Since more and more customers switch to online purchases, the last-mile delivery problemhas created a huge burden on companies and cities. The increasing parcel delivery leads toextra operational costs in logistics and congestion in cities. IKEA, the furniture retailcompany, is going to propose a project – IKEA Urban Multi Hub to solve this problem byallowing customers to carry back orders themselves. This study collaborates with IKEA toinvestigate and formulate a robust hub that customers are willing to visit. The aim of thisresearch is to identify appropriate locations for the hub and possible future mobility that thehub should provide. Moreover, develop concepts and strategies for two cities - Shanghai cityand New York City.Research and customer interview were fundamental parts of this project. The research partincludes literature review and background that helps to preliminary clarify urban conditions,possible future mobility, and travel behavior. The customer interview part investigatescustomers’ preferences in two selected cities which helps to realize their needs and gaininspiration. The results showed that clustering with metro stations and providingautonomous mobility may create a smooth customer self-delivery experience for IKEA UrbanMulti Hub. Besides, cooperating with logistic companies can reduce the operation risk of theHub and strengthen the business model. Further concepts and strategies developed for twoselected cities are described in the thesis.

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The rapid growth of E-commerce around the world has prompted related stakeholders to place a greater emphasis on automation. Catastrophes like pandemics are boosting the public demand for quick and efficient transportation, among others. Automated vehicle technologies are associated with the last-mile delivery operations that lead to improving sustainability and Smart Cities. In this context, Autonomous Vehicles are being explored as a viable urban logistics solution.This empirical thesis conducts a feasibility study to investigate the feasibility of incorporating an Autonomous Vehicle into E-commerce operations in Stockholm, Sweden. A case study is analyzed by foodora AB, a German company that operates as a distributor of food and goods in the Swedish market. The study provides a framework that depicts the issues faced by Q- commerce, Operational Planning, and Stakeholders, respectively when introducing Autonomous Vehicles. The results of the study’s qualitative and quantitative approach show that Stockholm's infrastructure is in line with the sustainability plans and is considered ready for droid operations. According to the findings, the utilization rate that is defined as the number of orders delivered per hour can be as high as 2.4 resulting in a high degree of customer satisfaction. However, regulations, classifications, weather conditions, and internet connectivity continue to be major challenges. Autonomous Vehicles must be included in legislative consideration as a mode of transportation in the future to facilitate operations and safety measures. / Den snabba tillväxten av e-handel runtom i världen har fått närstående intressenter att lägga större vikt vid automatisering. Katastrofer som pandemier ökar allmänhetens krav på bland annat snabba och effektiva transporter. Autonoma fordon är förknippade med ”last-mile” transporter av gods som leder till förbättrad hållbarhet och smarta städer. I detta sammanhang utforskas autonoma fordon som en livskraftig citylogistik-lösning.Denna empiriska avhandling genomför en genomförbarhetsstudie för att undersöka möjligheten att integrera ett autonomt fordon i e-handelsverksamheten i Stockholm, Sverige. I synnerhet analyseras en fallstudie av foodora AB, ett tyskt företag som är verksamma som distributör av matvaror på den svenska marknaden. Studien ger ett ramverk som visar de frågor som Q-handel, operativ planering respektive intressenter står inför vid ett införande av autonoma fordon. Resultaten av studiens kvalitativa och kvantitativa tillvägagångssätt visar att Stockholms infrastruktur är i linje med hållbarhetsplanerna och till synes redo för droid leveranser. Enligt resultaten kan utnyttjandegraden, definierad som antal utförda orderleveranser inom en timme, vara så hög som 2,4, vilket resulterar i en hög grad av kundtillfredsställelse. Regler, klassificeringar, väderförhållanden och internetanslutning är dock fortfarande stora utmaningar. Autonoma fordon måste tas med i lagstiftningen som ett transportmedel i framtiden för att underlätta drift och säkerhetsåtgärder.

