IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/elcore/v25y2025i3d10.1007_s10660-023-09799-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Enhancing e-grocery order fulfillment: improving product availability, cost, and emissions in last-mile delivery

Author

Listed:
  • Banu Y. Ekren

    (Cranfield University
    Yasar University)

  • Sara Perotti

    (Economics and Industrial Engineering Via Lambruschini)

  • Laura Foresti

    (Economics and Industrial Engineering Via Lambruschini)

  • Lorenzo Prataviera

    (Cranfield University)

Abstract

This paper studies e-grocery order fulfillment policies by leveraging both customer and e-grocery-based data. Through the utilization of historical purchase data, product popularity trends, and delivery patterns, allocation strategies are informed to optimize performance metrics such as fill rate, carbon emissions, and cost per order. The study aims to conduct a sensitivity analysis to identify key drivers influencing these performance metrics. The results highlight that fulfillment policies optimized with the utilization of the mentioned data metrics demonstrate superior performance compared to policies not informed by data. These findings underscore the critical role of integrating data-driven models in e-grocery order fulfillment. Based on the outcomes, a grocery allocation policy, considering both proximity and product availability, emerges as promising for simultaneous improvements in several performance metrics. The study recommends that e-grocery companies leverage customer data to design and optimize delivery-oriented policies and strategies. To ensure adaptability to new trends or changes in delivery patterns, continual evaluation and improvement of e-grocery fulfillment policies are emphasized.

