A critical assessment of co-creating self-collection services in last-mile logistics

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-09-2020-0359
• Published date: 22 March 2021
• Date: 22 March 2021
• Pages: 846-871
• Subject Matter: Management science & operations,Logistics
• Author: Xueqin Wang,Yiik Diew Wong,Kevin X. Li,Kum Fai Yuen

A critical assessment of

co-creating self-collection services

in last-mile logistics

Xueqin Wang

Department of International Logistics, Chung-Ang University,

Seoul, Republic of Korea

Yiik Diew Wong

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University,

Singapore, Singapore

Kevin X. Li

Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan, China, and

Kum Fai Yuen

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University,

Singapore, Singapore

Abstract

Purpose –E-commerce last-mile logistics is undergoing dramatic changes. By inviting consumers to

participate in self-collection, they collectively form a mass crowd of resources that can be integrated into last-

mile logistics. However, consumers’participation may lead to a spectrum of value outcomes from value co-

creation to co-destruction. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to critically examine the value formation

process focussing on micro-level practices and resource outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach –Anchored on practice theory and resource conservation theory, content

analysis is adopted to analyse 546 practice-based experiences extracted from a leading social media platform.

Findings –The analysis reveals five sequential practices of self-collection: purchasing, delivering, notifying,

receiving and confirming. Furthermore, the co-created practices are characterised by gains in material, esteem,

social and energy resources of the interacting actors. Meanwhile, the co-destructed practices cause a chain of

resource losses, where the interacting actors suffer primary losses which subsequently triggers consumers’

coping behaviours and further destroys resources for all.

Research limitations/implications –Focussing on constituent service practices, this study zooms into the

value formation process. The authors contribute to logistics literature with a service-dominant logic by

stressing end-consumers’involvement in the creation and consumption of last-mile logistics.

Originality/value–This study conceptualises the sources and consequences of the nuanced service practices

(value formation or destruction) of self-collection.A unified framework is thus proposed, which guides logistics

service providers to channel consumers towards more constructive participation in last-mile logistics.

Keywords Self-collection service, Last-mile e-commerce logistics, Value co-creation and co-destruction,

Service-dominant logic, Practice theory, Resource conservation theory

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

With the proliferation of e-commerce worldwide, the derived service in e-commerce last-mile

logisticsis undergoing dramaticchanges. Logisticsservice providers (LSPs)are departing from

offering conventional home deliveries and are instead actively inviting consumers to

participate in last-mile deliveries via self-collection from automatic parcel lockers (PLs)

(Vakulenko etal., 2018;Wang et al.,2018)ormannedparcelstations(PSs)(Xiao et al., 2018).In

doing so, LSPs benefit frommore efficient operations because of moreconsolidated deliveries

and fewerfailed attempts, and consumersare empowered to collecte-commerce parcels at their

IJLM

32,3

846

Funding: The research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72031005).

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/0957-4093.htm

Received 5 September 2020

Revised 11 January 2021

Accepted 19 February 2021

The International Journal of

Logistics Management

Vol. 32 No. 3, 2021

pp. 846-871

© Emerald Publishing Limited

0957-4093

DOI 10.1108/IJLM-09-2020-0359

preferred scheduleand location (Rai et al.,2017;Janjevic et al.,2019;Wang et al.,2019c). To a

certain extent,this change in last-mile logisticssignals a subtle shift of consumers’role,from a

pure servicerecipient who is outside the sphere of servicecreation to an active presencewithin

the sphere who is responsible for both the creation and consumption of service values.

Although the consumers may not be conscious aboutsuch a change, they collectively form a

mass crowd of resources that can be integrated into last-milelogistics (Mladenow et al., 2016),

leading to co-creation of efficient (thus benefiting LSPs) and personalised (thus benefitting

consumers) delivery services (Carbone etal., 2017;Liu et al., 2019).

However, the changing role of consumers in last-mile logistics creates not only excitement

but also confusion or even confrontation. Complexities arise when a chain of actors is

involved in the co-creation process: e-retailers, LSPs, contracted delivery personnel, PS

operators and the consumers, each with his/her own agenda and different value perceptions

(Lafkihi et al., 2019). Often, consumers’expectations on parcel delivery and delivery

personnel’s request of parcel collection are not communicated consistently along the chain.

As a result, although some consumers enjoy the flexibility in time and location of self-

collection, others may be confused by the alternative options offered to them for the collection

and hence raising questions such as “what should I do to collect my parcel?”or simply “where

is my parcel?”. Extreme situations may arise when the parcel is emplaced in the collection

point other than that specified by the consumer without informing the consumer about the

change. In fact, the Chinese government has put up a series of regulations that specifically

ban such unauthorised parcel handling practices (http://m.xinhuanet.com/ah/2018-05/09/c_

1122804449.htm). However, the enforcement has been a problem till today as the self-

collection service is increasingly considered a default model of delivery by e-retailers and

logistics operators, and gradually forced upon to consumers. Under such situations,

consumer’s confusion may turn into serious discontent after learning about the negligent

behaviour, and the consumer may confront the LSPs with “why is my parcel not delivered

according to my request?”. Consequently, consumers may be unable or unwilling to collect

the parcel, resulting in failed deliveries and consumer dissatisfaction. The empowered

consumers appear to be vested with both value-creating and value-destructing potential,

leading to a wide spectrum of value outcomes given the diverse possibilities of service

interactions (Wang et al., 2019a). Therefore, the current study critically assesses the value

formation process in self-collection with consumers’participation.

This study adopts the service-dominant (SD) logic as a theoretical premise with a special

emphasis on the contingent value formation mechanisms (Wang et al., 2019a). SD logic holds

that the service value is collaboratively formed by the interacting actors through resource

integration (Vargo and Lusch, 2004;Galvagno et al., 2014). A digital ecosystem is created

whereby service actors contribute their resources to perform technology-mediated logistics

activities (Barykin et al., 2020). Thus, we conceptualise the consumers’participation in last-

mile logistics as a resource integration process. Focussing on the micro-level of service

practices and resource outcomes, this study aims to (1) identify the principal service practices

and the associated congruence and incongruence in each practice serving as the sources of the

value outcomes and (2) categorise the resultant resources gains and losses relating to the

consequences of consumers’participation. In essence, we provide answers to the questions as

to why value formation/destruction occurs in last-mile self-collection services and its

associated resource changes.

The remainder of this study is structured as follows. Section 2 reviews consumers’role in

self-collection service and presents the theoretical insights of value co-creation and

co-destruction in last-mile logistics. Section 3 elaborates on the research method of content

analysis. Section 4 discusses the detailed research findings. In particular, five principal

service practices are identified, and sources and consequences of value co-creation or

co-destruction associated with each practice are revealed. Section 5 provides a unified

Self-collection

services in

last-mile

logistics

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