Track: Supply Chain and Logisitcs Competition

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the market such that both supply and demand are less predictable than ever before. U.S. businesses have had to learn to adapt to the rapid influx of demand in unexpected areas while demand slows in others, especially in the food industry. One way to address this is to utilize sharing economy within the supply chain, more specifically in last-mile logistics. Adopting a sharing economy model allows for an intimate working relationship between the company and a worker that can resemble an employee without much of the continuous employment and associated overhead costs. A form of this is independent contractors, who can be brought in rapidly when both supply and demand are high and can cope with the low demand with a reduced consequence to the business. One such example is a third-party app-based service providing the last mile logistics for restaurants. This research investigates the overarching impacts on the restaurant industry of a shift from consumers traveling to sharing economy providing last-mile logistics.