End-consumer preferences for e-purchase delivery location

The e-commerce growth trend has great potential to influence both the nature and the dimension of the challenges policymakers will face in the near future. In this sense, the purchasing habits of the end consumer have undergone a significant change with the development of the emerging information and communication technologies that impact on the purchase behaviour and the way of receiving the item bought. The goal of the paper is thus to analyse cutting-edge last mile delivery alternatives while looking at the characteristics that determine the preferred alternative for receiving e-purchases. The identified new alternatives besides traditional mail are: crowdshipping, delivery to the car trunk, delivery by autonomous delivery robots, unattended parcel locker, attended pick up point and click-and-collect service. The paper presents the methodology for designing and delivering, as well as the findings of a survey carried out for investigating users’ behaviour, after reviewing the key attributes and levels that influence end consumers in choosing how to receive their e-purchases.