IFAC-PapersOnLine 49-12 (2016) 13711376 [605014]

IFAC-PapersOnLine 49-12 (2016) 1371–1376
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Peer review under responsibility of International Federation of Automatic Control.
10.1016/j.ifacol.2016.07.755© 2016, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Home delivery services: innovations and emerging needs

Maliheh Ghajargar*, Giovanni Zenezini**
Teodoro Montanaro***

*Department of Management and Production Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Italy (e -mail:
[anonimizat]).
** Department of Management and Production Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Italy
(Tel: 0039 011 0907295; e -mail: [anonimizat]).
*** Department of Control and Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Ita ly (e-mail:
[anonimizat]).
Abstract : The increasing amoun t of small -sized shipments and their frequency variation, due to the
growth of e -commerce, pose a great challenge to logistics service providers. At the same time, new
technologies and innovations are being developed with the aim of increasing the efficiency of logistics
service provider, as much as foster the creation of new enterprises and business models in the home
delivery sector. The aim of this paper is to provide an exploratory analysis of the fit between existing
home delivery innovative services, requirements, and issues that users might have. To do so, we review
the main features of innovative services and we compare them with the findings from an online survey.
For each servi ce, we identify the value propositions, and the issues the service aims to address. In
particular, four innovative services are reviewed. Through the online survey, we identify user’s habits,
requirements and perceptions regarding the effectiveness and fea tures of the innovative services.
Keywords : Transportation science; Smart transportation; Home Delivery; Innovation; Survey.

1. INTRODUCTION
Demand for small package home delivery services has
rapidly increased in recent years, largely due to the growth
of online shopping. Moreover, Huang et al. (2008) claim
that the quality of logistics service performance is an
important key marketing compone nt that helps create
customer satisfaction, consequently, the increasing number
of small -sized shipments and their frequency variation
pose a great challenge to logistics service providers. They
need to rationalise the cost of operating and maintaining their parcel distribution networks, achieving, at the same
time, a reasonable success rate of on -time delivery of
packages across a large geographic area in order to satisfy
the user needs.

At the same time, new technologies and innovations are
being develope d with the aim of increasing the efficiency
of logistics service provider (e.g. Hwang et al. (2006) propose a digital home service delivery system for small
business companies). Innovations in this field support the
efficient operations of large companies, as much as foster
the creation of new enterprises and business models in the
home delivery sector.

The aim of this paper is to provide an exploratory analysis of the fit between existing home delivery innovative
services and requirements and issues that u sers are
experiencing. To do so, we review the main features of
innovative services and we compare them with the findings from an online survey. This paper presents the
first findings from a larger project on the development of a
new home delivery service.

The paper is structured as follows: Section 2 consists of the analyses of existing related works, Section 3 describes
the methodology applied in this paper, Section 4 presents
existing innovations in home delivery, Section 5 describes
survey results and S ection 6 concludes the paper with
some considerations and future works.
2. THE CONTEXT OF HOME DELIVERY
Home delivery has been treated and has attracted the
interest of both academies and industries for some
decades: the first patent we found about “a method and
apparatus for validating credit information during home delivery of orders” (1993) was registered in 1991 by Jerry
R. Martinez. Instead, in the academic world, Cairns S.
(1996) published a paper exploring the experience of
providing home delivery servi ces for groceries at that
moment. The study involved 58 companies, operating in 9 countries, exploring the practical and economic
dimensions of providing services, predictions of likely future patronage, and the factors that may be conducive to
successfull y introducing new initiatives. Furthermore,
Alba J. et al. (1997) examine the implications of electronic
shopping for consumers, retailers, and manufacturers
assuming that near -term technological developments IFAC Conference on Manufacturing Modelling,
Management and Control
June 28-30, 2016. Troyes, France
Copyright © 2016 IFAC 1371

Home delivery services: innovations and emerging needs

Maliheh Ghajargar*, Giovanni Zenezini**
Teodoro Montanaro***

*Department of Management and Production Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Italy (e -mail:
maliheh.ghajargar@polito.it).
** Department of Management and Production Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Italy
(Tel: 0039 011 0907295; e -mail: giovanni.zenezini@polito.it).
*** Department of Control and Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Ita ly (e-mail:
teodoro.montanaro@polito.it).
Abstract : The increasing amoun t of small -sized shipments and their frequency variation, due to the
growth of e -commerce, pose a great challenge to logistics service providers. At the same time, new
technologies and innovations are being developed with the aim of increasing the efficiency of logistics
service provider, as much as foster the creation of new enterprises and business models in the home delivery sector. The aim of this paper is to provide an exploratory analysis of the fit between existing
home delivery innovative services, requirements, and issues that users might have. To do so, we review
the main features of innovative services and we compare them with the findings from an online survey.
For each servi ce, we identify the value propositions, and the issues the service aims to address. In
particular, four innovative services are reviewed. Through the online survey, we identify user’s habits,
requirements and perceptions regarding the effectiveness and fea tures of the innovative services.
Keywords : Transportation science; Smart transportation; Home Delivery; Innovation; Survey.

