Logistics sourcing of e-commerce firms considering promised delivery time and environmental sustainability

Canran Gong; Huaming Song; Daqiang Chen; Steven james Day; Joshua Ignatius

doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2024.02.026

Logistics sourcing of e-commerce firms considering promised delivery time and environmental sustainability

Canran Gong
, Huaming Song
, Daqiang Chen
, Steven james Day
, Joshua Ignatius

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

37 Citations (SciVal)

1 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Online consumers prioritise swift and dependable deliveries but are also concerned about the environmental repercussions of e-commerce, such as carbon emissions and packaging waste. E-commerce firms, therefore, grapple with balancing short promised delivery times (PDT) and environmental sustainability in a competitive landscape. Through a game-theoretic lens, this study delves into the logistics choices of two rival e-commerce firms. These firms can either manage their own logistics or outsource to third-party logistics providers (TPLs) that have a green edge due to advanced eco-friendly technologies. Our findings reveal that if the e-commerce firms compete on demand, their logistics strategies depend on the TPLs’ levels of green technology readiness. Conversely, intense PDT competition can diminish the TPLs’ benefits, prompting e-commerce firms to handle logistics in-house. Regarding environmental sustainability, the outcomes depend on whether demand or PDT competition drives the firms’ choices. Notably, if both firms compete on PDT, the most sustainable outcome remains elusive. Our conclusions remain consistent even when tested further by model extensions.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	60-75
Number of pages	16
Journal	European Journal of Operational Research
Volume	317
Issue number	1
Early online date	27 Feb 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2024.02.026
Publication status	Published - 16 Aug 2024

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2023, Elsevier. This accepted manuscript version is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Funding

This work is supported by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LY21G030007), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Jiangsu Province (KYCX21_0360), the Foreign Youth Talent Program (QN2023182001L), the Belt and Road Innovative Talents Exchange with Foreign Experts Project (DL2023182002L), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71874158, 72072163, 71403245), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2022M712732), the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Technology Metals (Met4Tech) (EP/V011855/1), and the Key Foundation of Philosophy and Social Science of Zhejiang Province (21NDJC075YB). The authors are grateful to the editors and referees for their valuable comments and suggestions to improve the quality and presentation of the paper.

Keywords

E-commerce
Environmental sustainability
Logistics service outsourcing
Promised delivery time (PDT)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.ejor.2024.02.026

Logistics sourcing of e-commerce firms considering promised delivery time and environmental sustainability
Copyright © 2024, Elsevier. This accepted manuscript version is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Accepted author manuscript, 1.39 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0377221724001346

Cite this

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title = "Logistics sourcing of e-commerce firms considering promised delivery time and environmental sustainability",

abstract = "Online consumers prioritise swift and dependable deliveries but are also concerned about the environmental repercussions of e-commerce, such as carbon emissions and packaging waste. E-commerce firms, therefore, grapple with balancing short promised delivery times (PDT) and environmental sustainability in a competitive landscape. Through a game-theoretic lens, this study delves into the logistics choices of two rival e-commerce firms. These firms can either manage their own logistics or outsource to third-party logistics providers (TPLs) that have a green edge due to advanced eco-friendly technologies. Our findings reveal that if the e-commerce firms compete on demand, their logistics strategies depend on the TPLs{\textquoteright} levels of green technology readiness. Conversely, intense PDT competition can diminish the TPLs{\textquoteright} benefits, prompting e-commerce firms to handle logistics in-house. Regarding environmental sustainability, the outcomes depend on whether demand or PDT competition drives the firms{\textquoteright} choices. Notably, if both firms compete on PDT, the most sustainable outcome remains elusive. Our conclusions remain consistent even when tested further by model extensions.",

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Logistics sourcing of e-commerce firms considering promised delivery time and environmental sustainability

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Bibliographical note

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Keywords

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