Last-mile delivery

Last-mile delivery is the final leg of a shipment — from the last depot or hub to the customer's door or a collection point. Research calls it the least efficient part of the supply chain, with last-mile costs cited at between 13% and 75% of total logistics cost, because each stop carries only a few items.

What the last mile is

Researchers at the University of Antwerp define the last mile as the final leg of a business-to-consumer delivery, in which the consignment reaches the recipient at home or at a collection point. The same work calls it the least efficient part of the supply chain, because vans run part-empty between many small drops, and cites studies putting last-mile costs at anywhere from 13% to 75% of total logistics cost.

Why it is growing

• The World Economic Forum's 2020 study expected demand for last-mile delivery to grow 78% globally by 2030.
• Without intervention, it projected 36% more delivery vehicles in the top 100 cities, 32% more emissions from delivery traffic, and over 21% more congestion.
• Its combined interventions, it estimated, could cut emissions and congestion by 30% each and delivery costs by 25% by 2030.

Worked example: what a failed delivery costs

Suppose a van route costs USD 480 a day and makes 120 delivery attempts. If every attempt succeeds, each delivery costs USD 4.00. If 10% fail — nobody home — the same cost is spread over fewer deliveries, and the failures come back tomorrow.

The mistake people make

Sending deliveries with no agreed window. As the Antwerp study puts it, without a delivery window the failure rate due to the customer not being at home will inevitably be high — and every failure is a second trip.