1. INTRODUCTION
Demand for small package home delivery services has
rapidly increased in recent years, largely due to the growth
of online shopping. Moreover, Huang et al. (2008) claim
that the quality of logistics service performance is an
important key marketing compone nt that helps create
customer satisfaction, consequently, the increasing number
of small -sized shipments and their frequency variation
pose a great challenge to logistics service providers. They
need to rationalise the cost of operating and maintaining their parcel distribution networks, achieving, at the same
time, a reasonable success rate of on -time delivery of
packages across a large geographic area in order to satisfy
the user needs.

At the same time, new technologies and innovations are
being develope d with the aim of increasing the efficiency
of logistics service provider (e.g. Hwang et al. (2006) propose a digital home service delivery system for small
business companies). Innovations in this field support the
efficient operations of large companies, as much as foster
the creation of new enterprises and business models in the
home delivery sector.

The aim of this paper is to provide an exploratory analysis of the fit between existing home delivery innovative
services and requirements and issues that u sers are
experiencing. To do so, we review the main features of
innovative services and we compare them with the findings from an online survey. This paper presents the
first findings from a larger project on the development of a
new home delivery service.

The paper is structured as follows: Section 2 consists of the analyses of existing related works, Section 3 describes
the methodology applied in this paper, Section 4 presents
existing innovations in home delivery, Section 5 describes
survey results and S ection 6 concludes the paper with
some considerations and future works.
2. THE CONTEXT OF HOME DELIVERY
Home delivery has been treated and has attracted the
interest of both academies and industries for some
decades: the first patent we found about “a method and
apparatus for validating credit information during home delivery of orders” (1993) was registered in 1991 by Jerry
R. Martinez. Instead, in the academic world, Cairns S.
(1996) published a paper exploring the experience of
providing home delivery servi ces for groceries at that
moment. The study involved 58 companies, operating in 9 countries, exploring the practical and economic
dimensions of providing services, predictions of likely future patronage, and the factors that may be conducive to
successfull y introducing new initiatives. Furthermore,
Alba J. et al. (1997) examine the implications of electronic
shopping for consumers, retailers, and manufacturers
assuming that near -term technological developments IFAC Conference on Manufacturing Modelling,
Management and Control
June 28-30, 2016. Troyes, France
Copyright © 2016 IFAC 1371

Home delivery services: innovations and emerging needs

Maliheh Ghajargar*, Giovanni Zenezini**
Teodoro Montanaro***

*Department of Management and Production Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Italy (e -mail:
maliheh.ghajargar@polito.it).
** Department of Management and Production Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Italy
(Tel: 0039 011 0907295; e -mail: giovanni.zenezini@polito.it).
*** Department of Control and Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Ita ly (e-mail:
teodoro.montanaro@polito.it).
Abstract : The increasing amoun t of small -sized shipments and their frequency variation, due to the
growth of e -commerce, pose a great challenge to logistics service providers. At the same time, new
technologies and innovations are being developed with the aim of increasing the efficiency of logistics
service provider, as much as foster the creation of new enterprises and business models in the home
delivery sector. The aim of this paper is to provide an exploratory analysis of the fit between existing
home delivery innovative services, requirements, and issues that users might have. To do so, we review
the main features of innovative services and we compare them with the findings from an online survey.
For each servi ce, we identify the value propositions, and the issues the service aims to address. In
particular, four innovative services are reviewed. Through the online survey, we identify user’s habits,
requirements and perceptions regarding the effectiveness and fea tures of the innovative services.
Keywords : Transportation science; Smart transportation; Home Delivery; Innovation; Survey.

1. INTRODUCTION
Demand for small package home delivery services has
rapidly increased in recent years, largely due to the growth
of online shopping. Moreover, Huang et al. (2008) claim
that the quality of logistics service performance is an
important key marketing compone nt that helps create
customer satisfaction, consequently, the increasing number
of small -sized shipments and their frequency variation
pose a great challenge to logistics service providers. They
need to rationalise the cost of operating and maintaining their parcel distribution networks, achieving, at the same
time, a reasonable success rate of on -time delivery of
packages across a large geographic area in order to satisfy
the user needs.

At the same time, new technologies and innovations are
being develope d with the aim of increasing the efficiency
of logistics service provider (e.g. Hwang et al. (2006) propose a digital home service delivery system for small
business companies). Innovations in this field support the
efficient operations of large companies, as much as foster
the creation of new enterprises and business models in the
home delivery sector.

The aim of this paper is to provide an exploratory analysis of the fit between existing home delivery innovative
services and requirements and issues that u sers are
experiencing. To do so, we review the main features of
innovative services and we compare them with the findings from an online survey. This paper presents the
first findings from a larger project on the development of a
new home delivery service.

