E-commerce logistics in supply chain management

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the state-of-the-art E-commerce logistics in supply chain management by investigating worldwide implementations and corresponding models together with supporting techniques via furniture industry. Design/methodology/approach Typical E-commerce logistics companies from North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific are comprehensively investigated so as to get the lessons and insights from these practices. Findings Future technologies like Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics, and Cloud Computing would be possibly adopted to enhance the E-commerce logistics in terms of system level, operational level, and decision-making level that may be real time and intelligent in the next decade. Research limitations/implications This paper takes the furniture industry for example to illustrate the E-commerce logistics and supply chain management (LSCM). Other industries like electronic appliance industry are not considered. Practical implications Opportunities and future perspectives are summarized from practical implementations so that interested parties like E-commerce and logistics companies are able to get some guidance when they are contemplating the business. Social implications E-commerce is booming with the development of new business models and will be continuously boosted in the near future. With large number of enterprises carrying out E-commerce, logistics has been largely influenced. Originality/value Insights and lessons from this paper are significant for academia and practitioners for considering E-commerce LSCM.