The Last-Mile Delivery Process from a Life Cycle Perspective

More consumers shop online through their favorite channels, and e-commerce sales are growing rapidly. Most Italian digital shoppers make, on average, at least one online purchase per month. Companies are called to face new challenges, one of which is the greater complexity of logistics activities, considering delivery options to be one of the most important aspects of online shopping. Pick up points, drop off mode, parcel lockers, and door-to-door delivery mode will become the most important last-mile delivery solutions to serve the final customers. However, this phenomenon also generates environmental burdens related to emissions, traffic congestion, and air quality. The objective of this study is to explore what solutions can reduce the impacts associated with the last-mile delivery process from a life cycle perspective. This study presents a review based on 20 articles. A descriptive analysis is carried out to evaluate the main features of the articles; then, the articles are classified considering the solutions analyzed. This study highlights that the last-mile process is still underexplored from a life cycle perspective and presents the factors that can help direct towards its decarbonization.