Search Results (9)

This study focuses on developing a heuristic for Decision Support Systems (DSS) in e-commerce logistics education, specifically addressing the Two-Echelon Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (2E-CVRP). The 2E-CVRP involves using Urban Transshipment Points (UTPs) to optimize deliveries. To tackle the complexity of the 2E-CVRP, DSS can employ fast and effective techniques for visual problem-solving. Therefore, the objective of this work is to develop a local search heuristic to solve the 2E-CVRP quickly and efficiently for implementation in DSS. The efficiency of the heuristic is assessed through benchmarks from the literature and applied to real-world problems from a Brazilian e-commerce retailer, contributing to advancements in the 2E-CVRP approach and promoting operational efficiency in e-commerce logistics education. The heuristic yielded promising results, solving problems almost instantly, for instances in the literature on average in 1.06 s, with average gaps of 6.3% in relation to the best-known solutions and, for real problems with hundreds of customers, in 1.4 s, with gaps of 8.3%, demonstrating its effectiveness in achieving the study’s objectives. Full article

Background: E-commerce’s convenience, speed, and ability to overcome geographical barriers have made it increasingly popular across industries. This study analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on customer experience and satisfaction in supermarket retail e-commerce in the Brazilian market. The objective was to understand how the pandemic influenced satisfaction in this sector. Methods: A survey research method was employed, utilizing the Critical Incident Technique to identify key quality dimensions important to customers. A total of 133 valid responses underwent exploratory factor analysis. Results: Data analysis identified three dimensions significantly affecting overall customer satisfaction. “Presentation of Products in the Application (app)” had the highest correlation, while “Delivery Logistics” had the lowest. However, when considering the COVID-19 factor, “Delivery Logistics” showed the highest correlation. This indicates that the dimension most affected by the pandemic has the least impact on overall satisfaction in supermarket e-commerce. Conclusions: The study emphasizes the significance of understanding customer satisfaction in supermarket e-commerce, not just during the COVID-19 pandemic but also its post-pandemic consequences. Retailers should prioritize improving product presentation in apps, as it greatly influences overall satisfaction. Addressing the pandemic’s impact on delivery logistics is also crucial to ensure competitiveness in the e-commerce market. Full article

The crisis that affected Brazil as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic impacted several businesses. However, the distribution of products sold by e-commerce is one business that had increased its demand on a large scale. The Southeastern Region of Brazil has a wide territorial extension, a high number of inhabitants, and difficulties with transport logistics. Thus, this work presents a solution for choosing a location for the installation of an e-commerce warehouse, considering three possible locations, in two different Brazilian states: Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Our main objective is to identify policies that allow a balance in the trade-off between risks and service levels. Specifically, we seek to decrease logistics costs and ensure improvements in services. The choice of a location for a warehouse is a decision problem that can be solved with multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM). Three methods of MCDM have been applied: Fuzzy Decision Approach (FDA), Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT), and Multi-Attribute Value Theory (MAVT). The reasons for the application of the MAUT and MAVT methods originate from their easy understanding and use, while the concepts of FDA address the consideration of uncertainty. To maintain the simplicity of MCDM application, the FDA model is symmetric, even with symmetrical and asymmetrical fuzzy sets. Important criteria were the distance from capital cities, distance to ports, distance to airports, distance to highways, and the costs of land. Three different locations were considered for the installation of the warehouse. All three methods, FDA, MAUT, and MAVT, resulted in Location 1 as the best location for the installation of the warehouse for the distribution of e-commerce products. A discussion on conceptual qualitative divergences and the small quantitative divergence of results is also included in the conclusions. Full article

Integrating freight and public transport infrastructure can lead to providing economic feasibility to public transportation systems and reducing externalities related to urban freight transport. This can be achieved by sharing the infrastructure of freight and public transportation systems. Additionally, failed deliveries represent a major challenge in e-commerce. Lockers can address this problem and promote sustainable urban freight transport. This paper identified a locker network in a public transportation infrastructure. The framework considered scenarios built under the 15-min city concept, and the analysis is based on a case study in Jaraguá do Sul (Brazil, a mid-sized Brazilian city, and its conurbated area. The networks were found by solving a p-median problem, which minimised the maximum distance between the lockers and the population. The findings showed that, in the best scenario with 16 lockers, the population could reach the lockers within a 10-min cycling ride. Additionally, the results showed that the public transportation network provides a locker network to integrate freight and public transportation. The locker network is accessible to public transportation and micromobility users. With this solution, residents play an active role in last-mile deliveries. In addition, lockers can work as mini hubs for crowdshipping services. In addition to reducing urban delivery trips, this solution can encourage public transportation usage, which contributes to more sustainable cities. Full article

