From Occasional to Active Crowdshippers: The Significance of Couriers’ Characteristics

Abstract

German retail customers increasingly demand immediate, flexible, and sustainable deliveries in the urban area. Simultaneously, Germany is characterized by high urbanization, well-developed infrastructure, and a distinct online retail market. Consequently, crowdsourced delivery (CSD) by outsourcing the last-mile delivery to private couriers provides a promising and increasingly acknowledged delivery concept for German cities. Although existing literature has identified attributes that determine crowdshippers’ willingness to take on CSD, research studies lack the attributes’ relevance in combined consideration and their dependence on crowdshippers’ characteristics. A choice-based conjoint analysis with 193 German potential CSD crowdshippers was performed to examine the present research gap. The results reveal delivery time and remuneration as determinant attributes, whereas the degree of familiarity with the recipient and the parcel weight proved less important. In this way, this study is the first to demonstrate the diverging relevance of CSD attributes in the assignment of deliveries. Furthermore, this study proves that the attributes’ relevance is influenced by the crowdshippers’ surface-level and deep-level characteristics. By conducting a sensitivity analysis, this study is the first to determine how the increase in additional travel time affects the willingness to conduct a CSD. Moreover, the influence of the crowdshippers’ familiarity with the recipient on the overall results is low, indicating an application of the concept also used outside of family networks. For CSD platform operators, the results outline how to individualize CSD orders for active crowdshippers to increase their engagement. Policy makers will be informed about how CSD is an opportunity to make transport in the city more sustainable.