups: customer-related, cost-related, product-related, order-related, and service-related. Research limitations/implications: Review limitations can be summarised as follows: first, the limited number of included articles might fell short in representing every aspect related to the LMSC. Secondly, the way the inclusion/exclusion criteria is designed allows missing potentially relevant articles. Thirdly, the classifications cannot be claimed to be the only best fit because of the ambiguity of some of the terms. Practical implications: The review consolidates the knowledge of LMSC literature by providing classifications that help simplify and guide researchers and practitioners to navigate through such a complex and fragmented body of literature. Originality/value: This review is the first to address the LMSC in the domain of supply chain management and sustainability, e-commerce, and city logistics. Also, it provides frameworks that classify the current themes, key approaches and influencing factors of the LMSC.