Planning for E-commerce distribution network design

Abstract

Cities as evolving faster than ever, so as the technology. The digital era happened to revolutionize the way we live, it has also transforming we live in. One such technological aspect which is transforming the way we live and the cities we live in is the E-commerce or the Electronic commerce which is basically the trade of products & service over the Virtual network that is primarily over the Internet. In recent years, e-commerce has seen a surge of development and still continuing to grow. With more and more cities growing, urban areas need more resources and services to be resilient. This is where E-commerce leaps in to cities, to cater to the needs and requirements of people on time by providing hassle free services. The click of a mouse enable us to access the products in different parts of world and deliver it at our door step in a stipulated time frame. Does E-commerce transforming the cities? The answer seems to be yes. For example, the only way to read books was to purchase them from bookshops, similarly, the music or movies were to be purchased from the dedicated shops years ago. But, now their transformation into Digital media has led to a decline in the Brick & Mortar retail. The current study deals with this aspect Technology and evaluate how it is embedded in the city services. Though E-commerce works on a virtual network, the internet, it still does not make Geography irrelevant because a physical movement of goods is necessary to complete the transaction. The convenience associated with this service can obviously not be denied, above all with our long working hours and traffic snarls. While people aware of the problems of traffic, parking and pollution and making them to swipe to door-step delivery, what we do not ascertain enough is the manner in which various issues entangled with the delivery systems we are choosing. For a consumer Ecommerce or the online shopping can be a cost and time saver and for the Third party logistics companies, retailers and Urban Planners, it is the substantial flow of products from sellers to consumers which presents completely futuristic challenges. In the era of Big Data, vast range of information is available to analyse and provide for different problems in the cities, E-commerce is no difference as it embrace a dataset which forms an integral part of city logistics and movements. Subsequently, this study focuses on what does this modern v pattern of mobility mean for city planning and necessity for its consideration in city logistics. The study lime lights that the demand particular service has spatial patterns and influencing factor which makes the need of service relatively high in some areas and low in other areas. Few such factors influencing the Ecommerce demand is the location of IT sector, Educational institution, Lodging & Accommodation (Paying Guest and hostels), location of courier centres or the third party logistics etc. There are also demographics aspects like people working in IT sector, Student population and other job holders prone to use this technology. As these factors affect the demand there are other factors which affect the delivery of products to the customers which includes the location of Distribution centres, a regular network which entail the movement of delivery vehicles from Distribution centres to local courier centres or third party logistics hubs and also the local conditions like traffic jams, delays, preferred routes etc. The study detail out the existing relation between the above factors of influence and aims to provide strategies for designing an efficient distribution network design which better suits the city logistic conditions.