The Last Mile Delivery Problem: A Kenyan Retail Perspective

Abstract

The article aims to determine the last mile delivery challenges faced by online retailers in Kenya. This is based on the online retailing sub-sector’s contribution to the country’s economy. Despite its significant contribution to the country’s economy, little is known about the challenges facing online retailers during last mile delivery. In other countries such as China and South Africa, that are doing better in online retailing, extensive research has been done to determine unique challenges facing their online retailers during last mile delivery. It is important for the online retailers and relevant government agencies in Kenya to understand the last mile delivery factors that hinder the growth e-commerce. A qualitative research design using face-to-face interviews was used to collect data from seven online retail managers in Nairobi. The findings revealed there are a variety of last mile delivery challenges facing online retailers. These include the lack of a good national addressing system, traffic concerns, security concerns, high cost of delivery, postal service unreliability, and unconducive county government by-laws. The lack of a good national addressing system was found to be the most common last mile delivery challenge facing online retailers in Nairobi. It is recommended that retailers request their customers to share location details via online map applications such as Google Maps to overcome this challenge. The use of other delivery options, such as customer pick-up points of convenience can also be considered.