SMEs Last Mile Delivery Practices in Sweden : An explanatory study of the environmental aspects of last mile delivery for e-tailers

Abstract: Unquestionably the COVID-19 pandemic has helped to accelerate the transition from store-based to internet-based retailing. Consequently, this transaction has put more pressure and challenges on online retailers to provide the best variety of options to their customers regarding the last mile delivery while at the same time maintaining a sustainable way of delivery. This paper will examine the increased number of deliveries and their impact on the environment and how the e-tailers are responding to this situation. The problem will be tackled from the companies and the customers point of view. Purpose:  the purpose of the study is to explore e-commerce last mile delivery practices in Sweden from an environmental perspective and examine how they meet consumer environmental requirements. Method:  The researchers used a deductive approach to carry out the study. The empirical data was collected through quantitative survey and website observations. Findings: the study showed the current situation of the last mile delivery practices for the SMEs e-tailers in Sweden. After conducting the analysis, both strengths and weaknesses aspects of the current situation have been identified regarding the sustainability of those practices. The e-tailer promoted the Solitary C&C delivery option to the customer by providing it almost in all the companies and making it the cheapest option in comparison to the other delivery modes. The Solitary C&C is the eco-friendliest delivery mode in comparison to the home delivery. The velocity also played an important role in making the Solitary C&C more attractive because the velocity was almost the same for both and sometimes it is faster for C&C. On the other hand, the e-tailers failed to communicate the sustainability of their delivery modes to their customers. The majority did not show or marked the eco-friendly delivery option and as a result they did not take advantage of the willingness of the customer to contribute to more eco-friendly deliveries that had been studied in many papers. Finally, the price differentiation of the delivery fee was not efficient enough in the favor of the Solitary C&C compared to HD. When the delivery fee existed, the price was almost the same for both is so many cases and this is something the e-tailer should take into consideration. Implications: The paper contributed to the limited number of research on SMEs, especially in the last mile delivery field of study. The paper large scale quantitative study on SME firms in Sweden.  The large scale consists of 50 SME e-tailers located in Sweden and ranked in the top 100 SMEs in the e-commerce market. The finding of the study will advise managers to design their last mile delivery practices more sustainably while maintaining their competitive advantages.    Limitation: the study examined the Swedish e-tailers. Thus, it’s geographically limited to Sweden. Furthermore, the study only investigated the environmental aspects of the last mile delivery.    Keywords: last mile delivery, e-commerce, Sustainability, Delivery mode, Velocity.