The future of last-mile infrastructure

The digitalisation of the retail industry has revolutionised traditional commerce, which has been further realised and accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Consumers are increasingly exchanging in-store experiences for online shopping. However, the expectation of instant gratification remains – consumers demand cheap and fast delivery options. As a consequence, the distribution of goods in urban areas has emerged as a key energy consumer and one of the main sources of air pollution and noise.

Last-mile delivery, commonly defined as the ‘last stretch of a business-to-consumer parcel delivery service', helps to mitigate these effects, as ‘e-tailers' implement logistical solutions by securing warehouse and distribution space to house their inventory as close as possible to their customer base.