Remaking urban logistics space : e-tailing and supply chain revolution in the case city of Shenzhen, China

Abstract

Although urban logistics space (ULS) is an important sector for sustainable development, it has been overlooked in urban and transport studies for a long time. Owing to the rapid development of e-tailing and home delivery services, some stakeholders have recently endeavored to revolutionise logistics fulfilment and improve supply chain operation, resulting in great mutations on ULS. Nevertheless, few studies hitherto have related e-tailing and supply chain reconfiguration to the evolution of ULS. This thesis aims to fill this gap, and more specifically to address the research question of how the ongoing e-tailing and supply chain revolution has contributed to the remaking of ULS, by using a mixed research approach in this case study of Shenzhen, China.

The effects of e-tailing on supply chain operation are firstly attributed to the Internet-enabled retailing environment. The participation of new market players also warrants a new supply chain paradigm to enable speedy delivery from retailers to widely-dispersed consumers. The core issue is geographic configuration of customer order point, order delivery point and order shipment point. It not only determines the typology of e-tailing supply chain operation, but also pinpoints the critical role of the first-mile and last-mile delivery in achieving the balance between speed and cost of supply chain operation. The soaring e-tailing market has stimulated the engagement from retailers, parcel express firms and professional warehouse developers in developing modernised and superior logistics facilities to deal with first-mile warehousing and transshipment logistics activities. The robust demand, together with spatial, political, and technological factors, accelerated the production process of outwards migration of warehousing and logistics activities, thereby shaping the regionalism of e-commerce logistics activities.

A multitude of final delivery solutions hence emerged with attempts to eliminate difficulties in last-mile delivery. Despite of the adoption of diversified approaches, all solutions seek to intensify final delivery network and downscale delivery zone. However, such intensification strategy practically and geographically depends very much on demand density and the availability of space for establishing the final delivery facilities. This results in the spatial disparities of last-mile ULS.

The uneven distribution of ULS influences people’s e-shopping engagement. The availability of final delivery facilities has a small effect on e-shopping spending while it is closely correlated with e-shopping frequency. Improvement in last-mile delivery services helps alleviate negative assessment of delivery services, though different final delivery solutions will create varied effects on e-shopping usage. The availability of smart parcel stations for instance can significantly reduce the negative perception of delivery services.

The development of e-tailing and home delivery service have been conducive to the new landscape of retailing and logistics. The increasing number of delivery vehicles, sprawling logistic facilities, sprouting final delivery facilities suggest that revisiting space/time in the context of e-tailing logistics is deemed necessary. It not only theoretically contributes to a new geography of e-tailing and logistics, but also highlights the implications of supply chain-based approach for remapping sustainable urban supply chain management.