Timber construction is a contemporary solution where sales are performed through in-store trade. Timber house e-commerce may stimulate global markets, and in times of intense remote routines, it is useful to improve the performance of the wood and construction sectors. Timber housing producers and dealers are the research object under analysis to study the electronic market of this Brazilian sector on Instagram^®. With just over four hundred companies, nearly 80% of this sector already utilizes this virtual social network. We validated the outcomes through a significant sampling of all 315 companies with corporate profiles to identify their competences, goals, and failures. The profiles prioritize the elucidation of products and basic features, not yet being ready for the virtual sales of timber houses. The study makes it clear that our results typify a sector marked by a developing electronic market. Inserting a description of product prices and detailed specifications may change this status. From failures and competences, a classification for social profiles was proposed to measure the progress and virtual participation of each individual. Full article

Nowadays, postal services and third-party logistics services (3PL) have been pressured by the increasing demand for delivery services. Therefore, they need to improve their last-mile delivery strategies to meet customers’ expectations. This paper aims to investigate how logistics service expectations affect the delivery process in urban areas using a multiple-criteria decision support system based on the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP). We developed a decision-making model employing six criteria and five delivery methods indicated in the literature and collected information from 27 experts working in academia and local and multinational third-party logistics providers in Brazil to validate this model. The results indicate that cost (21.4%) and tracking and tracing (19.3%) are the most important two criteria in the decision model, and the best delivery methods are smart lockers (21.8%) followed by small trucks (21.3%). Our results suggest that service expectations regarding last-mile delivery are aligned with extensive use of road transport and the increase in e-commerce sales can raise greenhouse gas emissions and compromise the environment in urban areas. Full article

E-consumer behaviour plays a vital role in e-commerce worldwide. This paper addresses the importance of delivery time, delivery fee, and delivery reception, and the influence of delivery fee and reception on e-consumers’ behaviour by analysing the following hypotheses: delivery attributes affect e-shopping behaviour, and delivery attributes affect e-consumers’ behaviour according to their sociodemographic characteristics. Data were obtained from a web-based survey with Brazilian e-consumers, and logistic regression and artificial neural network models were estimated to assess consumer behaviour. We found that delivery fee willingness to pay and privacy are affected by delivery times according to gender. Delivery fees affect the e-consumer according to gender, the habit of purchasing books and leisure products, privacy, promotions, and pricing, and influence the e-shopping decision by age, purchase of electronic products, and promotions. Delivery reception is relevant according to age, income, gender, frequency of e-shopping, privacy, and pricing. Furthermore, delivery fees influence the e-shopping decision by age, purchase of electronic products, and promotions. Finally, delivery fee, willingness-to-pay, and privacy are characteristics influenced by reception on the e-shopping decision. Further analyses would include the dynamic aspects of e-consumer behaviour and the impacts of COVID-19 in the e-consumption patterns and its effects on e-commerce deliveries. Full article

This paper reports the focus group results administered with top executives of the Brazilian retailers regarding their omnichannel strategies. This study aimed at analyzing the process of implementing omnichannel strategies and identifying contributions omnichannel has to sustainability. Using qualitative exploratory and a case study design to assess three large Brazilian retailers, we collected information concerning omnichannel implementation associated with processes, technologies, and organizational structure. This study was conducted with top executives in Brazil. Results suggest that the most viable solution, given a company’s investment capacity, is implementing an e-commerce platform that results in greater integration, profitability, and sustainability of the whole chain. A discussion on the benefits and outcomes related to the sustainable performance of such companies is also presented. This study answers calls for more research on the retail sector in Latin American countries. Full article

This work aimed to develop business intelligence towards fraud detection using buyer-placed information combined with the sound analysis from a confirmation purchase call. We used a dataset of 789 orders in 2018, provided by different e-commerce websites and calls fulfilled from every Brazilian state. Nine acoustic index features were used, through entropy in sound and vibration, summarizing the audio plus 6 extra features related, added by 12 customer features to compose two different classifiers (Logistic Regression and Random Forest). The acoustic indexes were, in fact, capable of providing better accuracy of the models, showing a probability associated with the voice characteristics, helping decision-making in credit card fraud. Full article