A Bibliometric Analysis of Last-Mile Delivery and Quick Commerce: Research Trends and Themes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71238/jcvoe.v1i01.199Keywords:
Bibliometric Analysis; City Logistics; E-Commerce; Last-Mile Delivery; Quick CommerceAbstract
The growth of e-commerce and the arrival of quick commerce have placed last-mile delivery at the centre of urban logistics research. This study maps the thematic structure, research trends, and collaboration patterns of the field through a bibliometric analysis. A total of 428 documents indexed in Scopus from 2010 to 2026 were analysed with VOSviewer using keyword co-occurrence, co-authorship (author, institution, and country), and citation analysis. The results show that city logistics is the dominant concept and connects six thematic clusters covering sustainable e-commerce logistics, vehicle routing and optimization, last-mile decision making, freight transportation and cargo bikes, and last-mile strategies within urban freight systems. The overlay map indicates a shift from urban consolidation, trucks, and conventional distribution toward last-mile delivery, fleet operations, customer satisfaction, adaptive large neighborhood search, and machine learning in 2023 and 2024. Italy is the most productive and best-connected country, while Comi and Gatta lead the two largest co-authorship groups. The most cited works deal with operational research concepts, parcel lockers, autonomous robots, and drones. Quick commerce is still represented mainly through related terms such as instant, on-demand, e-grocery, and food delivery, which points to a clear direction for future studies.
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