The paper is structured as follows: Section 2 consists of the analyses of existing related works, Section 3 describes
the methodology applied in this paper, Section 4 presents
existing innovations in home delivery, Section 5 describes
survey results and S ection 6 concludes the paper with
some considerations and future works.
2. THE CONTEXT OF HOME DELIVERY
Home delivery has been treated and has attracted the
interest of both academies and industries for some
decades: the first patent we found about “a method and
apparatus for validating credit information during home delivery of orders” (1993) was registered in 1991 by Jerry
R. Martinez. Instead, in the academic world, Cairns S.
(1996) published a paper exploring the experience of
providing home delivery servi ces for groceries at that
moment. The study involved 58 companies, operating in 9 countries, exploring the practical and economic
dimensions of providing services, predictions of likely future patronage, and the factors that may be conducive to
successfull y introducing new initiatives. Furthermore,
Alba J. et al. (1997) examine the implications of electronic
shopping for consumers, retailers, and manufacturers
assuming that near -term technological developments IFAC Conference on Manufacturing Modelling,
Management and Control
June 28-30, 2016. Troyes, France
Copyright © 2016 IFAC 1371

Home delivery services: innovations and emerging needs

Maliheh Ghajargar*, Giovanni Zenezini**
Teodoro Montanaro***

*Department of Management and Production Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Italy (e -mail:
maliheh.ghajargar@polito.it).
** Department of Management and Production Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Italy
(Tel: 0039 011 0907295; e -mail: giovanni.zenezini@polito.it).
*** Department of Control and Computer Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, 10129, Ita ly (e-mail:
teodoro.montanaro@polito.it).
Abstract : The increasing amoun t of small -sized shipments and their frequency variation, due to the
growth of e -commerce, pose a great challenge to logistics service providers. At the same time, new
technologies and innovations are being developed with the aim of increasing the efficiency of logistics
service provider, as much as foster the creation of new enterprises and business models in the home
delivery sector. The aim of this paper is to provide an exploratory analysis of the fit between existing
home delivery innovative services, requirements, and issues that users might have. To do so, we review
the main features of innovative services and we compare them with the findings from an online survey.
For each servi ce, we identify the value propositions, and the issues the service aims to address. In
particular, four innovative services are reviewed. Through the online survey, we identify user’s habits,
requirements and perceptions regarding the effectiveness and fea tures of the innovative services.
Keywords : Transportation science; Smart transportation; Home Delivery; Innovation; Survey.

1. INTRODUCTION
Demand for small package home delivery services has
rapidly increased in recent years, largely due to the growth
of online shopping. Moreover, Huang et al. (2008) claim
that the quality of logistics service performance is an
important key marketing compone nt that helps create
customer satisfaction, consequently, the increasing number
of small -sized shipments and their frequency variation
pose a great challenge to logistics service providers. They
need to rationalise the cost of operating and maintaining their parcel distribution networks, achieving, at the same
time, a reasonable success rate of on -time delivery of
packages across a large geographic area in order to satisfy
the user needs.

At the same time, new technologies and innovations are
being develope d with the aim of increasing the efficiency
of logistics service provider (e.g. Hwang et al. (2006) propose a digital home service delivery system for small
business companies). Innovations in this field support the
efficient operations of large companies, as much as foster
the creation of new enterprises and business models in the
home delivery sector.

The aim of this paper is to provide an exploratory analysis of the fit between existing home delivery innovative
services and requirements and issues that u sers are
experiencing. To do so, we review the main features of
innovative services and we compare them with the findings from an online survey. This paper presents the
first findings from a larger project on the development of a
new home delivery service.

The paper is structured as follows: Section 2 consists of the analyses of existing related works, Section 3 describes
the methodology applied in this paper, Section 4 presents
existing innovations in home delivery, Section 5 describes
survey results and S ection 6 concludes the paper with
some considerations and future works.
2. THE CONTEXT OF HOME DELIVERY
Home delivery has been treated and has attracted the
interest of both academies and industries for some
decades: the first patent we found about “a method and
apparatus for validating credit information during home delivery of orders” (1993) was registered in 1991 by Jerry
R. Martinez. Instead, in the academic world, Cairns S.
(1996) published a paper exploring the experience of
providing home delivery servi ces for groceries at that
moment. The study involved 58 companies, operating in 9 countries, exploring the practical and economic
dimensions of providing services, predictions of likely future patronage, and the factors that may be conducive to
successfull y introducing new initiatives. Furthermore,
Alba J. et al. (1997) examine the implications of electronic
shopping for consumers, retailers, and manufacturers
assuming that near -term technological developments IFAC Conference on Manufacturing Modelling,
Management and Control
June 28-30, 2016. Troyes, France
Copyright © 2016 IFAC 1371

1372 Maliheh Ghajargar et al. / IF AC-PapersOnLine 49-12 (2016) 1371 –1376

would have offered consumers unparalleled oppor tunities
to locate and compare product offerings.
Since then the research in this field has never stopped and
in the next decades, the home delivery concept has been
studied by two different point of view: the seller and the
consumer point of view. Even th ough both of them have
been studied by researchers all over the world, there is a
difference between them: a lot of works were founded in
literature about the seller point of view, instead only a few papers were found related to the consumer one.

