Facoltà: Ingegneria Gestionale - classe LM-31
Collocazione: 20259
Autore: Castelli Davide
Data: 28/04/2022
Titolo: E-commerce consumers’ preferences and their impact on order fulfillment and delivery in omnichannel retailing
Relatore: Creazza Alessandro
Autorizzazione per la consultazione: SI
Le tesi si possono consultare unicamente in sede
The tending merger between traditional retail and e-commerce, due to the evolution of consumers needs and the increase in online orders, has made it necessary the implementation of omnichannel fulfillment strategies. The paper, therefore, aims to understand the preferences of Millennials, the generation more involved and, currently, with greater spending power, so that retailers can design and configure consistent fulfillment and delivery strategies, to offer a continuous shopping experience, able to maximize customer satisfaction and economic and environmental sustainability. The research was conducted, initially, through a systematic review of the literature in the field of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, to highlight the emerging issues and the possible fulfillment and delivery strategies that can be adopted. After that, starting from the themes emerged in the literature, it was possible to structure an online questionnaire, to collect empirical data about Millennials’ online shopping preferences that may impact the fulfillment process, which was administered in Italy from October 2021 to February 2022. Studying the preferences of Italian consumers is very important as the Italian market for grocery is one of the largest in Europe. Specifically, the research attempts, starting from the data obtained, to help omnichannel retailers to choose the fulfillment and delivery strategies that best suit their characteristics in terms of existing distribution network, customer segments, and products distributed. The results highlight the Millennials’ approach to online shopping, strongly characterized by a utilitarian purpose. Accordingly, home delivery is the favorite delivery method for Millennials, but also the biggest challenge for retailers, given the significant economic and socio-environmental impact. Findings show the need to adopt a decentralized supply chain, possibly with the implementation of Micro-Fulfillment Centers, considering that the decentralization offers the possibility of collecting localized customer data, with which to make more accurate forecasts of demand and optimize the allocation of spaces within the warehouse. It also allows to reduce the distance from consumers, and therefore emissions, to improve home delivery, and, additionally, offering the possibility to choose between convenient alternative delivery methods, such as Collection Points and Lockers. A decentralized fulfillment strategy effectively adapts to the typical structure of a e-grocer, which already owns a dense network of stores that can be partially converted into "dark stores". This logistical strategy allows to reduce the time of fulfillment activities, offering huge benefits to maintaining the “cold chain”, thus favoring the online purchase of highly perishable products.
