‘Shop and we'll drop’ - Understanding the impacts of student e-shopping on deliveries to university halls of residence during Black Friday week

Purpose: using the University of Southampton as a case study example, this paper presents analysis of incoming parcel deliveries to four of its largest student halls of residences, accommodating around 5,000 students, and results from a questionnaire about student online purchasing behaviour and attitudes. Together, these surveys provided insight into student online shopping for the week immediately following Black Friday (27th November 2015) and the resulting impact in terms of numbers of delivery visits made to the halls.

Research approach: a week-long survey of halls of residence reception points was undertaken to determine: (i) delivery times; (ii) couriers used; (iii) consignment details (e.g. size and type of package); (iv) suppliers; (v) vehicles used; and (vi) some vehicle round details (origin, destination, previous and next drops). The surveys involved both observation and brief interviews with delivery drivers, using a common survey form to record all information. At the same time, all students living in University of Southampton halls were sent a link to an online questionnaire asking about their typical purchasing practices and their opinions about goods transport and related environmental issues, with 486 students responding.

Findings and originality: the findings illustrate the extent of courier visits, with the largest hall visited on 90 separate occasions over the week-long period, by 13 different ‘main’ couriers and by several other smaller carriers. The main couriers typically visited every day and sometimes more than once on the same day. Around 3,500 parcels were delivered to the four sites during the week with the largest numbers (around 500 each) being delivered by two carriers (Hermes and Amazon). Total parcel volume was estimated to be 137m3. Numerous deliveries were made throughout the day (9am to 5pm was surveyed), placing a burden on the reception staff who often had to drop other duties to attend to them. Originality lies in the in-depth data collection and analysis of parcel receipt in the higher education sector which constitutes a major freight generator in urban areas and has been little researched up to now.

Research impact: the main research impact lies in establishing whether and how deliveries to student halls of residence could be made more efficiently, potentially through third-party consolidation, with the aim of improving the working and living environment. An off-site consolidation service could theoretically have reduced the 275 observed courier visits during Black Friday week to around three visits per day (93% reduction) assuming that the delivery service via a local consolidation centre could be mandated by the university.

Practical impact: the study has a strong practical focus, providing the university sector with detailed information and analysis about the impact their students are having on goods transport and the associated carbon footprint, and suggests practical measures university managers can take to address the issues and make improvements in this area. Off-site consolidation also has parallel applications for any large municipal organisations where a wide range of purchases are being made by multiple buyers using many suppliers and for other forms of high density urban living (e.g. high-rise buildings)

Mcleod, Fraser

93da13ec-7f81-470f-8a01-9339e80abe98

Cherrett, Thomas

e5929951-e97c-4720-96a8-3e586f2d5f95

Bailey, Gavin

b5be6ab7-45fa-4176-a9ea-84bef64ab631

Dickinson, Janet

d645fb15-2567-4012-a442-8a7605be4860