Punakivi M, for example, published (2001) a paper
identifying the success factors in e ‐grocery home delivery
and comparing new services offered by service providers
in the United States. In their paper, they compare 2
different delivery services, the so called “rec eption box”
and the “time window” services, looking at differences in
cost structures and providing guidelines for the future
development of the e ‐grocery home delivery services.
Furthermore, Weigel D. et al. (1999) present a series of
algorithms related t o vehicle -routing -and-scheduling
system aims at improving the Sears technician -dispatching
and home -delivery business. In addition, Morganti et al.
(2014), study the deployment of pickup point networks in
urban and suburban areas focusing on the strategy o f
network operators. They identify main variables and
constraints that could affect the development of pickup
points, such as the size of the “catchment area”, the
technological platform used to manage the PP network and
the availability of shop owners to use and join the network.
On the other hand, the consumers point of view were
treated only by a few papers focusing on the issues of
service quality in home delivery and consumers' behavior,
so, the focus of this project is to investigate the growing
customer needs for innovative home delivery services.
One of the papers that investigate the customer's needs and
behaviors is the one published by Chen et al. 2012, using
the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) tool in order to
investigate a new service develop ment for a home delivery
service of specialty foods in traditional market (Chen et al.
2012). Results show that customers put emphasis on the
security of personal information and trading mechanism, as well as to the speed of delivery service, and the quick
response from the company when problems occur. Finally, Morganosky M. A. et al. (2000) report a preliminary assessment of consumer response to and demand for
online food retail channels. Data were collected from 243
US consumers who expressed their opinio n about online
grocery shopping: delivery is one of the most considered
factor that they used as meter in their evaluation, so it is
important to understand real user needs about it and this is
exactly what we will do in this work.

3. METHODOLOGY The first st ep in identifying innovative services,
requirements and issues experienced by users was
performed by reviewing of existing innovative home
delivery services. To this aim, four different services are reviewed and the value proposition and the issues that th e
service aims to solve are identified

After that, we conducted an online survey using a Google
form to investigate habits, requirements and perception
regarding the effectiveness and features of the innovative services. A community of scholars and student s of the
Politecnico di Torino was involved in the study. The survey has been online and accessible since November 2015 and it consists of 21 questions divided into four main
sections of demographic, online -shopping issues, user’s
habits regarding online -shopping and their perception
regarding innovative delivery services. A total of 562
responses were received.

Finally, discussions and conclusions are drawn comparing
the results of the survey with the main characteristics and
value propositions of consid ered innovative services.
Those help us to evaluate qualitatively their potential for
meeting users’ requirements and address existing issues
and emerging needs.
3.1. Survey structure and data analysis
In the first section we asked about their age, job and
educational level in order to have a detailed description
about our sample’s characteristics. In the next section we
examined if they purchase any goods online, with which
frequency and what is the amount of money they usually
spend for these purchases per year. In this section we also
asked the reasons they do or do not purchase online and
what are the important factors that drive them to shop
online. In the following sections the questions about their
current habits about online -shopping were posed. F or
example the place at which they usually receive the goods
and the delivery mode that they would prefer. The last
section dealt about some innovative delivery services’ awareness among the respondents. In particular, we asked
to indicate the most signifi cant characteristics of the
service, choosing among economically accessible, eco –
sustainability, flexibility to choose among different
delivery destinations and times, reliability, simplicity to
use and having trustful relation with courier.

Descriptive st atistics was used for the survey data analysis.
In order to compare the answers given on different factors
on a Likert scale between 1 and 5, we used median values
for the tendency and quantiles for dispersion (when
applicable).
4. INNOVATIONS IN HOME DELIVER Y
Among innovative services for home delivery we found
the use of automated pack stations (APS), which are
increasingly being adopted by carriers and logistics service IFAC MIM 2016
June 28-30, 2016. Troyes, France
1372

Maliheh Ghajargar et al. / IF AC-PapersOnLine 49-12 (2016) 1371 –1376 1373

would have offered consumers unparalleled oppor tunities
to locate and compare product offerings.
Since then the research in this field has never stopped and
in the next decades, the home delivery concept has been
studied by two different point of view: the seller and the
consumer point of view. Even th ough both of them have
been studied by researchers all over the world, there is a
difference between them: a lot of works were founded in
literature about the seller point of view, instead only a few papers were found related to the consumer one.

