摘要
在生鲜电商建设发展过程中,存在着如何权衡物流成本与时效性体验性之间矛盾的问题。针对这一问题,本文以盒马鲜生为例,围绕其关键物流建设与发展实践,分析了生鲜电商的物流“成本-时效-体验”困局的形成动因、破局过程及结果,提出了生鲜电商突破物流困局的理论模型,给出了阶段式连续性“N字形”破局路径。基于此,本文进一步研究提出了生鲜电商物流内生性发展的实现机理,并给出了实现生鲜电商物流目标的长链式管理准则。研究发现,生鲜电商的物流困局破局过程主要由突破成本投入引致的物流困局构建物流合法性,突破消费非程式化引致的物流困局构建物流有效性,突破环境脆弱性引致的物流困局构建物流包容性三个先行后续的动态优化过程组成。在破局过程中,生鲜电商与消费者实现共同演化升级,逐步形成了生鲜电商消费共同体、双向深度参与执行体和生鲜电商消费智能体。得益于这一正向优化过程及其影响,生鲜电商能够实现生鲜产品与物流服务前瞻性的构建。
With the popularization of Internet applications and changes in the consumption patterns of urban residents,fresh produce e-commerce develops rapidly in China.However,the market share of fresh produce e-commerce increases slowly.Many fresh produce e-tailers have difficulty in achieving efficient and sustainable business operations.One of the critical reasons is the contradiction of cost control and logistics service level adjustment.Furthermore,the government clearly states accelerating the development of new logistics service modes and cold-chain logistics for fresh produce e-commerce.It indicates that the operations management of fresh produce e-commerce needs to be improved,and highlights that logistics is essential for the development of fresh produce e-commerce.As fresh produce is perishable and consumer demand has to be immediately satisfied,online products’delivery time and distance are limited.Hence,fresh produce e-tailers are asked to build temperature-controlled warehouses and implement the cold-chain logistics layout,which results in a high level of logistics cost.Meanwhile,the consumption habits of fresh produce consumers are gradually changing.In addition to purchasing high freshness produce from the e-tailers,consumers request for a higher level of logistics time and experience.For instance,they expect for half-an-hour instant delivery service,dynamic changes within permitted delivery places and delivery time,and traceability of the entire logistics process.Moreover,with the environment becoming highly volatile owing to emergency events and other factors,fresh produce e-tailers’efforts to solve the logistics dilemma have generated little effect and the former logistics achievements are unsustainable.And with consumption upgradation accelerating,consumer demand for fresh produce logistics increases constantly,fresh produce e-tailers are in turn thrown into the dilemma of“cost-time-experience”in logistics caused by environmental vulnerability.Therefore,fresh produce e-tailers urgently solve the dilemma between controlling cost and satisfying consumer demand for logistics time and experience to maintain operational efficiency.However,existing literature treats logistics mainly as a selective activity developed by catering to others’needs,highlighting logistics as the external factor for fresh produce e-tailers.They ignore the endogenous importance of logistics to the development of fresh produce e-tailers,resulting in insufficient practical and theoretical analysis of how fresh produce e-tailers endogenously develop logistics.Especially,it is still difficult to explain the above critical issues.On such a background,how fresh produce e-tailers can solve the dilemma of“cost-time-experience”in logistics is becoming one of the important research topics in operations management of fresh produce e-commerce that needs further exploration.Motivated by the above discussion,we explore how fresh produce e-tailers can solve the dilemma of“cost-time-experience”in logistics.Since our research aims to answer the“how”questions,we select the case study method,an inductive approach that is well suited for developing theory.According to the theoretical sampling principle,we select Freshippo,a revelatory and exemplary Chinese fresh produce e-tailer,as the case study object.And we adopt a variety of different data collection methods,such as semi-structured interviews,archival materials,and on-site observations collecting abundant data to enhance the richness and depth of our study and ensuring the diversity of data sources enables triangulation of our findings.To analyze a typical case more carefully,based on multiple data sources,we conduct a preliminary analysis and systematically comb the logistics layout and development process of Freshippo into the high-demand fresh produce market under new retail trends.In particular,we deeply unfold the causes,solving processes,and results of Freshippo’s logistics dilemma.And we identify three critical practices,i.e.,building logistics legitimacy,logistics effectiveness,and logistics inclusiveness of fresh produce e-tailers.Then,following the coding procedure,we encode the qualitative data obtained and ensure the whole process of data processing is iterative until the conceptual framework is at high validity.Finally,the above inductive analysis shows a three-tiered data structure consisting of first-order concepts,second-order themes and aggregate dimensions.Based on the case analysis and coding structure,we develop a conceptual model about how fresh produce e-tailers can solve the logistics dilemma.Fresh produce e-tailers solve the logistics dilemma in a successive process to construct key logistics characteristics until fitting with the operational goals that have been balanced in cost and elaborated consumer demand.In the first phase of the model,fresh produce e-tailers face the logistics dilemma caused by cost input.They should build logistics legitimacy and form a community with consumers generating scale effects to become the market mainstream.In the second phase of the model,facing the logistics dilemma caused by the non-formula feature of consumption,fresh produce e-tailers should build logistics effectiveness and do deep community involvement providing effective service to establish the market advantage.In the third phase of the model,troubled by the logistics dilemma caused by environmental vulnerability,fresh produce e-tailers should build logistics inclusiveness and construct a consumption intelligence system responding to demand resiliently to keep a market-leading position.During the entire process,fresh produce e-tailers should iterate logistics construction activities and evolve with consumers,which enable logistics network capabilities to upgrade to satisfy demand better.Moreover,the model captures two characteristics,the vulnerability and prospecting in the logistics dilemma-solving results.The e-tailers can build the prospecting of fresh produce and logistics service from the positive effect of solving process.Through further discussion of the conceptual model,we propose the long-chained management principles of how fresh produce e-tailers realize logistics goals,called“connecting,advocating,collaborating”.Understanding the logistics dilemma-solving process requires looking beyond a single stage and static analysis.We suggest that fresh produce e-tailers pay attention to the laws of dynamic context,which can shed light on how to solve the logistics dilemma and give new insights to their operations management from a dynamic process perspective.To this end,we propose a conceptual model about how fresh produce e-tailers can solve the logistics dilemma,endogenously develop the logistics and realize the logistics goals,in the process going from building logistics legitimacy,effectiveness,to inclusiveness.Our work contributes understanding in fresh produce e-commerce logistics related areas and enriches the theory of operations management of fresh produce e-tailers.For managerial implications,our findings might be more generalizable to other fresh produce e-tailers who are troubled in developing logistics and want to achieve operational objectives.
作者
江小玲
但斌
吴胜男
许露丹
JIANG Xiaoling;DAN Bin;WU Shengnan;XU Ludan(School of Economics and Business Administration,Chongqing University,Chongqing 400044,China;Chongqing Key Laboratory of Logistics,Chongqing University,Chongqing 400030,China)
出处
《管理工程学报》
CSSCI
CSCD
北大核心
2023年第2期222-239,共18页
Journal of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management
基金
国家自然科学基金资助项目(72171029)
国家社会科学基金重大资助项目(15ZDB169)
中央高校基本科研业务费资助项目(2022CDSKXYJG007)。
作者简介
通讯作者:但斌(1966-),男,重庆人,重庆大学经济与工商管理学院教授,博士,博士生导师,研究方向:物流与供应链管理、电子商务研究。
