Manufacturer and Omni-channel Retailers Last Mile Delivery in Sweden : A study on the last mile delivery settings of manufacturers and omni-channel retailers compared with the customer’s demand

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explore manufacturer and omni-channel retailers last mile delivery in Sweden. Then to recognize the main customer demand and compare it with the last mile delivery setting of manufacturer and omni-channel retailers last mile delivery Method: To reach the purpose of the study, quantitative approach study and literature review have been conducted. Where the data has been collected through online search observation, document and record analysis and web survey. The companies (omni-channel retailers and manufacturers) that was chosen based on mix of micro, small, medium, and large size enterprise. The quantitative data was analyzed with the theoretical framework to reach the results. Then a web-survey was carried out in order to collect data about the customer demand on LMD. Findings: The findings display that omni-channel companies performed better in a lot of the last mile delivery settings such as velocity, free returns, offers more than one delivery mode, time slot, work with more than one delivery company. While manufacturers and omni-channel performed the same when it comes to last mile delivery mode. The only last mile delivery setting that manufacturer performed better in where the delivery prices towards customers. While overall the omni-channels performed better according to the customer demand than the manufacturers. But both types of companies did not perform well at all when it comes to environmentally sustainable deliveries. There was a high customer demand for freedom to choose last mile delivery mode, free delivery, free returns, and last environmentally sustainable deliveries.     Implications: The theoretical implications are towards the academic research about manufacturers last mile delivery practice in Sweden. Since it is one of the first large scale research for manufacturers e-commerce last mile delivery. It is also important to note that the framework developed in this research were evolved from existing research Hübner et al. (2016) and Marchet et al. (2018). The managerial implications are that manufacturers and omni-channels can benchmark themselves within the developed framework in order for them to make relevant decisions within their last mile delivery practice to be able to meet the customer demand.    Limitations: This research only focus on manufacturers e-commerce and omni-channel retailers operating in the Swedish market, it does not cover pure e-tailers. The study has not explored any fulfillment strategies or warehouse locations. Key words: Last mile delivery, omni-channel retailer, manufacturer, e-commerce, sustainability, customer demand on last mile delivery.