Punakivi M, for example, published (2001) a paper
identifying the success factors in e ‐grocery home delivery
and comparing new services offered by service providers
in the United States. In their paper, they compare 2
different delivery services, the so called “rec eption box”
and the “time window” services, looking at differences in
cost structures and providing guidelines for the future
development of the e ‐grocery home delivery services.
Furthermore, Weigel D. et al. (1999) present a series of
algorithms related t o vehicle -routing -and-scheduling
system aims at improving the Sears technician -dispatching
and home -delivery business. In addition, Morganti et al.
(2014), study the deployment of pickup point networks in
urban and suburban areas focusing on the strategy o f
network operators. They identify main variables and
constraints that could affect the development of pickup
points, such as the size of the “catchment area”, the
technological platform used to manage the PP network and
the availability of shop owners to use and join the network.
On the other hand, the consumers point of view were
treated only by a few papers focusing on the issues of
service quality in home delivery and consumers' behavior,
so, the focus of this project is to investigate the growing
customer needs for innovative home delivery services.
One of the papers that investigate the customer's needs and
behaviors is the one published by Chen et al. 2012, using
the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) tool in order to
investigate a new service develop ment for a home delivery
service of specialty foods in traditional market (Chen et al.
2012). Results show that customers put emphasis on the
security of personal information and trading mechanism, as well as to the speed of delivery service, and the quick
response from the company when problems occur. Finally, Morganosky M. A. et al. (2000) report a preliminary assessment of consumer response to and demand for
online food retail channels. Data were collected from 243
US consumers who expressed their opinio n about online
grocery shopping: delivery is one of the most considered
factor that they used as meter in their evaluation, so it is
important to understand real user needs about it and this is
exactly what we will do in this work.

3. METHODOLOGY The first st ep in identifying innovative services,
requirements and issues experienced by users was
performed by reviewing of existing innovative home
delivery services. To this aim, four different services are reviewed and the value proposition and the issues that th e
service aims to solve are identified

After that, we conducted an online survey using a Google
form to investigate habits, requirements and perception
regarding the effectiveness and features of the innovative services. A community of scholars and student s of the
Politecnico di Torino was involved in the study. The survey has been online and accessible since November 2015 and it consists of 21 questions divided into four main
sections of demographic, online -shopping issues, user’s
habits regarding online -shopping and their perception
regarding innovative delivery services. A total of 562
responses were received.

Finally, discussions and conclusions are drawn comparing
the results of the survey with the main characteristics and
value propositions of consid ered innovative services.
Those help us to evaluate qualitatively their potential for
meeting users’ requirements and address existing issues
and emerging needs.
3.1. Survey structure and data analysis
In the first section we asked about their age, job and
educational level in order to have a detailed description
about our sample’s characteristics. In the next section we
examined if they purchase any goods online, with which
frequency and what is the amount of money they usually
spend for these purchases per year. In this section we also
asked the reasons they do or do not purchase online and
what are the important factors that drive them to shop
online. In the following sections the questions about their
current habits about online -shopping were posed. F or
example the place at which they usually receive the goods
and the delivery mode that they would prefer. The last
section dealt about some innovative delivery services’ awareness among the respondents. In particular, we asked
to indicate the most signifi cant characteristics of the
service, choosing among economically accessible, eco –
sustainability, flexibility to choose among different
delivery destinations and times, reliability, simplicity to
use and having trustful relation with courier.

Descriptive st atistics was used for the survey data analysis.
In order to compare the answers given on different factors
on a Likert scale between 1 and 5, we used median values
for the tendency and quantiles for dispersion (when
applicable).
4. INNOVATIONS IN HOME DELIVER Y
Among innovative services for home delivery we found
the use of automated pack stations (APS), which are
increasingly being adopted by carriers and logistics service IFAC MIM 2016
June 28-30, 2016. Troyes, France
1372

providers. This solution consists of a network of location
in which companies install l ocker boxes, in which parcels
are retained until the customer is able to pick them up; the
customer then picks the parcel by using the order reference
code. Usually, public places such as markets, universities,
train stations or post offices are selected a s preferred
location. This option reduces the time spent for the daily
routes of delivery trucks, since carriers do not have to
deliver parcels to individual customer's home but aggregate delivery to one point. Moreover, investment
costs of installing and maintaining locker banks are offset
by savings, because leaving more packages at a time at drop-off points, means that companies can split the cost of
each delivery over many shipping fees
1. Basically, all the
main logistics service providers are implement ing this
solution. For instance, DHL started installing lockers in
Germany in 2001, and has installed 2,700 locker banks, mostly in train stations, since then. Alongside the main
players in the delivery sector, some companies are now
specialized in install ing and managing automated pickup
points world. ByBox is a UK based company who operates
18,000 electronic lockers through its subsidiary Logibag,
to offer an overnight distribution service for spare parts;
the same service has been implemented in Paris by an
elevator manufacturer (Sugar, 2010; Janjevic et al., 2013).
Similarly to the previous service, many logistics
companies have established a network of local stores that
act as pickup points to store their customers’ items.
Morganti et al. (2014) provi de a comprehensive overview
on existing networks and main features of this delivery
service. This solution may generate positive benefits for all
stakeholders involved. Shop owners who participate in the
programme are looking for both extra revenues and
additional in -store traffic; customers have larger time
windows to pick up their items (although the service is not
available 24 hrs/day since it has to conform to opening
hours); finally, logistics service providers gain operational
benefits in terms of dec rease in missed delivery and
increase in goods consolidation. As in the case of
automated pick up points, new companies specialized in
last mile delivery through a network of pick up points are
emerging. Companies such as Colis Relais and
MondialRelay in F rance or CollectPlus in UK, operate
networks of up to 5000 pickup points, and basically
provide an additional delivery solution to customers that
buy items online2. In this sense, they are competitors of
larger logistics service providers (e.g. DHL, TNT) w hich
also established their own network of pickup points.
Moreover, customers can send their parcels from the stores
participating in the network.

