With the growth of e-commerce, the “logistics intensity” of our commercial transactions in the city has increased. This phenomenon has increased with the COVID-19 pandemic. If consumers returned to stores, many became omnichannel, combining the attendance of online stores and of shops physical. E-commerce is transforming the city as much as mobility, notably that of thelogistics Who is increasingly visible in urban space 1. This is the subject of the second issue of “Welcome To Logistics City”, the Chair’s publication Logistics City 2. Discover–it in its entirety via this link. This publication covers five major themes: mobility of people and goods related to e-commerce, the need for data and new collection methods, the innovations in the professions, In Services and In vehicle technologies, THE public spaces and real estate logistics and, Finally, THE effects of the health crisis. In this article, we lift a small corner of the veil.
Figure 1. The two issues of “Welcome To Logistics City”, the publication of the Logistics City Chair.
E-commerce impacts all our mobility
Theoretically, e-commerce replaces the need for consumers to go to stores with home delivery. However, this relationship between the mobility of people and that of goods proves complex to understand. Online consumers still visit physical stores for social interactions or to review products. When online orders are not delivered to their home or workplace, consumers travel to collect their purchases. And when online orders do not meet expectations, are defective or damaged, consumers also travel to complete a returns procedure. These returns can in turn create additional merchandise movements.
E-commerce has changed consumer activity paths. These are no longer only polarized by precise and anchored places, but fragmented in space and time. It is therefore essential to take into account both the mobility of consumers and that of delivery service providers. The influence of e-commerce on consumer behavior was presented in this article.
Accelerator of parcel volumes and service innovations
E-commerce has significantly increased the number of new short-haul and last-mile trips for logistics professionals. However, mobility data linked to e-commerce deliveries is sparse and sometimes contradictory. This is paradoxical, as they are overabundant due to the simple fact that the sector is digital by nature. But they are jealously guarded by e-retailers and their logistics providers, because they constitute one of the major resources of their business model.
Figure 2. Sectoral evolution of e-commerce in France just before and just after the first confinement (Statista, 2020).
The impact on the mobility of goods also lies in its effect of accelerating transformations. The way in which our goods are transported is in fact the subject of considerable service innovations. These innovations are linked to speed, time, flexibility, information and even the price of deliveries. With the rapid development of “instant delivery” services, logistics employment has been disrupted. Dedicated platforms use a flexible workforce organized according to demand. Thus, e-commerce not only has an impact on logistics flows, professions are also modified. The Logistics City Chair conducts regular surveys on instant deliveries, the fourth edition of which is now available online.
Figure 3. The challenges of loading delivery vans during lockdown, as seen by bpost.
New vehicles, new technologies
In addition, urban distribution players are subject to various challenges which lead them to adapt their mobility solutions. At the heart of this transition, developments and innovations in vehicles, engines, and technologies. For urban delivery, electric vehicles are considered the main alternative. As a solution that has reached technological maturity, it now represents a diversified offering for light utility vehicles. Other technologies have developed but are still in their infancy, particularly for heavy goods vehicles: natural gas and hydrogen. Each raises specific issues. Battery-powered heavy goods vehicles are also in full development. Different operational factors determine the choices made by stakeholders regarding all alternative solutions to diesel and gasoline. They include vehicle autonomy, carrying capacity and easy access to refueling.
Figure 4. Classification of cycle logistics, from bicycles to cargo bikes (Nürnberg, 2019).
The use of two-wheelers such as bicycles and scooters, as well as delivery cargo bikes, is growing. Using cargo bikes for delivery requires a reconfigured spatial model, with local logistics infrastructure. These hubs reduce the final distance to be traveled (the “last mile”) as well as additional functions such as storage. The next trend could be the introduction, which will remain at a niche level, of autonomous vehicles, from drones to utility vehicles to street or sidewalk robots. Although street robots are developing the most, sidewalk robots are mainly used on tertiary or university campuses. Semi-autonomous vehicles will follow and support package delivery personnel. Aerial vehicles will eliminate the need for human drivers in some hard-to-reach territories. In 2020, the Chair published a global overview of autonomous delivery vehicles on his website.
Figure 5. Typology of autonomous delivery vehicles (Touami, 2020).
In any case, we can expect an increasing diversification of delivery vehicles to distribute e-commerce packages. They will pose concrete problems and will require new traffic engineering and new principles for planning public space in the city of tomorrow.
Public spaces and logistics real estate will change under the pressure of e-commerce
E-commerce has not only changed transport patterns but also created new logistics spaces. Relay points for example. A former distance selling solution, they have developed considerably and above all become professionalized, computerized and networked. Following the “shop-in-shop” concept, local businesses organize collection for parcel deliveries and drop-off for parcel returns. We are also seeing an increase in automatic lockers, including in France, where they were rare until two years ago. Even if it is appropriate to vary depending on the area, relay points make it possible to reduce total delivery movements.
Figure 6. The number of relay points in Île-de-France for the four major French networks (from APUR, 2020).
Alongside relay points, another alternative delivery location is developing: the businesses themselves. They play the role of relay points in the professional parcel delivery chain, in the form of click-and-collect. In the food retail sector, this service has developed under the name (in France only) of “drive”. Or, they become places for order preparation and collection by the consumer. In shopping centers, the increase in delivery flows to stores even raises questions about the spatial arrangement of stores, circulation spaces and the overall organization of merchandise flows.
But it’s not just the new developments that are updating the face of the city’s commercial landscape. The decline of traditional commerce is now also affecting large cities (the pandemic and e-commerce have certainly been accelerators of this trend already at work before 2020, particularly in the United States) and is generating commercial vacancies. . Increasingly, new high-speed commerce start-ups are taking it on. These stores, now closed to visitors, are called “dark stores” when they sell groceries or “dark kitchens” when they prepare meals. They make instant deliveries possible. Stores aren't the only ones. All underused and unused urban spaces are targeted (underground car parks, abandoned urban spaces). The added value for the city in terms of efficient use of space and urban attractiveness remains to be studied.
The return of urban warehouses
E-commerce is generating the need for new large logistics real estate areas around cities. But we also see warehouses (re)appearing in denser areas. These warehouses, from micro-hub to “logistics hotel”, represent a new type of real estate. They allow goods to be stored as close as possible to consumers waiting for their orders (the number of references is of course reduced compared to a large fulfillment center peri-urban) or to process parcels and reorganize the transport chain in its urban segment (cross-docking allowing the use of vehicles better suited to the city, as well as the management of returns). This meets the expectations of consumers who appreciate fast deliveries, without always realizing their impact on the additional logistics kilometers generated in the city.
Figure 7. Visual created based on the Inverted Building designed by Sogaris.
These new urban logistics plans for e-commerce require a reorganization of public space in different neighborhoods, particularly residential ones. A new urban planning is required, in which the expertise and experiences of different fields, often still separate, come together. The objective: urban logistics thought upstream in the way of planning, designing and developing cities.
Discover the publication in its entirety via this link.
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