Crowdsourced delivery: A review of platforms and academic literature. (January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Alnaggar, Aliaa; Gzara, Fatma; Bookbinder, James H.
• Is Part Of: Omega. Volume 98(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-01
• Subjects: Crowdsourcing -- Last-mile delivery -- Same-day delivery -- Transportation -- Optimization -- Survey; Management -- Periodicals; 658.4005
• DOI: 10.1016/j.omega.2019.102139
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-0483

Abstract

Highlights: Analyze the current industry status of crowdsourced delivery. Provide a classification of platforms. Review the operations research (OR) literature addressing crowdsourced delivery. Compare crowdsourced delivery systems to OR problems in the literature. Shed light on some promising research directions. Abstract: Crowdsourced delivery systems have created many new industry last-mile delivery solutions and have received some attention in the academic literature. In this review paper, we analyze the current industry status of this emergent concept and provide a classification of available platforms based on their matching mechanisms, target markets and compensation schemes. We review the operations research (OR) literature explicitly addressing this topic and assess the realism of the assumptions, and applicability to real-world applications. We also compare the management decisions within crowdsourced delivery systems to well-studied OR problems in the literature, and pinpoint new challenges that arise in the context of crowdsourced delivery. The purpose of this paper is to identify key elements of such systems that distinguish them from other transportation systems, to ultimately shed light on some promising research directions.