1 http://www.wsj.com/articles/parcel -delivery -firms -and-retailers –
experiment -with-package -pickup -points-1431966679
2 Information retrieved from companies’ websites Since Smartphones are widely used,a new type of service
has emerged in recent years, denominated crowd delivery.
Smartphone apps such as Deliv and CrowdToGo allow
private citizens to use their own car to deliver packages in
exchange for a fee. When an item is purchased by the
customer, a driver receives a notification and agrees to
deliver the item to the c ustomers’ requests, which
comprise a selected time window. In addition to traditional online shopping delivery service, crowd delivery platform offers local retailers a cheaper option for sending items
bought in -store by their customers
3. Thanks to these
services private citizens are able to earn an extra -income,
and the level of service increases, since customers receive
same day delivery at the same price of the standard
delivery. Although crowd delivery is still in its infancy,
consolidated companies lik e Amazon are considering
crowd delivery to expand their offering4.
Finally, logistics service providers such as FedEx and
DHL have integrated in their delivery system more
sophisticated delivery tracking services, thanks to the use of multi -sensory device deeply integrated in the packages.
Softwares such as SenseAware and iAccuTrace supply an
interactive interface that lets users know where their parcels are in that specific moment. The interface is
typically a website on which a user tap her tracking
number and the system lists the places in which the item had passed sinc e that moment. Moreover, they provide
real-time access to a wide range of statistics on the
customer's’ shipments.

5. SURVEY RESULTS
5.1. Survey Participants Composition
A population of 562 people was involved in the study, with 298 males, 260 females and 4 p eople that did not
declared their gender. Most of participants were aged in
the interval “25 – 35” (Figure 1).

Fig. 1. Age of respondents
Figure 2 illustrates that most interviewed people has at least the basic education and Figure 3 shows their
employm ent.

3 http://www.deliv.co/local -retailers/
4 http://fortune.com/2015/06/16/amazon -crowd -source/
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Fig. 2. Education of respondents

Fig. 3. Employment of respondents
5.2 Participants’ habits and behaviors
We asked our respondents about the frequency and total
purchases of their online shopping. We investigated
different categories of goods divided in Clothing,
Food/Beverage, Leisure, Electronics, Editorial,
Health/Cosmetics and Insurance. Frequency was measured
with 4 categories: Never, between 1 -4 times/year, between
5-10 times/year and more than 10 times/year; the total
expenditure was mea sured with 5 categories: less than
50€/year, between 50€ and 200€ /year, between 200€ and
500€/year, between 500€ and 1000€/year and more than 1000€/year. In order to check the data consistency, a
further category 0 €/year has been added. In this way, if a
respondent answered that never purchases a type of
product online and later stated that spends more than 0€
for that particular category it was possible to rule out an
inconsistent response.

Results show that the participants buy from 1 to 4 times
per yea r Clothing, Electronics and Editorial products, and
from 5 -10 times per year products pertaining to the Leisure
category . For the remaining categories, the median value is
equal to no purchases at all. To compare the results on the amount of money spent pe r category per year, we perform
the analysis only on values higher than 0
€. The median
values for Clothing, Food/Beverage, Furniture, Editorial
and Health/Cosmetics is equal to 50 -200 €/year.
Respondents seem to spend more (200 -500 €/year) for
Electronics, Leisure and Insurance products. Interquartile
range (IQR) measures the data dispersion, and it is highest for Leisure purchases. In fact, the range between quartile 3
and quartile 1 is equal to two categories: 500 -1000 €/year
and 50 -200 €/year .
Regarding the perceived issues and features of the
shopping online experience, we asked about why do and do not they purchase online. The most important factor
that drives our participants to purchase online is the cost
value. 69% has answered that they purchase online
because the products are cheaper in online stores
comparing with traditional stores, while 81% has stated
that lack of trust is the most important factor that prevents
them to shopping online.

