A Systematic Review and Morphological Analysis of the Literature on Last Mile Delivery Using Drones: Quo Vadis?

Abstract

With the evolution of technology, drones hold immense potential to address the last mile delivery challenges in e-commerce. However, a holistic and systematic literature review of all the studies and an understanding of the interrelationships between the different dimensions of drone-based last mile delivery, such as customer expectations, stakeholders and desired outcomes, is lacking in the literature. To address this gap, we conducted a systematic literature review and analysed the literature on drone-based last mile delivery using a morphological analysis approach to develop a conceptual framework with seven dimensions and 37 variants. The dimensions identified are customer expectations, distribution mode, inventory planning, returns handling, geographical scope, stakeholders and desired outcomes. The Variance Intersection Matrix revealed 176 research gaps that future researchers can explore. This study also helps managers and policymakers visualize the different dimensions of drone-based last mile delivery and their interrelationships, which will help accelerate the adoption of drones in delivery fleets.