Suggested Citation

  • Banu Y. Ekren & Sara Perotti & Laura Foresti & Lorenzo Prataviera, 2025. "Enhancing e-grocery order fulfillment: improving product availability, cost, and emissions in last-mile delivery," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 2417-2455, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:elcore:v:25:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10660-023-09799-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10660-023-09799-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10660-023-09799-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10660-023-09799-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pizzi, Gabriele & Scarpi, Daniele, 2013. "When Out-of-Stock Products DO Backfire: Managing Disclosure Time and Justification Wording," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 352-359.
    2. Marcia Mkansi & Chukuakadibia Eresia-Eke & Oyetola Emmanuel-Ebikake, 2018. "E-grocery challenges and remedies: Global market leaders perspective," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 1459338-145, January.
    3. Marta Viu-Roig & Eduard J. Alvarez-Palau, 2020. "The Impact of E-Commerce-Related Last-Mile Logistics on Cities: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-19, August.
    4. Jason Acimovic & Stephen C. Graves, 2015. "Making Better Fulfillment Decisions on the Fly in an Online Retail Environment," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 34-51, February.
    5. Carlton H. Scott & Judy E. Scott, 2006. "Efficient allocation of online grocery orders," International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(1/2), pages 88-102.
    6. Martin, James & Nenycz-Thiel, Magda & Dawes, John & Tanusondjaja, Arry & Cohen, Justin & McColl, Bruce & Trinh, Giang, 2020. "Fundamental basket size patterns and their relation to retailer performance," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    7. Hoang, Dong & Breugelmans, Els, 2023. "“Sorry, the product you ordered is out of stock”: Effects of substitution policy in online grocery retailing," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 26-45.
    8. Lamballais, T. & Merschformann, M. & Roy, D. & de Koster, M.B.M. & Azadeh, K. & Suhl, L., 2022. "Dynamic policies for resource reallocation in a robotic mobile fulfillment system with time-varying demand," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 300(3), pages 937-952.
    9. Mahar, Stephen & Bretthauer, Kurt M. & Venkataramanan, M.A., 2009. "The value of virtual pooling in dual sales channel supply chains," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 192(2), pages 561-575, January.
    10. K Hoad & S Robinson & R Davies, 2010. "Automating warm-up length estimation," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 61(9), pages 1389-1403, September.
    11. Ezhil Kumar, Madhumitha & Sharma, Dheeraj P. & Tapar, Archit V., 2021. "Out-of-stock justifications and consumers’ behavioral outcomes– exploring the role of product type and sales level information in out-of-stock situations," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    12. Siawsolit, Chokdee & Gaukler, Gary M., 2021. "Offsetting omnichannel grocery fulfillment cost through advance ordering of perishables," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    13. Pedro Alexandre Marques & Diana Jorge & João Reis, 2022. "Using Lean to Improve Operational Performance in a Retail Store and E-Commerce Service: A Portuguese Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-19, May.
    14. Ulrich, Matthias & Jahnke, Hermann & Langrock, Roland & Pesch, Robert & Senge, Robin, 2021. "Distributional regression for demand forecasting in e-grocery," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 294(3), pages 831-842.
    15. Stefanus Jasin & Amitabh Sinha, 2015. "An LP-Based Correlated Rounding Scheme for Multi-Item Ecommerce Order Fulfillment," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(6), pages 1336-1351, December.
    16. Xiangyong Li & Jieqi Li & Y.P. Aneja & Zhaoxia Guo & Peng Tian, 2019. "Integrated order allocation and order routing problem for e-order fulfillment," IISE Transactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(10), pages 1128-1150, October.
    17. Jiu, Song, 2022. "Robust omnichannel retail operations with the implementation of ship-from-store," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    18. Torabi, S.A. & Hassini, E. & Jeihoonian, M., 2015. "Fulfillment source allocation, inventory transshipment, and customer order transfer in e-tailing," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 128-144.
    19. Stephen Mahar & Sachin Modi & Peter A. Salzarulo, 2022. "Appreciating how your bread is buttered: improving online order allocation for cross-channel retailers," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(15), pages 4845-4867, August.
    20. Mkansi, Marcia & Nsakanda, Aaron Luntala, 2021. "Leveraging the physical network of stores in e-grocery order fulfilment for sustainable competitive advantage," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    21. Hemant K. Bhargava & Daewon Sun & Susan H. Xu, 2006. "Stockout Compensation: Joint Inventory and Price Optimization in Electronic Retailing," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 255-266, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Goedhart, Joost & Haijema, René & Akkerman, Renzo & de Leeuw, Sander, 2023. "Replenishment and fulfilment decisions for stores in an omni-channel retail network," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 311(3), pages 1009-1022.
    2. Calzavara, Martina & Finco, Serena & Persona, Alessandro & Zennaro, Ilenia, 2023. "A cost-based tool for the comparison of different e-grocery supply chain strategies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    3. Gabor, Adriana F. & van Ommeren, Jan-Kees & Sleptchenko, Andrei, 2022. "An inventory model with discounts for omnichannel retailers of slow moving items," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 300(1), pages 58-72.
    4. Yajun Zhan & Yiping Jiang, 2022. "Integrated Optimization of Order Allocation and Last-Mile Multi-Temperature Joint Distribution for Fresh Agriproduct Community Retail," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, August.
    5. Zhang, Yuankai & Lin, Wei-Hua & Huang, Minfang & Hu, Xiangpei, 2021. "Multi-warehouse package consolidation for split orders in online retailing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 289(3), pages 1040-1055.
    6. Ting Qu & Tianxiang Huang & Duxian Nie & Yelin Fu & Lin Ma & George Q. Huang, 2022. "Joint Decisions of Inventory Optimization and Order Allocation for Omni-Channel Multi-Echelon Distribution Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-23, May.
    7. Snoeck, André & Winkenbach, Matthias & Fransoo, Jan C., 2023. "On-demand last-mile distribution network design with omnichannel inventory," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    8. Snoeck, André & Winkenbach, Matthias & Fransoo, Jan C., 2023. "On-demand last-mile distribution network design with omnichannel inventory," Other publications TiSEM 83b06c9f-2a65-4aaf-880b-2, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    9. Li, Shuqin & Jia, Shuai, 2019. "A Benders decomposition algorithm for the order fulfilment problem of an e-tailer with a self-owned logistics system," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 463-480.
    10. Zhang, Yuankai & Sun, Lijun & Hu, Xiangpei & Zhao, Chen, 2019. "Order consolidation for the last-mile split delivery in online retailing," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 309-327.
    11. David Winkelmann & Charlotte Kohler, 2024. "Subscription-Based Inventory Planning for E-Grocery Retailing," Papers 2404.04097, arXiv.org.
    12. Xuefei Yang & Manuel Ostermeier & Alexander Hübner, 2024. "Winning the race to customers with micro-fulfillment centers: an approach for network planning in quick commerce," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 32(2), pages 295-334, June.
    13. Hoang, Dong & Breugelmans, Els, 2023. "“Sorry, the product you ordered is out of stock”: Effects of substitution policy in online grocery retailing," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 26-45.
    14. Zhou, Yong-Wu & Zhang, Xiong & Zhong, Yuanguang & Cao, Bin & Cheng, T.C. Edwin, 2021. "Dynamic pricing and cross-channel fulfillment for omnichannel retailing industry: An approximation policy and implications," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    15. Cheng, Lihong & Guo, Xiaolong & Li, Xiaoxiao & Yu, Yugang, 2022. "Data-driven ordering and transshipment decisions for online retailers and logistics service providers," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    16. Jiu, Song & Wang, Dan & Ma, Zujun, 2024. "Benders decomposition for robust distribution network design and operations in online retailing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 315(3), pages 1069-1082.
    17. Zhaohua Chen & Chang Wang & Qian Wang & Yuqi Pan & Zhuming Shi & Zheng Cai & Yukun Ren & Zhihua Zhu & Xiaotie Deng, 2022. "Dynamic Budget Throttling in Repeated Second-Price Auctions," Papers 2207.04690, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2023.
    18. Ata Allah Taleizadeh & Ebrahim Salehi Darabi & Park Thaichon, 2024. "Optimizing online selling through an online-to-offline platform: strategic ramifications for local n stores," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(6), pages 554-574, December.
    19. Jin, Ming & Li, Gang & Cheng, T.C.E., 2018. "Buy online and pick up in-store: Design of the service area," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 268(2), pages 613-623.
    20. Yue Sun & Ruozhen Qiu & Minghe Sun, 2025. "Robust pricing and inventory decisions in ship‐from‐store omnichannel operations," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 46(1), pages 5-20, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:elcore:v:25:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10660-023-09799-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.