5.2 Factors regarding home delivery services
Respondents were asked to state their opinion on the most
important factors that might characterize a good delivery
service. First of all, they stated on a Likert scale 1 -5 their
preference on some selected features, namely i) fast delivery, ii) service qu ality, iii) possibility to choose
delivery time, iv) possibility to choose delivery location,
v) price, vi) possibility to choose different kinds of
packaging, vii) eco -sustainability of the delivery and
finally viii) real -time tracking of the delivery. Fi gure 4
shows the results: the most important factors are the
service quality, the possibility to choose delivery time and location (median value = 5) and the least important are the
possibility to choose from different packaging options
(median value = 2) and eco -sustainability (median value
=3).

Fig. 4. Preferred characteristics of a home delivery service
Surprisingly, price is less valued than other features, and
answers to the next question further deepen this
controversial statement.
A control quest ion was submitted, in the form of stated
preferences between some proposed tradeoff in terms of cost-time, cost -quality and cost -safety of the delivery.
Results show that, even if price had been valued less than
the possibility of choosing the delivery tim e, the vast
majority of respondents would not prefer to pay a higher
price for this feature, but rather have a slower delivery free
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Fig. 2. Education of respondents

Fig. 3. Employment of respondents
5.2 Participants’ habits and behaviors
We asked our respondents about the frequency and total
purchases of their online shopping. We investigated
different categories of goods divided in Clothing,
Food/Beverage, Leisure, Electronics, Editorial,
Health/Cosmetics and Insurance. Frequency was measured
with 4 categories: Never, between 1 -4 times/year, between
5-10 times/year and more than 10 times/year; the total
expenditure was mea sured with 5 categories: less than
50€/year, between 50€ and 200€ /year, between 200€ and
500€/year, between 500€ and 1000€/year and more than 1000€/year. In order to check the data consistency, a
further category 0 €/year has been added. In this way, if a
respondent answered that never purchases a type of
product online and later stated that spends more than 0€
for that particular category it was possible to rule out an
inconsistent response.

Results show that the participants buy from 1 to 4 times
per yea r Clothing, Electronics and Editorial products, and
from 5 -10 times per year products pertaining to the Leisure
category . For the remaining categories, the median value is
equal to no purchases at all. To compare the results on the amount of money spent pe r category per year, we perform
the analysis only on values higher than 0
€. The median
values for Clothing, Food/Beverage, Furniture, Editorial
and Health/Cosmetics is equal to 50 -200 €/year.
Respondents seem to spend more (200 -500 €/year) for
Electronics, Leisure and Insurance products. Interquartile
range (IQR) measures the data dispersion, and it is highest for Leisure purchases. In fact, the range between quartile 3
and quartile 1 is equal to two categories: 500 -1000 €/year
and 50 -200 €/year .
Regarding the perceived issues and features of the
shopping online experience, we asked about why do and do not they purchase online. The most important factor
that drives our participants to purchase online is the cost
value. 69% has answered that they purchase online
because the products are cheaper in online stores
comparing with traditional stores, while 81% has stated
that lack of trust is the most important factor that prevents
them to shopping online.

5.2 Factors regarding home delivery services
Respondents were asked to state their opinion on the most
important factors that might characterize a good delivery
service. First of all, they stated on a Likert scale 1 -5 their
preference on some selected features, namely i) fast delivery, ii) service qu ality, iii) possibility to choose
delivery time, iv) possibility to choose delivery location,
v) price, vi) possibility to choose different kinds of
packaging, vii) eco -sustainability of the delivery and
finally viii) real -time tracking of the delivery. Fi gure 4
shows the results: the most important factors are the
service quality, the possibility to choose delivery time and location (median value = 5) and the least important are the
possibility to choose from different packaging options
(median value = 2) and eco -sustainability (median value
=3).

Fig. 4. Preferred characteristics of a home delivery service
Surprisingly, price is less valued than other features, and
answers to the next question further deepen this
controversial statement.
A control quest ion was submitted, in the form of stated
preferences between some proposed tradeoff in terms of cost-time, cost -quality and cost -safety of the delivery.
Results show that, even if price had been valued less than
the possibility of choosing the delivery tim e, the vast
majority of respondents would not prefer to pay a higher
price for this feature, but rather have a slower delivery free IFAC MIM 2016
June 28-30, 2016. Troyes, France
1374

of charge (Figure 5). We argue that this seemingly
paradoxical statement derives from the very nature of this
control questi ons, through which the respondents are
confronted with a trade -off they have never experienced,
and therefore might not be able to evaluate i.e. pay a
higher delivery cost for additional service such as the
insurance or the possibility of choice of deliver y time.

