E-commerce and last mile delivery technologies in the European countries

Abstract

Abstract Society, companies and institutions are involved in a digital transformation that can be pervaded in various industries or sectors, and this also applies to communication, sales and distribution channels. The possibilities of e-commerce have also increased and world trade has been further developed. In 2020, more than two billion people bought goods or services over the Internet. Customer satisfaction depends on the solution of the last mile process, the method of picking up shipments as well as the time and place of picking up the shipment. The most common forms of off-premises delivery are automated parcel locker or machine (APM) and pick-up and drop-off delivery (PUDO). The aim of the paper is to analyse the level of the PUDO and APM network in European countries and in the V4 countries with regard to the size of the country and the population. For this purpose, it was necessary to focus on determining the population per 1 PUDO and the number of inhabitants per 1 APM in individual European countries and subsequently in the V4 countries. The obtained data were processed and recalculated in Excel. The results showed that within European countries the best values were achieved by Finland with 526 inhabitants per 1 PUDO and Spain with 188 inhabitants per 1 APM. Regarding the V4 countries, the Czech Republic achieved the best value in the case of inhabitants on PUDO with 729 inhabitants per 1 PUDO and in the case of APM Poland with 3,184 inhabitants per 1 APM.