La última milla sostenible en el comercio electrónico: Identificación de los temas de investigación tratados en la literatura

Abstract

The interest in last mile, considered the most important factor in e-commerce, has grown as online sales have increased. This interest has been reflected in the literature. However, there is not an overview of this whole research field. The purpose of this article is to provide a complete view of the field of sustainable last mile in e-commerce, identifying the topics analyzed by the literature and the most important gaps. To achieve this, a literature review was carried out in which 140 articles were identified. Afterwards, these papers were classified according to their topic and research method, providing a complete vision of the field of analysis. As a result, 11 topics were identified, the most studied being the “Quantification of the effect on sustainability of the last mile in e-commerce”. In addition, four future lines for research were established. These findings will guide the design and development of future studies on sustainable last mile in e-commerce, ensuring that all topics in this field of research are developed in a balanced way. Furthermore, this study will also help the transfer of academic research to the business world by making it easier for e-retailers to identify the research that is most relevant to them.

El interés sobre la última milla, considerada el factor más importante en el comercio electrónico, ha aumentado conforme han crecido las ventas online. Sin embargo, todavía no existe una visión de conjunto de este campo de investigación. El objetivo de este artículo es ofrecer una visión completa de los temas tratados en la literatura sobre última milla sostenible. Para ello, se realizó una revisión de la literatura en la que los 140 artículos identificados fueron clasificados en función de su temática y su método de investigación. Como resultado, se identificaron 11 temas y se establecieron cuatro futuras líneas de investigación.