Sustainability in the last mile online food delivery: an important contribution using the case study of “Glovo”

Abstract

The online food delivery industry is one of the most promising industries worldwide, characterized by an increasing annual growth rate. In this context, last mile online food delivery platforms have particularly emerged and gained importance. Since last mile represents the most air polluting stage of the entire supply chain, it is worth to put particular attention on this last step. The aim of this Master thesis is to analyse the broader impacts of online food delivery considering economic, social and environmental issues, the so called “Triple Bottom Line”. Considering this as a new research field, new insights are gained through a qualitative case study research design based on “Glovo”, a company which has its main business, namely the last mile online food delivery, in the analysed sector. The results give interesting insights about the main challenges such companies have to deal with and potential sustainable business practices.