Fig. 5. Respondents’ preference over selected tradeoffs
5.3 Perceived services’ value propositions
During the analysis of the innovative delivery services, we
investigated the most important value propositions
perceived by users. On the basis of this analysis we found
out how many users had already used the following
services: tracking mail and deliveries (47%), delivery to
pickup points (33%), crowd -delivery (4%) and delivery to
automated pack station (APS) (16%). Figure 6 illustrates
this distr ibution.

Figure 6 – Delivery services used by participants
The participants who have already used at least one of the
innovative delivery services, were asked to asses the
delivery services based on their experience. In particular,
they were asked to ass ign at least one preferred value
proposition that characterize these services among the following: 1- Economically Accessible, 2 – Eco-
sustainability, 3 – Flexibility on choosing delivery
destination, 4 – Simplicity to use, 5 – Reliability and 6-
Trustful rela tion with courier.

Some of the value proposition for an innovative service have been already mentioned, namely Economically
accessible , Flexibility on choosing delivery destination and time and Eco-sustainability. Other value propositions
have to be clarified. Simplicity to use is intended as the
user-friendliness of the service, whether the use phase of
the service is well explicated in order to avoid the user
confusion; Reliability means the ability to be relied on the
accuracy, and quality of the delivery service, avoiding to
receive broken packages or goods. Finally, a service may
be able to provide a Trustful Relation with Courier by
establishing direct relation between the user and the
courier.
All participant s of the survey, gave the highest value for
Economically Accessible (100%) to all four services. The
Flexibility on choosing delivery destination and time is the
second factor ranked after the Economically Accessible,
being valuated by 80% of our responden ts for the
Automated Pack station and crowd -delivery services; 72%
for Delivery to pickup points and 68% for Tracking mail
and deliveries. Eco -sustainability instead showed the
higher value for the Crowd delivery service. Finally,
Crowd -delivery is rated a s the most eco -sustainable and
flexible service, while the delivery to pickup points is
rated as the most simple and user -friendly service. The
most reliable service is the Tracking Mail and Deliveries.
We can conclude this part of analysis assuming that economic accessibility is perceived from end -users as the
most important value proposition for an innovative delivery service.We employ that this is due to the lack of
enough knowledge regarding other val ues that an
innovative service can offer to the user.

6. CONCLUSIONS
This study explored the relationship between what the existing innovative home delivery services can offer and
the end -user’s requirements and issues regarding home
delivery service. A state of the art of four services is
presented.Logistics service providers find the Automated
pack stations as a feasible option in terms of goods
consolidation, and the reduction of issues of deliveries
when end -users are not at home at the time of the deliver y.
he delivery to pickup point, may have the same
advantages,which is a solution that may generate positive
benefits for other stakeholders involved, such as shop
owners looking for extra revenues and additional in -store
traffic. Crowd delivery services al low private citizens to
use their own car to deliver packages in exchange for a fee, and can potentially increase the level of service, since
customers may receive same day delivery at the same price
of the standard delivery. Finally, real time tracking pr ovide
real-time access to a wide range of statistics on the
customer's’ shipments, increasing safety of the package and reliability.

From the results of a survey that was submitted to the academic community of the Politecnico di Torino we were
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able to draw some insights on their habits and issues
regarding home deliveries.
When looking for a home delivery service, users stated
that they look for the possibility of choosing date and time
of delivery and the service quality. However, a
controversial behavior was detected through subsequent
questions. In fact, when confronted with three tradeoffs
(i.e. between cost -time, cost -reliability and cost -flexibility
of the delivery), respondents opted for a slower delivery
free of charge rather than a higher, more rel iable and
flexible delivery.We assume that users answered in this manner because they have never experienced a trade -off
between cost and quality of a delivery service (for example
the safety and the possibility to choose delivery date, time
and destinatio n in a more flexible way.

Concerning the awareness and perception of existing
innovative services, respondents have used mostly the
real-time tracking service and the delivery to pickup
points, and rated “economically accessible” as the most
characterizin g value proposition for all services. T he
second most rated value proposition is “Flexibility on
choosing delivery destination and time”.
Based on these preliminary results, it can be assumed that existing innovative services can leverage on the fact that
users perceive them as low cost, and this is the most important feature chosen by users regarding a home
delivery service. Moreover, these services can also fulfill
another need expressed by users on the flexibility of
destination and time of delivery. Ho wever, it seems
unclear whether users would be willing to spend more in
order to get this option or have a higher quality of service.

This study has of course some limitations, regarding mainly the composition of the sample and the statistics
used for the analysis. Further, this research is useful
towards the development of participatory methods in order
to understand the participant’s behaviors that this study might not be able to show, and furthermore to understand
user’s needs and desires regarding inno vative delivery
services.
7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT S
Maliheh Ghajargar and Teodoro Montanaro currently
exploits a research grant by TIM SWARM Joint Open
Lab. Furthermore, TIM SWARM Joint Open Lab
supported the development of this research by helping
authors in preparing and disseminating the questionnaire.
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