500 / 2024-04-25 17:01:48

What Moves The Customers? Adoption of Self-Service Technology in the Last Mile

Self-service technology,last-mile delivery,smart-city operations,spillover effect

Self-service parcel locker technology has been introduced as a solution to last-mile delivery challenges but faces low adoption rates, with many customers preferring traditional home delivery. This study utilizes a unique dataset from the Locker Alliance Network (LAN) in Singapore, with surveying 2,210 participants to explore strategies that could enhance locker adoption. We empirically examine two effects related to this issue: the exposure effect, which observes changes in locker usage following an initial trial, and the popularity effect, which analyzes how usage is influenced by the popularity of nearby parcel lockers. We quantify the exposure effect using a Heckman selection model and identify the popularity effect through an instrumental variable approach. Our findings demonstrate that the exposure effect significantly boosts adoption among new users, suggesting that operators should continuously promote locker usage. Additionally, our results also reveal that the popularity of nearby lockers can increase usage among existing users, underscoring the importance of strategic locker deployment. By conducting simulations, we solidify these implications and reveal that even a single promotional event for new users can notably boost parcel locker usage, leading to the long-term, sustainable expansion of the locker system.