Trends and issues
The growth of online shopping and home delivery services is reshaping freight and logistics patterns. We are interested in how these shifts may influence road usage, particularly kerbside areas in mixed-use centres where there are concentrations of activity. This has direct implications for both transport and land use planning to effectively manage growing competition at the street edge.1
Unpacking online ordering and home deliveries 2
- 43% of survey participants were doing more online ordering of goods than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 59% received at least one home delivery per week that was ordered online:
- 39% received 1-2 home deliveries per week
- 13% received 3-5 home deliveries per week
- 5% received between 6-10 home deliveries per week
- 2% received more than 20 home deliveries per week.
Increased online shopping is raising questions about how many in-person trips are being replaced by delivery trips, including those made by light commercial vehicles. Understanding these shifts is important for planning a transport system that reflects why, when and where people move around Perth.
1 World Economic Forum (2024) Transforming Urban Logistics: Sustainable and Efficient Last-Mile Delivery in Cities, White Paper, December. Accessed at: https://www.weforum.org/publications/transforming-urban-logistics-a-path-to-sustainable-and-efficient-last-mile-delivery-in-cities/.
2 The sample size for survey respondents on home deliveries and online ordering was n=1,218. ‘Goods’ were defined as groceries, parcels, food deliveries etc.