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Illuminating impatience and urgency in last-mile deliveries − evidence from a diary study of Swedish consumers

Uni Sallnäs et al.

International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research2026https://doi.org/10.1080/09593969.2026.2632602article
AJG 1ABDC B
Weight
0.50

Abstract

To better understand the consumer behaviours that drive demand for fast deliveries, this paper explores two key temporal aspects of the consumer journey: urgency and impatience. Urgency reflects a need for quick delivery, while impatience stems from a desire to receive products as soon as possible. Urgency and impatience merit attention to further understand consumer behaviour in relation to fast last-mile deliveries, as these pose challenges for logistics efficiency and environmental sustainability, particularly in the last-mile. The purpose of this paper is to explore urgency and impatience in the last-mile consumer journey, and the influence of these two concepts on the speed of last-mile deliveries. Additionally, the paper introduces the potential effects of urgency and impatience on environmental sustainability of such deliveries. The study uses diary entries from 15 Swedish e-commerce consumers over one month, followed by semi-structured interviews. Findings reveal that both urgency and impatience appear to be important denominators of consumer behaviour in the last-mile consumer journey. Further, urgency and impatience can have a direct impact on consumer choices regarding last-mile delivery method, including speed of delivery and reception of delivered orders. The paper also gives an increased understanding of how urgency and impatience can have implications for more environmentally sustainable last-mile deliveries. By taking a consumer-centric perspective on last-mile deliveries, this paper joins the recent academic conversation focusing on an increased understanding of the consumer to improve logistics operations.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/09593969.2026.2632602

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@article{uni2026,
  title        = {{Illuminating impatience and urgency in last-mile deliveries − evidence from a diary study of Swedish consumers}},
  author       = {Uni Sallnäs et al.},
  journal      = {International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/09593969.2026.2632602},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.