Human last mile reverse logistics. On how to involve neighbourhoods while reducing e-commerce environmental impact.
Returned products are rarely put back into the initial market they originated from. E-commerce led to increased production of goods and quick loss of value of unused products by allowing products to be returned for a low or non-existent fee. Rarely refurbished, low-value products tend to be sent to secondary markets, or recycled without having had a use life, as it is too costly for producers to evaluate their status and fulfill the procedures required to put them back into their initial market. Although regulation is quickly being implemented to fight this challenge, parcel returns are being intensified as it consists a key competitive advantage in the growth-oriented economy we are in.
As an academic research project, Ford defined the assignment to redesign the last-mile delivery of parcels in urban areas so that its social component was enhanced.
Through the use of the Vision In Product Design methodology, thorough research of the current and future state was done. A solution fitting the 15-minute city concept was done, allowing both social solutions to the last mile delivery of parcels as a hub for a preloved option to purchase a parcel returned within your same neighborhood at a discounted price.
Reflection
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This project was part of an academic assignment. Its further execution and development is under consideration and will be explored. Please feel free to reach our directly if you would like to be involved in this initiative.
Results
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The 15-minute city is an urban planning concept in which most daily necessities and services, such as work, shopping, education, healthcare, and leisure can be easily reached by a 15-minute walk, bike ride, or public transit ride from any point in the city. It aims to make cities more walkable and rewilded and always implies multifunctional and public spaces for communities to thrive.
I explore which role could last-mile delivery take within such a scenario, leading to a proposal actively involving the inhabitants of the neighborhood.
A liveable drop point.
Current last-mile delivery solutions such as Amazon lockers privilege efficiency over belonging or connections. Similarly to dropping a parcel in the corner shop, this proposal allows each municipality to offer people at risk of social disconnection or seeking some income to offer the role of parcel receiver. This ex-novation aims simply to reconnect social work with the currently globalized last-mile delivery effort.
Return Hub
Returned low-value products tend to be sent to secondary markets, or recycled without having had a use life. In 2020, people in the Netherlands returned nearly 23 million packages, which equals 7 percent of all online orders. Thankfully, regulations are aiming to reduce this non-sense value loss by making return fees or refurbishment of products mandatory, but due to the scale of this challenge, the waste is still far from gone.
This proposal explores the creation of a hub where returned parcels would receive a second opportunity to be resold within the neighborhood at a reduced price based on the return cost. For a timeframe dependent on the available space, parcels are available for repurchase, after which the parcel will return to the supplier facility as currently done. Not only does this proposal allow to reduce the return logistic flows through decentralized hubs, but it also aims to engage in a local exchange of goods.
Methodology
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The Vision in Product Design (VIP) methodology was used for this project. ‘ViP is a context-driven and interaction-centered approach that offers you a way to come up with products that give people meaning or value´.
