The last mile and returns

The last mile is the final leg from a local depot to the customer's door. It's short, but often the most expensive part of a parcel's whole journey: a ship carries thousands of containers at once, while a delivery van stops at one address after another, with parking, stairs and nobody home.

The main lever is density: more drops on the same route in the same time. Carriers plan routes with software that groups nearby addresses, offer delivery windows, and push for neighbour, safe-place or locker deliveries so a stop doesn't fail. A failed delivery costs nearly as much as a successful one and then has to be done again.

Other ways to cut the cost: parcel lockers and pickup points (customers do the last few hundred metres themselves), micro-fulfilment centres close to customers, cargo bikes in city centres, and click and collect from a shop. Speed costs money here: same-day delivery means less time to fill a van, so fewer drops per route.

Returns are logistics in reverse, often called reverse logistics. Online clothing can see a large share of orders come back. Each return has to be collected, checked, and then sent to the best next place: back on sale, refurbished and sold as used, returned to the supplier, sold off cheaply, recycled or, as a last resort, thrown away.

Returns cost a lot, so shops try to prevent them: better size guides and photos, honest descriptions, checking for damage before shipping. Some now let customers keep a cheap item rather than send it back, because the return would cost more than the item is worth.