Examining the value of flexible logistics offerings

Abstract In the order fulfilment and retail industry, the provision of fast and low cost delivery services has received significant focus over the last decade. What is often neglected is other factors that contribute to a customer’s overall experience like customisation and flexibility of deliveries, especially in cases when a customer’s needs and plans change between order placement and order delivery. This paper explores the value of a flexible type of logistics offering in which the customer is able to change the order requirements (such as delivery date) after the order has been placed. In particular, we focus on the interactions between a retailer and a customer in agreeing and executing such logistics orders. We examine the benefits of this type of flexible logistics offerings because flexibility and customisation are critical factors for the success of omni-channel commerce. Such offerings are clearly connected with recent developments in digital technologies as these technologies are essential for the implementation. Our results indicate that flexible logistics offerings can be beneficial both for retailers and for customers. They also highlight the importance of receiving orders that do not fully meet the requirements of a customer.