The use of autonomous agents is an ever-growing possibility in our day-to-day life and, in some cases, already a reality. One future use might be autonomous robots performing last mile deliveries, a service the company HUGO delivery is currently developing. The goal of developing their autonomous delivery robot HUGO is to reduce the emissions from deliveries in the last mile by replacing delivery trucks with emission free autonomous robots. However, this new way of receiving deliveries introduces new design challenges since most people have little to no prior experience of interacting with autonomous agents. The user interface is therefore of great importance in making the user understand and be able to interact comfortably with the autonomous agent, thus also a key aspect in reaching user adoption. This thesis work examines how an interface for an autonomous food delivery service, such as the HUGO delivery, could be designed by applying a Human-Centered Artificial intelligence and Activity Centered Design focus in the design process, resulting in a design proposal for a web app. The conclusion of the thesis includes identification of the six essential interactions present in an autonomous food delivery service, as well as how HCAI and which of its guidelines can be applied when designing an interface for the interaction with an autonomous delivery robot.

The understanding of what motivates a customer to pay more for a product or service has al-ways been a fundamental question in business. To the end of answering this question, revenue management is a business practice that revolves around using analytics to predict consumer behavior and willingness-to-pay. It has been a common practice within the commercial airline and hospitality industries for over 30 years, allowing adopters to reach their service capacity with increased profit margins. In this thesis, we investigated the possibility to apply revenue management to the last mile delivery industry, an industry that provides the service of delivering goods from e-commerce companies to the consumer’s front door. To achieve this objective, a revenue management framework was conceived, detailing the interaction between the customer and a dynamic pricing model. The model itself was a product of a machine learning model, intended to segment the customers and predict the willingness-to-pay of each customer segment. The performance of this model was tested through a quantitative study on synthetic buyers, subject to parameters that influence their willingness-to-pay. It was observed that the model was able to distinguish between different types of customers, yielding a pricing policy that increased profits by 7.5% in comparison to fixed price policies. It was concluded that several factors may impact the customer’s willingness-to-pay within the last mile delivery industry. Amongst these, the convenience that the service provides and the disparity between the price of the product and the price of the service were the most notable. However, the magnitude of considering these parameters was never determined. Finally, em-ploying dynamic pricing has the potential to increase the availability of the service, enabling a wider audience to afford the service. / Vad som motiverar en kund att betala mer för en tjänst eller en produkt har länge varit ett centralt koncept inom affärslivet. Intäktsoptimering är en affärspraxis som strävar efter att besvara den frågan, genom att med analytiska verktyg mäta och förutse betalningsviljan hos kunden. Intäktsoptimering har länge varit framträdande inom flyg- och hotellbranschen, där företag som anammat strategin har möjlighets att öka försäljningsvinsten. I detta examensarbete undersöker vi möjligheten att applicera intäktsoptimering på sista milen industrin, en industri som leverar köpta produkten hem till kunden. För att uppnå detta har vi tagit fram ett ramverk för informationsflöden inom intäktsoptimering som beskriver hur kunder interagerar med en dynamisk prissättningsmodell. Denna prissättningsmodell framställs genom maskininlärning med avsikt att segmentera kundbasen, för att sedan förutse betalningsviljan hos varje kundsegment. Modellens prestanda mättes genom en kvantitativ studie på syntetiska kunder som beskrivs av parametrar som påverkar betalningsviljan. Studien påvisade att modellen kunde skilja på betalningsviljan hos olika kunder och resulterade i en genomsnittlig vinstökning på 7.5% i jämförelse med statiska prissättningsmodeller. Det finns mänga olika faktorer som spelar in på kundens betalningsvilja inom sista milen industrin. Bekvämlighet och skillnader i priset på produkten som levereras och tjänsten att leverera produkten är två anmärkningsvärda faktorer. Hur stor inverkan faktorerna som beskrivs i detta examensarbete, har på betalningsviljan, förblev obesvarat. Slutligen uppmärksammades möjligheten att, med hjälp av dynamisk prissättning, öka tillgängligheten av tjänsten då flera kunder kan ha råd med en prissättning som överväger deras betalningsvilja.